A Deadly Inheritance

by Kelley Armstrong

After discovering she's an heiress to a billion-dollar corporation, seventeen-year-old Liliana finds herself at a new boarding school where she must navigate secret societies and a deadly competition. Not to mention two handsome boys.

The Reappearance of Rachel Price meets The Inheritance Games series in this new YA thriller from bestselling author Kelley Armstrong.

In the wake of her mother's death, Liliana Chamberlain's estranged (and very wealthy) grandparents swoop in. Or their lawyer does. Her grandparents aren't ready to meet her, but they want her to have the life her mother walked away from, starting with Westwood Academy, the elite boarding school her mother attended. It should be a Cinderella dream come true, but Lili has serious misgivings. Yet she doesn't have a choice, being under eighteen and dead broke.

Westwood Academy is a school of secrets as well as intriguing classmates, including Hollywood golden boy Theo Dubois and the mysterious Maddox Moreno. As she gets to know them all, Lili realizes there's more to the school than elite-level networking. Something deadly.

For the new girl at school, investigating the deaths of past students — including Maddox's own sister — is a very dangerous game. Do those deaths have something to do with why her mother fled Westdale at the cost of her inheritance?

When a fun night out turns bloody, Theo is the prime suspect, and Liliana must race against time to connect the past with the present and discover the truth behind her inheritance.

Genres: Young Adult, Thriller, Mystery

Kindle Edition

Expected publication March 24, 2026

About the author

Kelley Armstrong has been telling stories since before she could write. Her earliest written efforts were disastrous. If asked for a story about girls and dolls, hers would invariably feature undead girls and evil dolls, much to her teachers' dismay. All efforts to make her produce "normal" stories failed.

Today, she continues to spin tales of ghosts and demons and werewolves, while safely locked away in her basement writing dungeon. She's the author of the NYT-bestselling "Women of the Otherworld" paranormal suspense series and "Darkest Powers" young adult urban fantasy trilogy, as well as the Nadia Stafford crime series. Armstrong lives in southwestern Ontario with her husband, kids and far too many pets.

Reviews

[Erin · Rating 3 out of 5]

ARC for review. To be published March 24, 2026.

3 stars

Liliana’s mother has died and now the teenager is living on her own, hoping to make it to her 18th birthday and then to college before social services becomes aware of her. But just as child welfare finds her so does a lawyer named Cecelia. She works for the ultra-wealthy Chamberlain family and tells Liliana that, through her mother, she, Liliana, will be the sole heir to the fortune.

Liliana is immediately whisked away to an unusual boarding school that students only attend for their senior year of high school, Westdale Academy. Her mother went there too. It has lots of secrets, including dead former students, something Liliana decides to investigate. A few students in each year compete for some type of academic prize that Cecelia tells her not to worry about but that only makes her more determined to be a part of it. .

She also meets possible friends, possible love interests Theo Dubois, son of Hollywood royalty and the mysterious Maddox Moreno. Theo is also competing for the prize, Maddox seems to be keeping many secrets.

So, the story was OK, but had some holes (the prize is really built up then goes nowhere. Why did Liliana’s mother not reach out for help when she was ill? Her grand plan was to leave behind an underage orphan?). I was totally fine that Liliana was interested in both boys but I did cringe a little when…..SPOILER!!!!!! Skip to the end of this paragraph if you don’t want a minor spoiler!!!!! OK, she’s topless in bed with Maddox, then Theo comes into Maddox’s room and starts kissing her good morning. Ugh, no. It’s great that y’all have no labels and all that, but you guys are seventeen. Save something for when you are adults, please. Plus, you are making me vomit. Thanks.

Otherwise this was just your standard someone-finds-out-they’re-an-heir-goes-to-boarding-school-solves-mysteries thing.

[Tracy Shouse · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a page turner that kept me on the edge of my seat. After finding out she is to inherit a fortune, Lili is enrolled in a private boarding school. Once there she starts investigating why her mother gave up her inheritance and stayed on the move so that her parents could not find her. Soon Lili discovers that the school has a past of students dying or being hurt. Were her parents involved in one of the deaths that occurred when a girl was killed in a car crash? Is this death connected to other deaths? Lili along with her newfound friends embark on a quest to learn what has been going on at the school and how it is all connected. The dynamics of the love triangle to me was unrealistic and I think young adults will not connect with these characters because of this. It's a good read but it fell short in my opinion. Life and love can get very messy at times, and I feel that these characters are portrayed as just a little too perfect.

[Hillary · Rating 5 out of 5]

It's so rare to find mature teen characters who act like teenagers but not like complete idiots. It shouldn't be, but it is. There were several situations here that could easily have been mishandled spectacularly, but were instead treated with grace and consideration.

[Jenifer Thomas · Rating 5 out of 5]

"A Deadly Inheritance" is an amazing thrill ride in dark academia. Seventeen year old Liliana has been on her own since her mother died and is down to selling the apartment's refrigerator just to have enough to get by until high school graduation when she finds out she is the heiress to a billion dollar company that her estranged grandparents own. After being enrolled in prestigious Westdale Academy to finish out her senior year, Lili has had her whole world upended and it seems as if someone may be trying to kill her. Is she a target because of her sudden appearance or because of running for the Optima position at the school. When Lili learns of other mysterious deaths at the school, she and others try to discover whether they really were accidents or something more.

I really enjoyed the book. The suspense kept me glued to the pages to find out what happened next. There is some romance, but only kissing on the page.

[Stacy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thanks to NetGalley and Tundra Books for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

3.5 stars

Not my favorite of Kelley Armstrong’s books but an entertaining read. Liliana is a 17 year old orphan finishing her senior year hoping to make it through the year before child services figures out she is alone. She finds out she is the heir of a multi billion dollar fortune and is sent to a special high school. Lili makes friends and tries to solve several mysteries regarding her parents and strange things happening at the school.