The Death of Mrs Westaway

A modern-day murder mystery from The Sunday Times Bestseller

Ruth Ware

- 4.0 • 175 Ratings

- £3.99

- £3.99

'I read this in two lightning-quick sittings...I absolutely adored it' Lisa Jewell, bestselling author of The Family Upstairs

HAL MUST KEEP GOING OR RISK LOSING EVERYTHING...EVEN HER LIFE.

When Harriet Westaway receives an unexpected letter telling her she's inherited a substantial bequest from her Cornish grandmother, it seems like the answer to her prayers.

There's just one problem - Hal's real grandparents died more than twenty years ago.

Hal desperately needs the cash and makes a choice that will change her life for ever. She knows that her skills as a seaside fortune teller could help her con her way to getting the money.

But once Hal embarks on her deception, there is no going back.
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Praise for THE DEATH OF MRS WESTAWAY:
'Ruth Ware's best: a dark and dramatic thriller, part murder mystery, part family drama' A. J. Finn
'Unsettling and brilliant' Heat
'[An] explosive claustrophobic family drama laced with a touch of du Maurier' Woman & Home
'Atmospheric and eerie with Agatha Christie vibes' Prima
'Highly atmospheric' The Times
'Unguessably twisty' Louise Candlish

APPLE BOOKS REVIEW

Tarot cards, an unexpected inheritance and a gloomy mansion—in the hands of Ruth Ware, that's all a mystery lover needs for a brilliant night in. Ware keenly understands the intricate mechanics of suspense: Much of the pleasure of The Death of Mrs Westaway lies in her subtle sense of pacing and masterful use of Gothic-steeped atmosphere. She’s also created a terrific heroine in hard-luck tarot-card reader Hal, who is at once unreliable, sympathetic and shrewd. Following Hal's journey through a maze of secrets is a deliciously nerve-jangling pursuit.

PUBLISHERS WEEKLY 2 APR 2018

In this tense, twisty modern gothic set in England from bestseller Ware (The Lying Game), Harriet "Hal" Westaway receives a letter stating that her grandmother, Hester Westaway, is dead, and that Hal is a beneficiary of her will. Hal knows there's been a mistake her grandmother was named Marion Westaway and died two decades earlier but the 21-year-old orphan owes a lot of money to some dangerous people, feels comfortable stealing a small sum from wealthy strangers, and decides to use the skills she's honed as a fortune teller on Brighton's West Pier to scam some quick cash. But when she arrives at the crumbling family estate in Cornwall, neither the inheritance nor the Westaways are what she expects. Moreover, she begins to suspect that her invitation was no accident. Is Hal playing the Westaways, or is she somebody's pawn? Evocative prose, artfully shaded characters, and a creepy, claustrophobic atmosphere keep the pages of this explosive family drama turning.

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