The Yacht: The new twisty thriller from from the author of The Palazzo, for fans of Lucy Foley and Freida McFadden

by Kayte Nunn

The glamorous and twisty new thriller from the author of The Palazzo for all fans of Lucy Foley and White Lotus.
A man on the edge.

A woman hell-bent on revenge.

A cheating husband.

A desperate wife.

A property empire on the brink of collapse.

A family at loggerheads.

A predator hiding in plain sight.

Who will sink and who will swim?

Praise for The Palazzo:

'It seems there's little [Nunn] can't handle, because this slow-burn crime book delivers' Daily Telegraph 5/5 stars

'A brilliantly twisty thriller in a beautiful setting. I couldn't put this down' Pip Drysdale

'The Palazzo is an absorbing and hugely enjoyable read with rich characters and a layered plot. This sophisticated novel will whisk you away from everyday life and immerse you in the Italian mountainside, which turns out to be as deadly as it is idyllic' B.M. Carroll

'A perfectly plotted mystery in a delicious setting, full of characters struggling to hide their darkest selves. I was turning the pages faster and faster, my theories constantly tested until the final page. The Palazzo is the very best kind of absorbing storytelling' Sara Foster

'One of my favourite reads of 2025 - I raced through this Italian holiday thriller in just two days! Worth reading for the sumptuous food descriptions and dreamy location alone, this story is a twisty and addictive mystery with echoes of White Lotus. Captivating, seductive and a whole lot of fun - this is a story to be devoured. Another stunning five-star read, and comes with my highest recommendation!' Sarah Jones

Genres: Audiobook, Mystery, Thriller, Crime, Thriller Suspense, Mystery Thriller, Fiction

352 pages, Kindle Edition

Published June 1, 2026

About the author

Kayte is the author of seven novels, including the international bestsellers The Botanist's Daughter, The Forgotten Letters of Esther Durrant, The Silk House and The Last Reunion.

The Botanist's Daughter was awarded the 2020 Winston Graham Historical Fiction Prize, and was selected as the National English Honour Society's Common Reader for 2023/4..

Her books have been described as, 'sensitive, atmospheric and often heartbreaking' (Who Weekly), offering 'compelling storytelling' (Australian Women's Weekly), and 'deliciously immersive' (The Daily Telegraph).

Kayte's novels are available worldwide in English, and have been translated into ten languages.

Born in Singapore, raised in the US and the UK, she now lives in Northern NSW, Australia.

Reviews

[Bookish Scorpio · Rating 3 out of 5]

I feel like I should have read this instead of listening to it.

[EmG ReadsDaily · Rating 4 out of 5]

Hidden motives. Dysfunctional family. Power plays. Secrets and betrayal.

’All aboard a cruise to die for’

I loved the chapter titles, including ‘The Trophy Wife, The Eldest Daughter, The Deckie, The Patriarch, The Survivor, The Detective, The Youngest Daughter’.

I enjoyed this well-plotted twisty thriller, and was hooked from the start, right to the satisfying conclusion.

[Cecily - MillennialBookGal · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.25 Stars

That was fun but not really much more than that. As I was reading, I kept thinking this reminds me of like Below Deck gone wrong so I was happy to see in the acknowledgements that the author said she watched a lot of Below Deck for her research.

I think the characters could have been developed more as I really didn't care about any of them. The writing was decent, I just wanted more substance.

Fun summer read.

[Karen · Rating 4 out of 5]

When given the opportunity to review this for the publisher blog tour, I couldn’t resist. I’ve been binge watching my way through all the many series of the luxury charter yacht TV programme, ‘Below Deck’ for months and this destination thriller ticked all the boxes. (Very much like this book, the TV series features wealthy guests with too much money but with no class or manners)

The story is told from multiple perspectives – the Deckie, the Trophy Wife, the Detective – amongst others. An extremely wealthy family, headed by property billionaire Evan Thyssen, is taking delivery of his latest status symbol, a new luxury yacht for a few weeks of sailing around the Mediterranean. This really is a dysfunctional family with corruption and toxicity aplenty. Everything is for appearances, however below the surface there are affairs, secrets and financial problems with the chief clearly spending above his means.

It sounds idyllic, sailing around the ports and coves of the Med, however there is one person on board with revenge on their mind. It’s easy to figure out the who, but the why isn’t fully revealed until later. It’s no lie to say I was gripped from the first page. The short chapters made it so very readable and that undercurrent of foreboding was always there. We know from the prologue that there is one survivor, but who is this unnamed person? At the end of some chapters, social media comments are included which added interest.

It’s fair to say that with the exception of one or two crew members, most of the characters are instantly unlikeable, indeed, some are so awful that I really didn’t care whether they survived or not. This isn’t just a story of entitled wealthy people, there is also a darker and more harrowing strand to the story which is where the investigating Detective fits in.

I thoroughly enjoyed this well plotted and pacy thriller. I have one or two of Kayte’s other books on my shelf to read, including her previous thriller, The Palazzo, which I shall definitely have to bump up the book mountain.

I’ve been trying to keep this review as vague as possible to avoid spoilers. It really is a story you have to discover for yourselves. Definitely recommended.

[Crystal Marcela · Rating 1 out of 5]

Wow catfish much? That title is exaggerated.

This book was free on Audible, and I figured, why not?
Unfortunately, it ended up being the perfect audiobook to put me to sleep. I would fall asleep within minutes of turning it on.
The story is told through multiple POVs and is basically a mix of murder mystery, revenge, cheating, trafficking, family drama, and secrets. The problem is that I just didn't care about any of it. The book kept introducing more twists and more drama, but none of it felt interesting enough to keep my attention.
By the time I finished, I honestly struggled to explain what the book was even about beyond a bunch of wealthy, unhappy people hiding things from each other on a yacht.
The narrator didn't help matters either. I never connected with the characters, never felt invested in the mystery, and never found myself eager to find out what happened next.
Overall, I found it boring, forgettable, and difficult to stay engaged with. The best thing I can say about it is that it helped me fall asleep.

[Elisabeth · Rating 1 out of 5]

DNF. Bad. Author watched a lot of below deck and white lotus

[Heidi Zuva]

I didn't find it terribly realistic, but thrillers don't always need to be plausible. The yacht setting is perfect - a floating private country. Wild, right?

I'm still looking for my White Lotus twin read though. If you have any recs, please drop them in the comments!

[Gloria (Ms. G's Bookshelf) · Rating 4 out of 5]

⭐️4 Stars⭐️
The Yacht by Kayte Nunn is an addictive and suspenseful page turner and I loved the luxurious ocean setting, so atmospheric.

Evan Thyssen an extremely wealthy billionaire’s brand new built to order luxury yacht has just been delivered and his entire family are about to board for its maiden voyage to Mallorca for an opulent holiday.

The Deckie, Piper Smith is a new recruit on the yacht who has her own agenda, meanwhile there’s sinister elements aboard and something is brewing beneath the surface.

The story is told from multiple perspectives including a ‘mystery survivor’. I liked the way the chapters were named after the characters eg; The Trophy Wife, The Deckie, The Eldest daughter and so on. There were also social media comments at the end of chapters to keep you even more in suspense.

There’s an undercurrent of revenge, crime, secrets and deception aboard and the family were dysfunctional and chaotic.

A fast and bingeable read with short chapters and unlikeable characters aplenty. Highly enjoyable, what a great summer read!

Publication Date 01 June 2026
Publisher Imprint Harper Collins

Thank you so much Harper Collins Australia for a copy of the book.

[Katie · Rating 1 out of 5]

I honestly have no idea what this book was about. Did not hold my attention in anyway. I’m pretty sure a boat was involved but even that I’m not 100% sure…..

[Anna Loder · Rating 5 out of 5]

I did not want to put this down! So compulsive!!!! So nothing I will ever experience ever!!! Imagine being brought your favourite peppermint tea to your office while cruising on your mega yacht…or polishing the windows of that yacht from dawn until dusk….suxh a story of haves and have nots!!! So captivating!!!! I could not pick what was going to happen or what was happening right before my eyes….perfect fun thrill of an armchair travel for me

[Krystle · Rating 3 out of 5]

I just don’t think I cared enough…

[Vanessa McMurtrie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Audible version - excellent narration of a good enough novel for a road trip

[Mahayana Dugast · Rating 3 out of 5]

Quite good.

[Victoria Rose · Rating 2 out of 5]

I should have read this rather than listened to it but even then I think it would have only been a three…

[Jenna Fiorini · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.75 ⭐️ meh 🫤

[Aleesha · Rating 3 out of 5]

Sister knows I read fast - wanted me to read this to see if it was worth it before she downloaded it and took it on vacay with her.

So let's get into it.

The first 30% of this book is just... rich people being rich in different POVs. The STORY isn't a story at all until a third of the way through. Nothing starts to happen until then.

The POV of the deckie, watching these rich people be rich from the outside.
The various rich women being rich and trying not to get beaten up by their rich men for not being perfect or pliant enough.
the 15 year old rich girl starving herself and being shy and miserable because she's so rich and occasionally her brother's mean to her...

Literally it's nothing else.

If it weren't for Piper's (the Deckie) POV, and the tenuous hints she drops here and there that there's something truly sinister afoot, I'd have put this down before I got to anything resembling a plot. It's safe to say this is a slow burn when it comes to figuring out what's going on. I'll give Nunn credit for taking her time and building up the tension in that regard.

I also like the social media posts and news reports that show up after a lot of the chapters. They add intrigue and context to what's happening, even as we're reading about things going to hell in real time. I think this element is a large part of the reason I kept reading in all honesty - it was a good choice to keep the readers desperate to know more.

I also enjoyed the revenge plot that's going down and the chapters we get of the mysterious survivor (even though I pegged them from the first chapter.)

There are some darker themes in this book - outside of toxic family dynamics, especially after the Detective gets involved. Triggers for trafficking, just FYI.

I'm not saying this book is bad. Objectively I think it's a pretty decent toxic family/corrupt wealthy people thriller, set in a unique location that makes a perfect backdrop for a revenge plot. The reveal of the survivor is done well, the added snippets of news articles and social media posts set in the future were intriguing.

I just don't think the "all wealthy people are corrupt narcissists" plotline is something I personally enjoy. While it's true that most of these POV characters aren't meant to be particularly likeable - and in this, Nunn does a good job - It also meant I struggled to give a crap about any of them at all, let alone their trials, drama, scandals, secrets or anything else.

If you're the kind of person who's obsessed with following celebrity culture (no shade, you do you), and who spends time binge watching true crime docs, you'll probably enjoy this.

[Penny Raspenny · Rating 2 out of 5]

It was a fine book to pass the time, but nothing to really stick. I picked it up because I was expecting a read full of vacationing-on-the-yacht luxury ambience coupled with thrilling mystery, but it did not really deliver.

There were just too many characters to follow about, I guess. Plus, our main follow-up character was in the crew, so that didn’t help with the ambience either as it was a lot of behind-the-scenes stuff, and ugh-these-spoiled-rich-people attitudes. I guess that was also one of the things that put me off: even though there are multiple POVs, we seem to mainly be following Piper, so I expected her arc to be the main one to await resolution for, but the rich family’s drama seemed to get the same amount of attention, if not more. And then for some reason we also follow this completely irrelevant detective with his own little drama for a couple chapters? I dunno… The whole thing felt like 2-3 underdeveloped plots intertwined together in equal parallels, rather than one solid plot-line with assisting side-plots. As for the resolution… a tad underwhelming, I would have to say.

Again, it was not bad; just not satisfying enough for what it promised. I think that the audiobook narration didn’t help either, but then again, I might not have picked it up if it was not included in Audible.

[Jacki van de Schoor · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed The Yacht. It wasn't a traditional style thriller, but rather a rich family drama with thriller elements. It was told from multiple perspectives: The patriarch of the family, the two daughters, the trophy wife, a staff member and a detective.

I loved Piper, Sandrine, Melissa, and Kitty. Their perspectives were the most interesting.
There were also a few not so likable characters on board: Angus, Julian, and Evan, to name a few. They made it impossible to like them.

I loved the storyline. It was a slow burn, but still gripping, unique and compelling.
I loved Kayte's writing style, it was downright addictive. I read The Yacht in one sitting, I honestly couldn't put it down.

For me, this had the perfect ending. The twists and turns throughout were great, and overall, it was an entertaining read that I almost didn't want to end.
I'm definitely keen to read more from Kayte Nunn.

I highly recommend.

4 stars from me. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

For fans of Lucy Clarke, Pip Drysdale, Ruth Ware, and Robyn Harding.

Thanks to Netgalley, HarperCollins Publishers Australia, and Kayte Nunn.

[Steph Hall · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5 rounded to 5. Oh my this was an addictive listen on Audible so it only took me two days as I couldn’t wait to find out what happened next.
A departure from the author’s usual historical fiction but equally well done and great character developments. Some of the reveals were easily guessed but it was still great to see the unravelling of the rich and their messed up world.

If you like Succession and White Lotus, you will love this entertaining story and it will surely be commissioned by Netflix as it would make great TV.

[Rebecca · Rating 3 out of 5]

I can see why the reviews for this book were all over the place. There were parts that were interesting and kept you wanting to move forward and there were parts that were where I was ready to quit. Overall, it was really just blah to me.

[Hadeer هدير]

Great narrator, but the book itself was below average for me

[Steph Hall · Rating 5 out of 5]

Gripping throughout. Absolutely loved it!

[Tracy Jagger · Rating 5 out of 5]

Really enjoyed it. I watch Below Deck series so could just picture the crew and wealthy guests. Kept me gripped and wanting to find out what happens to them all.

[Carmelina · Rating 2 out of 5]

Definitely not one to listen to - too many characters and a bit all over the place. The story felt unfinished in a way, so much information and build up to a very quick and anti climatic ending. Finished it feeling a bit confused and not every loose end was tied up/explained. Couldn’t wait to finish it.

[Sonja Charters · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was my first read by this author and I had no clue what to expect - but from the front cover image and tags, I was hoping for a great twisty thriller full of tension.

 

The scene is set right from the start and I loved this image of wealth that was being portrayed.

Everyone (without money) seems to think that money equals great happiness - but I just knew there was an undercurrent which was going to pull this family apart.

 

The yacht was the perfect setting as it's so isolated. Those onboard unable to escape the events or consequences and this added another layer of tension to an already tense storyline.

 

Although showing this perfect facade, we soon discover that this family have secrets galore and I loved that we followed this from multiple pov's which allowed the story to gradually reveal itself over time.

 

We knew from the start that something tragic was about to happen and this build up had me on edge.

 

The writing was good and had me hooked from the first few pages. The short chapters kept me reading and I raced through this in no time.

 

A great first read and I hope to see more from this author on my tbr soon.

[Alex Bousquet · Rating 2 out of 5]

Did not enjoy this one. I felt so lost most of the book and maybe it would be better to read with my eyes rather than listen to it on audible. I kept forgetting it was supposed to be on a yacht the entire time until it got brought up randomly of where they were. Too many people involved.

[Brianna Zarenkiewicz · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5

[Kerry · Rating 3 out of 5]

This jumps all over the place and you’re never quite sure what’s meant to be happening so when you do finally get to the end it’s rather disappointing.
Not awful just feels like they didn’t know how to finish it off.

[Kim]

I enjoyed it for a free book.

[Adele · Rating 4 out of 5]

Jumping between different peoples perspective, different timelines and the comments at the bottom of the page meant I really had to concentrate 😂