When Harriet, or Hal as she’s known, receives a letter from a solicitor to let her know that her grandmother has died and left her an inheritance she doesn’t know what to think – mainly because her mother’s parents, the only grandparents she knew, died years before, leaving her and her mother with nothing.

On any other day, Hal would have called the solicitor and told him he was mistaken.  But this isn’t any other day.  It’s the day the loan shark she borrowed money from to pay the bills breaks into her flat and threatens her.  It’s the day she feels broken and beaten down by life. So, it becomes the day she decides to pretend to be someone else.  

Before she has time to think about what she’s doing, Hal is on a train and attending a funeral.  Next, she’s met her long-lost family and is sitting down to hear the will being read.  It’s then that things start to go wrong, really wrong.  The family aren’t what Hal expected and the inheritance she receives is more unexpected still.  Now, Hal has a decision to make – does she tell the truth or go along with the lies she’s told.  What she doesn’t realise is that the decision she makes could be the difference between life and death – hers.

It’s all so lovely and complicated and twisty and turn-y, I really didn’t know what Hal was going to do or what would happen when she did.  Once again, for me, Ruth Ware has written a brilliant thriller that has left me wanting more.  The characters are great, the plot was well thought out, and I found I couldn’t put the book down.  It’s a far cry from the last book of Ware’s I read, The Lying Game and a return to form for one of my favourite authors.  I enjoyed every minute of it – a great read!

Emma x

About the book…

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 centre of it.

Publisher: Random House, UK
Publication Date: 28th June, 2018
Number of Pages: 368
Genre: Thriller, Suspense
Rating: 4.5 out of 5

Find on: Goodreads / Amazon UK / Amazon US

Note: I received a copy of this book in return for a fair and honest review.  All thoughts, feelings and opinions are my own.