Book Review – The Death of Mrs. Westaway

STATS

DISCLAIMER:

1. Trigger Warnings. Should you desire trigger warnings, please seek them out. If you do not know where to look for said warnings, I found this article from Book Riot to be a helpful starting place.
2. Spoilers. I apologize in advance, but there will probably be some small spoilers. I try to limit anything too specific to the first 25% of the book, preferably the first 10%. Tiny spoilers may also arise during discussions of theme. If you are sensitive to spoilers, you may want to stick to my Recommendation Blogs.

SETUP.

Hal, a down on her luck, short on cash, tarot reader, receives a letter stating that she is the long-lost granddaughter of Mrs. Westaway, who recently died. Hal is named as a beneficiary and must come to the estate to collect her inheritance. However, she believes a mistake was made. Her mother, who died just over a year ago, never mentioned any family and always claimed that Hal was the result of a one-night stand. Hal must decide whether to correct the mistaken identity or go along with the mistake to discover what she inherited.

MY WHY; or, What I Thought I’d Like About This Book.

I don’t think I knew anything about this book, other than:

1. I recognized Ruth Ware.

2. There was a creepy old estate on the cover.

3. It was on sale.

Additionally, I like a good mystery and remember enjoying Ware’s writing style while reading In the Dark, Dark Wood, so I thought I’d give her another try.

NOTEWORTHY ELEMENTS. (You decide if they are Pros or Cons.)

1. Ominous gothic atmosphere. That house and the tension between the brothers and their venom toward their dead mother, boy oh boy, bad things happened at their home – Trepassen – you can just feel it and I think Ware did a great job setting that up. Tons of family secrets just waiting to be revealed. The house even came with a creepy-cooks-horrible-food housekeeper. Bonus.

2. Journal entries. The journal entries worked well as flashbacks and they didn’t overtake the story. The entries added to the ominous atmosphere and was a great place to add clues and keep the mystery moving. The entries allowed Mrs. Westaway a ghost in this story. Her presence was felt, but very much off page; she didn’t overpower the story.

3. It was a good mystery. As I mentioned above, I read an earlier Ware novel and I felt like I guessed the ending fairly early on. I did guess the ending in this one as well, but only because I’d read another book with a similar ending and now, I’m always on the lookout for it. However, even guessing this ending, it did not detract from watching the pieces fall into place. Ware had other mysteries and threads that were shifting until the end, and I enjoyed the process of seeing them unfold.

4. I enjoyed Hal. She is a tarot reader and considers herself a con artist and she’s good at reading people. It was interesting to see her cynicism and her look-out-for-number-one attitude struggle with a deeper yearning to be a part of a family. There was this conflict between looking out for her own self interests, including financial security and safety, as well as a deep desire to belong. I understood her motivations and her confusion and her desires.

5. Beginning Pace. I felt that the beginning pacing was a little slow. Ware took her time to establish Hal’s motivations and show her struggles, which I appreciate. I realize this story has more of a gothic mystery vibe, which traditionally has a slower lead in and built up. I also think I may have been a little impatient because I’d just come off the heels of thrillery thriller, which had the pacing of a bullet out of a gun.

6. One of the characters was a little flat. I can’t say too much here, but I just wanted to know a little more about this character’s backstory and motivations.

7. Tarot. There was tarot in here. Fun bonus!

RELEVANT RESEARCH, RANDOMNESS, OR RECOMMENDATIONS

There was an interview with Ware in the back of the book in which she discussed influences such as Daphne de Maurier’s Rebecca. I would have to agree. I read that book years ago, but it still left an impact. In fact, Rebecca is part of my Physical TRB Challenge on a later shelf.

Additionally in the interview, Ware mentioned that she is not as interested in the crime of her stories, but the ripple effect of the crime and how that affects and informs the characters. Again, I would have to agree. I can see that in her writing. I feel that Ware does a great job exploring the whys of the crime and the crimes almost seem secondary.

SUMMARY

I enjoyed this book. I thought it was a great gothic mystery/thriller, another atmospheric read for me. Hal was a fully fleshed out character. There were tons of family secrets, you don’t know who to trust and twists start unfurling halfway through the book and don’t stop. Ware did a great job pacing the mystery and sewing doubt. I would recommend this book and I will definitely be reading more Ruth Ware.

Aside: I wonder if there is a difference between a British psychological thriller and an American psychological thriller. I’ve read many reviews of Ruth Ware’s work and I often see people grumble about Ware’s books being labeled and marketed as “thriller.” I certainly feel she writes more mysteries with thriller elements, but is this an American mentality? I wonder…It might be a fun rabbit hole to fall down one day.

Thus completes the in-depth book review of Ruth Ware’s The Death of Mrs. Westaway. Hope you enjoyed. See you again, once I crawl out of another book.