The Death of Mrs. Westaway by Ruth Ware

Harriet “Hal” Westaway is struggling (and failing) to make ends meet. Since her mother Maggie’s death, Hal has taken over Maggie’s psychic storefront on the Brighton Pier, but the middle of winter doesn’t bring many people out to the pier.

With bill collectors hounding her mail and an unsavory type threatening worse than legal action, Hal is confused but very curious about the letter she just received. Mr. Treswick, a solicitor, sent a letter about the inheritance she is due from the death of her grandmother Hester Mary Westaway.

Hall knows that her mother’s parents passed away years before Hal was born so this woman could not be her grandmother. But this man thought Hal was someone else. Who was she to correct him?

Being very good at reading people, Hal knew things about people after only observing them for the briefest of moments, that is what made her so good at tarot readings. She knew she could pull off a ruse and get away with it. She knew she could fool these people and come away, hopefully, with enough money to pay her debts and get back on her feet. She could do it, but should she?   

After the funeral, Hal meets her “family” including Harding Westaway and his wife, Mitzi, Abel Westaway his partner Edward, and Ezra Westaway. Their sister, Maud apparently left home at age 18 and was never seen or heard from again. Then there was Mrs. Warren, the housekeeper, who had nothing but contempt for Hal from the very beginning, and she was almost as hateful to the rest of Mrs. Westaway’s children and grandchildren.

Although it took me a few pages to get into the story, once I did, I did not want to stop reading. It was a riveting storyline that kept me guessing throughout. There was no way to tell which of the characters Hal should trust if any of them. The story is told through the third person point of view, limited, with Hal being the only one that the narrator knows everything about. So the reader is never really sure if any of the others are trustworthy.

Abel is my favorite character. No matter what he has been through, he still has a good heart and he is quick to show that to Hal. These characters were quite authentic, even the dead Mrs. Westaway, whom we only hear about through Maggie’s diary and the not-so-happy reminiscing of the brothers. I liked the rawness and the fear that Hal showed; it made her seem that much more real. I also liked that no matter how much pain Abel suffered, he still found it in his heart to love others. I also found Mrs. Warren interesting because she was so very hateful to everyone there and I kept wondering what she had against a young girl she had never seen before.

I have never really been interested in Tarot or things of that nature. However, I did like that even though Hal and her mother made their living using them, neither believed in the truth of them, only that they show people what they want to see or believe.

I also really enjoyed reading about the pier at Brighton, except that it was winter and there was not much description for it. Trepassen House, however, I would have liked to have had a little more description of the grounds and the layout of the house. The book is definitely character driven, and the setting certainly takes a back seat. This is not a bad thing, but I like to play out the scenes in my head as I read.

This book, while marketed as a psychological thriller, is really at its heart a mystery, albeit a really well written one. The book is very easy to read, to understand and to follow. If you haven’t yet stuck your foot into the waters of psychological thrillers, this may not be the best choice, as I believe this is more of a mystery. However, it is a really well-written book and I highly recommend it as a mystery or general fiction.

This story kept me guessing right up until the very end. Ruth Ware is quite masterful at flipping the switch on you and taking you down a path you never really saw coming. There were moments when I felt like I might cry for Hal and everything that she has lost. But there may actually be hope at the end of her journey. I read this book, but it is narrated by Imogen Church, whom I really like, so I would also recommend the audio version.

Book Details: 

• The Death of Mrs. Westaway by Ruth Ware
  
• Hardback: 384 pages; Gallery/Scout Press; recorded book edition (May 29, 2018)
• Paperback: 384 pages; Gallery/Scout Press; Reprint edition (April 30, 2019)
• Kindle: 2980 KB; 384 pages; Gallery/Scout Press (May 29, 2018)
• Audiobook: 14 hours 14 minutes; Imogen Church (Narrator), Simon & Schuster Audio (Publisher)

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