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I would definitely recommend this book to anyone who likes gothic vibes weaved into their Mystery-Thrillers. I spent a large portion of the novel saying “wait, what?” with regards to who is connected to whom, and having to look up what was going on. It’s almost worse that really besides Mrs. Danvers — I mean Mrs. Warren — and Hal, the honestly bland characters seemed to blend together in this odd family conglomeration that’s confusing enough already. On returning to her stall, Hal, full of guilt from the reading, passes by a donation area for The Lighthouse Project, a drug and rehabilitation in Brighton. After seeing this woman falling behind on bills and trying to outrun debt, Hal shoves every bill from the woman into the donation slot: stars! Ruth Ware in my opinion has the absolute best sinister, gothic, and enticing covers ever! They have always grabbed my attention and gave me that feeling that I just HAD to read the book. It is just too bad that my excitement didn’t follow through to the end of this story though.
The Woman in Cabin 10 by Ruth Ware." Book of the Month, https://www.bookofthemonth.com/best-books-of-the-year/the-woman-in-cabin-10-138. Accessed 8 Nov. 2017. Because Maggie never returned home, Maud had taken over the role as Hal’s mother. She had lied to Hal about her father hoping to protect her. When Hal was about to turn 18, Maud wrote to her mother that she was going to tell Hal the truth about her parents. Hoping to protect himself, Ezra killed Maud. Knowing that Hal had learned the truth, Ezra tried to kill her too, but fell through the ice on the lake and died. Loved the book, but I did not enjoy the audiobook version. Imogen Church is so wonderful when she is straight reading the book. However, there are numerous characters in this one and the overacted, squealing voices she portrays are just cringe inducing. Also, Ware uses the old diary device prominently in this story and I was confused so many times while listening (is this now? or reading from the diary again?). Ugh, I hate that I can't hear italics!😂😂 I went with Kindle in the end and was so glad I switched. She says she goes to the Westaway’s simply for their money, but I don’t think that was her only motive. Hal, this isolated woman, craves connection, and love. Hal is set up as a fascinating character, and receiving the funeral invitation, as well as actually going to the funeral, shows her desperation for not only money, but connection. Zero Days (2023): Universal International Studios has acquired the rights for series development. [32]
REVIEWS
Hal travels to eerie Trepassen House, her “late grandmother’s” crumbling estate. She thinks that she is only going to inherit some money, but she soon learns that she has been left much more. At the estate, she meets her “uncles” and uses her keen observation skills to learn more about the creepy family that inhabited Trepassen. When Hal realizes that she has a legit family connection to these Westaways, she begins to dig for more information which leads her into grave danger. The IT Girl (2022) is about a woman, Hannah de Chastaigne, whose college roommate was murdered while the two attended Oxford University. Ten years later, Hannah discovers that her testimony in court may have resulted in the wrong person being convicted of the crime. [27] Well, she most definitely did. Some very convoluted bloodlines and twists and fate doing a lot more than could have been expected. A lovely novel. Mind it, it didn't really know what it wanted to be all along, it felt like a cross-genre experiment but the writing was fluid and engaging and rather seamless, so, I think this was a successful experiment. After reading the synopsis, throw everything you think about Ruth Ware novels out the window. The Death of Mrs. Westaway will keep you guessing until the very end (seriously, I thought the story was winding down and was completely thrown off by the end). Thank you Scout Press/Gallery Books for my advanced copy in exchange for an honest review. The Death of Mrs. Westaway will be released May 29, 2018. I will say though that I absolutely loved the setting of creepy Trespassen House and the atmosphere of this novel though! I also thoroughly enjoyed Hal and her tarot card readings. I thought the explanations and the meanings behind the cards were quite thought-provoking and had me really interested. However, unfortunately it wasn’t quite enough to make this story really work for me. Even though I feel like I wasn’t quite the right reader for this one, I still recommend giving it a try!
Ware wraps her story in the gloom and doom of the Trepassen estate. Hal's struggle with her conscience vs. the truth is woven throughout. Ware also complicates the storyline with diary entries from 1994 that will reach into the present. There's a bevy of characters here that emphasize the fact that not all these fish wish for Hal to be swimming in their pond. I truly enjoyed this book, but I don’t understand the hype. Like every novel, it comes with its flaws as well as its strengths, but when I finished the book, I can’t tell if the strengths outweigh the weaknesses. Perhaps I needed to just not question it, but isn’t that the point of a thriller novel? Things are pretty bad for Hal, until one day she receives a letter telling her that she's been named as a beneficiary in her grandmother's will. However, the deceased Mrs. Westaway isn't her grandmother - but does that really have to matter?The Lying Game by Ruth Ware, book review: A plausible mystery". The Independent. 21 June 2017 . Retrieved 14 March 2018. Shortlisted for the 2021 Ian Fleming Steel Dagger Award at the Crime Writers Association Awards [36]
Too bad Mrs. Westaway isn’t her grandmother, but from her tarot card reading and dealings with the public, Hal knows how to read people and situations and is confident she can pull off the deception. What’s the harm in playing along and walking away with just a little money to help her through this rough patch? Hal hops on a train to attend the reading of the will and ends up staying with the Westaway family. From here, the tension and suspense made this an addictive read that I had difficulty putting down. What's not to love about old dark secrets, even older darker houses, and mysterious family legacies?Mrs. Warren is a curious character. Discuss Mrs. Warren’s personality and her role at Trepassen. How do you explain her behavior? Harriet "Hal" Westaway settles into her small booth on the pier in Brighton. She palms the Tarot cards across the table for another customer. Truth be told, Hal eyes each individual for clues into their current situations. The future doesn't always come easy and the cards often set up in contrasting ways. Hal recognizes that long face of desperation. She sees it on a regular basis on her own.
When Hal receives the letter informing her of her inheritance, she isn’t sure what to do. What would you have done in Hal’s position? One day, when she is at her lowest, a letter arrives announcing that her Grandmother, Hester Westaway, has passed and Hal is a named as a Beneficiary in her will.This book was so creepy. In a great way. I'm really glad I finally broke down and read a Ruth Ware book. There's just one problem - Hal's real grandparents died more than twenty years ago. The letter has been sent to the wrong person. But Hal knows that the cold-reading techniques she’s honed as a seaside fortune teller could help her con her way to getting the money. If anyone has the skills to turn up at a stranger's funeral and claim a bequest they’re not entitled to, it’s her. One of my least favorite points of Ware’s novel is how a complex case of incest is one of the novel’s crucial turning points. I still don’t completely understand this dysfunctional family, let alone who’s related versus who is in love (or both, considering cousins/lovers Maggie and Ezra), which, by the way, seemed to come out of nowhere. All hail Queen Ruth Ware! It's no secret that lady authors have been taking over the psychological thriller scene in the past decade (GiRl PoWeR), but there are a handful that seem to come to the forefront when planning out what we want to read over the summer months. Ms. Ware has been a highly coveted name in recent years and for good reason; whether you have read her books from the beginning or are just jumping into her scene, you'll note that she writes a gripping novel with memorable characters and breathtaking atmosphere. While all of her novels would be shelved clearly under the psych thriller persona, this one shined more brightly than the rest, at least in my opinion, due to it's departure into the gothic suspense territory.
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