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A review by courtneydoss
The Death of Mrs. Westaway by Ruth Ware
5.0
Yes, yes, yes! This is exactly what I was looking for from Ruth Ware. After my enjoyable foray into the world of The Turn of the Key and my disappointing journey through The Woman in Cabin 10, my future as a reader of Ruth Ware's novels could have gone either way. The Death of Mrs. Westaway was my final test to see if Ruth Ware was a good writer who wrote one bad book, or a bad writer who wrote one good book. I'm delighted to say that it is emphatically the former. The Death of Mrs. Westaway is such a tense, page turning thriller that it may very well count among my favorites of this year.
Centering around orphaned tarot reader Hal and a mistaken invitation to the funeral of Mrs. Westaway, the novel follows Hal as she takes on the role of Mrs. Westaway's long lost granddaughter in an attempt to perhaps inherit a little bit of money and pay off the loan sharks that are harassing her. However, what Hal discovers within the walls of the dilapidated Trepassen House are more secrets that she could have ever imagined, and more danger than she ever expected.
From the first, the Cornish manor home of Trepassen House reminded me of a broken down version of Manderley, the crabby Mrs. Warren a more modern version of the creepy Mrs. Danvers. I was absolutely delighted when I saw that this was intentional, and that the similarities of Rebecca were an homage to the queen of Gothic thrillers, Daphne du Maurier. I have professed my adoration for du Maurier time and time again, so anything that tries to embody her work is alright with me.
This story was such a deliciously convoluted mystery. There were so many moving pieces that it was hard to predict absolutely every resolution, though not impossible for those that read this genre frequently. Ruth Ware did an excellent job of giving Trepassen House life, breathing into the setting just as much suspicion and danger as she did into each of her characters. The messy pasts of the Westaway family was an interesting read, and I really liked the way their backgrounds slowly unfolded to the reader rather than being outright explained. There wasn't a single character who escaped my suspicion at one moment or another, and in the last 30% of the book, I was on the edge of my seat.
Truly, all I can say about this novel is that it is an A+ mystery, and may very well be one of my favorites for this year.
Centering around orphaned tarot reader Hal and a mistaken invitation to the funeral of Mrs. Westaway, the novel follows Hal as she takes on the role of Mrs. Westaway's long lost granddaughter in an attempt to perhaps inherit a little bit of money and pay off the loan sharks that are harassing her. However, what Hal discovers within the walls of the dilapidated Trepassen House are more secrets that she could have ever imagined, and more danger than she ever expected.
From the first, the Cornish manor home of Trepassen House reminded me of a broken down version of Manderley, the crabby Mrs. Warren a more modern version of the creepy Mrs. Danvers. I was absolutely delighted when I saw that this was intentional, and that the similarities of Rebecca were an homage to the queen of Gothic thrillers, Daphne du Maurier. I have professed my adoration for du Maurier time and time again, so anything that tries to embody her work is alright with me.
This story was such a deliciously convoluted mystery. There were so many moving pieces that it was hard to predict absolutely every resolution, though not impossible for those that read this genre frequently. Ruth Ware did an excellent job of giving Trepassen House life, breathing into the setting just as much suspicion and danger as she did into each of her characters. The messy pasts of the Westaway family was an interesting read, and I really liked the way their backgrounds slowly unfolded to the reader rather than being outright explained. There wasn't a single character who escaped my suspicion at one moment or another, and in the last 30% of the book, I was on the edge of my seat.
Truly, all I can say about this novel is that it is an A+ mystery, and may very well be one of my favorites for this year.