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The Death of Mrs. Westaway

Ruth Ware

Start date: June 8, 2018

Finish date: June 12, 2018

Why we're reading this: The Death of Mrs. Westaway by Ruth Ware
4★

On a day that begins like any other, Hal receives a mysterious l…more
[close] The Death of Mrs. Westaway by Ruth Ware
4★

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 center of it.

This book was very readable and the characters were human and mostly likable. A good comparison would perhaps be to her book 'In the Deep Dark Woods'. It's a complicated twisty mystery with a sharp heroine that you have to feel some sympathy for and has you hoping throughout the book that she'll win in the end. She has walked into a family with secrets...a grandmother that she knew noting about...and a secret fortune. Overall it's an intriguing story that keeps you reading as any good book should.

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What Members Thought

Mar 10, 2019 Connie D rated it it was amazing

Shelves: family, death, gothic, grief, audible, family-mystery, family-secret

I very much enjoyed this from start to finish... young Hal (Harriet) Westaway is struggling to survive as a tarot card reader on a Brighton pier after the death of her mother. Life has never been easy, but things get even more complicated when a debt collector threatens her and she receives a request to attend the reading of a will for an unknown woman who she assumes is only connected by name. Should she impersonate the real recipient in order to get some money? When she meets the family, the o ...more

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Mar 21, 2019 Rachel N. rated it liked it

Shelves: mystery, england, thriller, read-in-2019, tarot

2.5 stars rounded up. Hal makes a living reading tarot on the Brighton pier. She gets a letter stating she will inherit some money and even though she's sure it's a mistake she decides to try to fool the family because she s badly in debt. My problem is that nothing happens for around two thirds of the book. Hal spends a lot of time dithering about whether or not to tell the truth and talking to various people. The only real action occurs at the very end of the book. I figured out the mystery ve ...more

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