The Death of Mrs Westaway – Ruth Ware

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. She owes money to a loan shark and the threats are getting increasingly aggressive: she needs to get her hands on some cash fast.

There’s just one problem – Hal’s real grandparents died more than twenty years ago. The letter has been sent to the wrong person. But Hal knows that the cold-reading techniques she’s honed as a seaside fortune teller could help her con her way to getting the money. If anyone has the skills to turn up at a stranger’s funeral and claim a bequest they’re not entitled to, it’s her.

Hal makes a choice that will change her life for ever. But once she embarks on her deception, there is no going back. She must keep going or risk losing everything, even her life…

My thanks to the publishers for my review copy which I received through Netgalley.

 

The Death of Mrs Westaway is one of those reading gems where you can just give yourself over to the story. Ruth Ware will take you into the life of Harriet (Hal) Westaway and you will want to follow her and learn her fate.

Hal is living on a breadline. She is telling fortunes, reading tarot on the seaside pier and living in a small flat which she can ill afford. She has borrowed money from a local lone-shark and the interest is ramping up, so much soat someone has been sent to meet Hal to “encourage” her to pay up.

With things looking grim a ray of salvation lands on her doorstep.  Hal has been identified as the beneficiary of her grandmother’s estate, she needs to go go Cornwall to claim her inheritance.  Only problem…the deceased woman cannot be Hal’s grandmother so Hal should not be claiming any bequeathment.

Readers can follow Hal’s predicament and if you feel that the choices she makes are not appropriate then it creates a moral dilemma for the reader.  As we see Hal’s choices start to generate problems she could not have foreseen will you find any empathy for her predicament?

A great story is guaranteed with Ruth Ware and The Death of Mrs Westaway is no exception. Definitely a book to seek out and I enjoyed it a lot.

 

The Death of Mrs Westaway is published by Vintage and is available in hardback, digital and audio format.  You can order a copy here: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Death-Mrs-Westaway-Ruth-Ware-ebook/dp/B075MTRJ9C/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1530549713&sr=8-1&keywords=the+death+of+mrs+westaway