The Inheritance by Samantha Hayes
Genre: Psychological thriller, Domestic thriller, Domestic drama, Suspense
Read: 6th August 2023
Published: 8th August 2023
★★★★★ 4.5 stars (rounded up)
DESCRIPTION:
I thought he took my secret to the grave. But the truth can’t stay buried forever…
In the wake of my darling husband’s death, I am so lucky to have my three beautiful, grown-up daughters by my side at our holiday home in Scotland. We need some time together, to recover from the shock. But I also need to set some things straight about their beloved father…
I’ve always known this house was the perfect place to bury secrets – remote, isolated, surrounded by nothing but miles of dense forest.
But this time I’m not here to hide more of my lies. I’m here to expose one.
I promise everything I’ve ever done has been to protect my daughters. I just hope they understand that too…
By the end of the trip, nothing will ever be the same again. I knew revealing the truth about the inheritance would have consequences, but I could never have imagined we wouldn’t all survive it.
And now the truth is out, am I in danger too…?
A totally gripping psychological thriller from an Amazon No1. bestseller that will have your head spinning and your jaw on the floor with every twist. Fans of The Housemaid, Gone Girl and The Family Upstairs won’t be able to put this down!
MY THOUGHTS:
I thought he took my secret to the grave...But he left it in his will...
What a tangled web the Hunters weave - with the ingenious help of Samantha Hayes at the helm! Once again she delivers a thriller filled with nuance and innuendo that by the end will have us tied up in knots. And while I know is renowned for delivering slow burns, sometimes I wish they didn't take so long to get to the point. I was itching with frustration that the big secrets was on the cusp of being revealed when something else came along and the story took another tangent... But like all of Hayes' thrillers, I know that if I stick around, it's completely worth it in the end. Anyone else that took 40% until it got really interesting, would be ditched, but with Hayes I know I'm not going to be disappointed. That she has something up her sleeve bound to shock, surprise and wow by the book's end.
There are so many subplots within the main story that it is easy to lose track of what we're all here for - the main event. But each thread is then cleverly woven back to the main story and its characters therein. I wasn't confused in any way, but some might find the subplots distracting. But they each play a part in the bigger picture.
The Hunters are all gathering together at the family lodge in Scotland, which had been left to their late father Ray by his parents upon their deaths long before they were born. Kirk View Lodge was renovated by Ray and Connie early in their marriage and had long been a haven to the family over the years. Now Ray has gone and Connie is bringing her girls back together with their families for a reunion at Kirk View Lodge for ten glorious days.
But Connie has an ulterior motive for bringing them together now. Ray's will has been executed and its contents revealed...and Connie knows that she must now reveal the secret she never thought she would have to. But as her girls - Kate, Darby and Bea - settle into the lodge, Connie doesn't know where to begin. But it's Theo, Darby's teenage stepson, who notices the most with his all-seeing eyes as he watches everyone from the sidelines. He seems to be an angry kid intent on messing with everyone, not knowing quite where he belongs. I got my measure of him fairly quickly with the few subtle glances he stole along the way but he also picked up on things within the family that no one else seemed to.
It's not until an invite extended to a nearby neighbour for dinner that things begin to get heated amongst the family. Theo notices right off the cuff, whilst the others are either indifferent or just puzzled. Connie is flustered as a face from her past returns, though not as friendly as it once was. Meanwhile, Kate suspects her husband Adrian is having an affair with her sister Darby and even Connie suspects much the same. Admittedly, so does the reader. But what is really going on between them?
After the somewhat dramatic prologue, so it begins with Part One in which the story unfolds through the alternating narratives of Connie, Kate, Darby, Bea and Theo. We get each of their perspectives and how each of them feel after the passing of their patriarch, Ray, some months prior. Throughout the entire section of this story, it is alluded to a secret that Connie has and that it will all come to light in Ray's will if she does not reveal its contents first. We are privy to the various subplots and nuances of each of the characters as Hayes deftly builds up a picture of the family's dynamics.
Things start to get interesting in Part two as the story rewinds back forty years to when Connie and Ray are younger and newly married. Although the couple have a home on a farm in Lancashire, the setting is entirely at Kirk View Lodge in Scotland, which they were currently renovating. And then Connie falls pregnant. Afterwhich we see what nobody else sees behind the closed doors of a marriage. We see the Ray that no one else see. Through his narrative, which alternates with the younger Connie's, we see a side to him that had not previously been painted and we get a little insight into the secrets in their marriage. And it is not a pretty picture.
But it's Part three when things really pick up and the layers of secrets that Hayes has deftly put in place slowly start to peel away as secret after secret is revealed. The events that follow are both mad and a little twisted. While I had a niggling as to what the secret may be, there was still a piece of it that remained elusive. And when it was revealed, the picture became clear and I'm like "of course!" whilst figuratively slapping myself on the head. The action is really ramped up in the final pages as the truth is finally revealed and all its secrets are uncovered...even if some are blind to its truth. And then there is that ending which comes with a sting in the tail for a couple of characters. Just brilliant.
Overall, another deftly woven plot of intricate family secrets and the complexities of family dynamics by Hayes. Always worth the slow build to get there in the end.
I would like to thank #SamanthaHayes, #Netgalley and #Bookouture for an ARC of #TheInheritance in exchange for an honest review.
MEET THE AUTHOR:
When not writing, Samantha loves to cook, go to the gym, see friends and drink nice wine. She is also studying for a degree in psychotherapy. She has three grown-up children and lives in Warwickshire.
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