The Heiress: A Novel by Rachel HawkinsPublication Date: January 9, 2024
Pages: 304
Add on: Goodreads
Rating: ★★★★
Source: NetGalley
Genre: Fiction / Thrillers / Psychological
Publisher: St. Martin's Press / Macmillan
New York Times bestselling author Rachel Hawkins returns with a twisted new gothic suspense about an infamous heiress and the complicated inheritance she left behind.
THERE’S NOTHING AS GOOD AS THE RICH GONE BAD.When Ruby McTavish Callahan Woodward Miller Kenmore dies, she’s not only North Carolina’s richest woman, she’s also its most notorious. The victim of a famous kidnapping as a child and a widow four times over, Ruby ruled the tiny town of Tavistock from Ashby House, her family’s estate high in the Blue Ridge Mountains. But in the aftermath of her death, her adopted son, Camden, wants little to do with the house or the money—and even less to do with the surviving McTavishes. Instead, he rejects his inheritance, settling into a normal life as an English teacher in Colorado and marrying Jules, a woman just as eager to escape her own messy past.
Ten years later, his uncle’s death pulls Cam and Jules back into the family fold at Ashby House. Its views are just as stunning as ever, its rooms just as elegant, but the legacy of Ruby is inescapable.
And as Ashby House tightens its grip on Jules and Camden, questions about the infamous heiress come to light. Was there any truth to the persistent rumors following her disappearance as a girl? What really happened to those four husbands, who all died under mysterious circumstances? And why did she adopt Cam in the first place? Soon, Jules and Cam realize that an inheritance can entail far more than what’s written in a will––and that the bonds of family stretch far beyond the grave.
REVIEW
Ever heard of a woman with four dead husbands? Meet Ruby McTavish Kellmore, whose nickname “Ruby Kill-more” tells you everything you need to know. Rachel Hawkins’ latest thriller doesn’t just give us a wealthy widow with a body count; it gives us her secrets, spilled out a decade after her death when her adopted son brings his new wife home to the family estate.
The story has all the ingredients of addictive Southern Gothic: a sprawling mansion in North Carolina, a three-year-old’s mysterious kidnapping, and enough family skeletons to fill every closet in Ashby House. But what makes The Heiress special is how Hawkins plays with our expectations. Just when you think you know where things are headed, she yanks the story in another direction entirely.
The real star here is the way Hawkins weaves her web. Through dual timelines, we watch the past and present collide as Camden McTavish and his wife Jules navigate the poisonous legacy of Ruby’s fortune. Jules, our main narrator, proves to be far more than the wide-eyed newcomer she appears to be, while Camden’s reluctance to claim his inheritance hints at darker truths.
Hawkins knows exactly what she’s doing with this twisted tale of power and privilege. Sure, some of the plot turns might stretch belief, but that’s half the fun; this is Southern Gothic, after all, where the rich are eccentric and the dead don’t always stay buried. The final act delivers revelations that will have you flipping back through pages, wondering how you missed the clues.
Think Rebecca meets Succession, with a dash of arsenic for flavour. If you like your family drama served with a side of murder and your plot twists sharp enough to draw blood, The Heiress should be next on your reading list.
4/5 stars
For fans of: Mexican Gothic, The Death of Mrs. Westaway, and things that go bump in mansion hallways
