{"id":35372,"date":"2018-09-08T22:50:09","date_gmt":"2018-09-09T02:50:09","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/sonderbooks.com\/blog\/?p=35372"},"modified":"2018-09-08T22:52:04","modified_gmt":"2018-09-09T02:52:04","slug":"review-of-the-death-of-mrs-westaway-by-ruth-ware","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sonderbooks.com\/blog\/?p=35372","title":{"rendered":"Review of The Death of Mrs. Westaway, by Ruth Ware"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>The Death of Mrs. Westaway<\/em><\/p>\n

by Ruth Ware
\nread by Imogen Church<\/p>\n

Random House Audiobooks, 2018. 12 CDs.
\nStarred Review<\/p>\n

I\u2019m reviewing another audiobook for adults! Our Newbery committee agreed not to listen to audiobooks of eligible books, since that might influence us one way or the other. So I\u2019m using my commute to listen to books for adults. After reading The Woman in Cabin 10<\/a><\/em> and thoroughly enjoying spending time with a thriller, I was excited to see the library had an audio version of Ruth Ware\u2019s latest thriller.<\/p>\n

The Death of Mrs. Westaway<\/em> is a completely different story from The Woman in Cabin 10<\/em>, but it, too, sets the stage, lets you thoroughly understand the characters \u2013 and leads up to a completely tense, edge-of-your-seat, the-author-wouldn\u2019t-really-let-her-die-would-she?<\/em> moment.<\/p>\n

At the beginning of this book, Harriet (known as \u201cHal\u201d) Westaway receives a letter from her lawyer informing her that her grandmother has died and she needs to go to Trepassen House in Cornwall to receive her inheritance.<\/p>\n

The thing is \u2013 Hal\u2019s grandmother died before she was born. Her mother was single (said her father was a student she had a one-night stand with) and though she was named Westaway, her birth certificate lists a totally different name than the supposed grandmother of the letter.<\/p>\n

But Hal is in deep financial trouble. When her mother died, Hal continued her tarot-reading booth on the pier in Brighton. But that\u2019s not a reliable income, and she got in trouble borrowing money from a loan shark after her mother\u2019s death, and now he wants her to pay back several times what she originally borrowed.<\/p>\n

What if she just goes to Cornwall and tries to claim the money? They\u2019re rich. Surely it won\u2019t hurt them for her to take a little.<\/p>\n

But when Hal gets there, she finds people with faces, not just selfish rich folks. Though there are some disturbing things about the house.<\/p>\n

And then she finds out two things. One is that her mother spent time at Trepassen House right around the time Harriet was conceived. The other is that Mrs. Westaway named Hal in her will \u2013 and left her the bulk of her estate, passing over her three living children and the missing daughter who had the same name as Hal\u2019s mother.<\/p>\n

This book moves slowly, building the scenes and the relationships step by step by step. Which makes it all the more powerful when it comes to the terrifying, but ultimately satisfying, ending.<\/p>\n

The narrator is the same one who read The Woman in Cabin Ten<\/em> — and though Hal wasn\u2019t as desperate a woman as that narrator, I enjoyed Imogen Church\u2019s way of voicing her just as much. Though it\u2019s no secret I\u2019ll enjoy listening to anyone who has a British accent \u2013 she does a good job on top of that.<\/p>\n

If you enjoy psychological thrillers, here\u2019s another outstanding one.<\/p>\n

Buy from Amazon.com<\/a><\/p>\n

Find this review on Sonderbooks<\/a> at: www.sonderbooks.com\/Fiction\/death_of_mrs_westaway.html<\/a><\/p>\n

Disclosure: I am an Amazon Affiliate, and will earn a small percentage if you order a book on Amazon after clicking through from my site.<\/p>\n

Source: This review is based on a library audiobook from Fairfax County Public Library.<\/p>\n

Disclaimer: I am a professional librarian, but I maintain my website and blogs on my own time. The views expressed are solely my own, and in no way represent the official views of my employer or of any committee or group of which I am part.<\/p>\n

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