The Death of Mrs. Westaway by Ruth Ware – a Review

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Description:
On a day that begins like any other, Hal receives a mysterious letter bequeathing her a substantial inheritance. She realizes very quickly that the letter was sent to the wrong person—but also that the cold-reading skills she’s honed as a tarot card reader might help her claim the money.

Soon, Hal finds herself at the funeral of the deceased…where it dawns on her that there is something very, very wrong about this strange situation and the inheritance at the center of it.

Full of spellbinding menace and told in Ruth Ware’s signature suspenseful style, this is an unputdownable thriller from the Agatha Christie of our time.

Review:

The Death of Mrs. Westaway by Ruth Ware is a wonderful whodunit thriller. What surprised me was that this not only was a great mystery, but it also had a feel of being an old-fashioned thriller, somewhat similar to Agatha Christie.  This was so well done.

Harriet (Hal) Westaway, our heroine, struggles to make ends meet daily.  When her mother died in a hit and run, Hal took over their tarot reading business at the Pier to be able to pay bills, and is threatened with a deadline by a loan shark.  Hal receives a letter about her grandmother passing away, whom she has not known anything about, and she is asked to attend the reading of the will, where she will get an inheritance. Being desperate, Hal, decides to go and play the part, since she knows it is a mistaken identity.  All she wants is some money to pay the loan shark, and give herself a fresh start.

 When she arrives at the funeral, the solicitor greets her, and afterwards takes her to Trespassen House, the mansion owned by the deceased Heather Westaway.  Hal marvels that it is a mansion, even if it is very much falling apart and in disrepair; but she knows the Westaways are rich, though the family no longer resides at the mansion.  Hal will meet her three uncles, and their family, as well as the old mean housekeeper, Mrs. Warren, who is sort of scary. 

When the will is read later that evening, everyone is shocked that Mrs. Westaway left everything to her granddaughter, Harriet.  Though some of the family is upset, they continue to embrace Hal as the niece that have never known.  Hal is upset and besides herself, feeling guilty that she is conning her new found relatives.   In a short time, she feels closer to her new family, and has mixed feelings about the inheritance she feels does not belong to her.    Hal finds a letter, and photograph that has her investigating the sister who is missing, and her mother, who turns out to be a cousin.  What she will discover will change everything, as there are so many hidden secrets, which will push Hal to try and find clues about her mother. 

As the plot thickens, with Hal slowly unravels the truth, the story becomes an intriguing thriller that had a lot of twists, turns, betrayals that kept me glued to my kindle, awaiting more details that Hal finds.  Ware gives us chapters from the past revolving around her mother, and the missing sister, which leads to many more questions.

What follows is an exciting, intense and at times even haunting mystery, as Hal begins to suspect she is in danger.  Someone does not want her getting too close to the secrets of the past.  What happened to the missing sister years before?  Why  did her mother keep secrets from her?  Who was her father?

Ruth Ware has written a fantastic story that was part thriller, but mostly a fantastic mystery, with a wonderful heroine.  I loved the old fashioned style mystery (but in present time), the many clues along the way, and the exciting,  pulse pounding,  surprising climatic ending.  This was very well done.  I suggest if you enjoy mysteries, you should read The Death of Mrs. Westaway.

Reviewed by Barb

Copy provided by Publisher