NATIONAL BESTSELLER
"The reigning queen of the Gothic thriller." —Entertainment Weekly
THERE'S NOTHING AS GOOD AS THE RICH GONE BAD.
When Ruby McTavish Callahan Woodward Miller Kenmore dies, she's not only North Carolina's richest woman, she's also its most notorious. The victim of a famous kidnapping as a child and a widow four times over, Ruby ruled the tiny town of Tavistock from Ashby House, her family's estate high in the Blue Ridge Mountains.
But in the aftermath of her death, her adopted son, Camden, wants little to do with the house or the money—and even less to do with the surviving McTavishes. Instead, he rejects his inheritance, settling into a normal life as an English teacher in Colorado and marrying Jules, a woman just as eager to escape her own messy past.
Ten years later, his uncle's death pulls Cam and Jules back into the family fold at Ashby House. Its views are just as stunning as ever, its rooms just as elegant, but the legacy of Ruby is inescapable.
And as Ashby House tightens its grip on Jules and Camden, questions about the infamous heiress come to light. Was there any truth to the persistent rumors following her disappearance as a girl? What really happened to those four husbands, who all died under mysterious circumstances? And why did she adopt Cam in the first place? Soon, Jules and Cam realize that an inheritance can entail far more than what's written in a will––and that the bonds of family stretch far beyond the grave.
NATIONAL BESTSELLER
"The reigning queen of the Gothic thriller." —Entertainment Weekly
THERE'S NOTHING AS GOOD AS THE RICH GONE BAD.
When Ruby McTavish Callahan Woodward Miller Kenmore dies, she's not only North Carolina's richest woman, she's also its most notorious. The victim of a famous kidnapping as a child and a widow four times over, Ruby ruled the tiny town of Tavistock from Ashby House, her family's estate high in the Blue Ridge Mountains.
But in the aftermath of her death, her adopted son, Camden, wants little to do with the house or the money—and even less to do with the surviving McTavishes. Instead, he rejects his inheritance, settling into a normal life as an English teacher in Colorado and marrying Jules, a woman just as eager to escape her own messy past.
Ten years later, his uncle's death pulls Cam and Jules back into the family fold at Ashby House. Its views are just as stunning as ever, its rooms just as elegant, but the legacy of Ruby is inescapable.
And as Ashby House tightens its grip on Jules and Camden, questions about the infamous heiress come to light. Was there any truth to the persistent rumors following her disappearance as a girl? What really happened to those four husbands, who all died under mysterious circumstances? And why did she adopt Cam in the first place? Soon, Jules and Cam realize that an inheritance can entail far more than what's written in a will––and that the bonds of family stretch far beyond the grave.
Reviews-
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August 1, 2023
In the latest from the New York Times best-selling Hawkins, Camden McTavish long ago rejected his inheritance from his adoptive mother, an Heiress kidnapped as a child and widowed four times, but returns home to North Carolina when his uncle's death raises disturbing questions about his mother's past (200,000-copy first printing). Prepub Alert.
Copyright 2023 Library Journal
Copyright 2023 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.
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November 20, 2023
Hawkins (The Wife Upstairs) delivers a delicious tale of murder, greed, and the ties that bind. The flamboyant Ruby McTavish, who was famous in her home state of North Carolina for surviving a kidnapping as a child and burning through four husbands as an adult, controlled a vast family fortune until her death 10 years ago. Camden, Ruby’s adopted son and sole heir, is now a high school English teacher living in California. He has not been back to Ashby House, his mother’s estate, since she died, nor has he spent any of the money she left behind on himself. Instead, he puts the inheritance toward the upkeep of his deteriorating family manse and his cousins’ dubious business enterprises. An email from one of those cousins brings Camden back to Ashby House so he and the others can finally hash out the details of Ruby’s will. Camden’s wife, Jules, urges him to go, not fully understanding the snake pit that awaits them in North Carolina. After they arrive, past secrets come to light, and dark questions emerge about Ruby’s past, her intentions with Camden, and the fates of her husbands. Alternating Ruby’s frank, funny letters with chapters narrated by Camden and Jules, Hawkins does an excellent job keeping readers off-balance throughout. Nonstop twists and surprises make this a true thrill ride. Agent: Holly Root, Root Literary. -
November 1, 2023
Ruby McTavish is a famous North Carolina heiress known for two things: being kidnapped as a child and having four dead husbands. When she herself dies, her fortune and her family's estate, Ashby House, go to her adopted son, Camden. In the 10 years since Ruby's death, Camden has created a simple life for himself and his wife, Jules, as far away from the McTavishes as he can get. When he's forced to return to Ashby House, he's determined to wash his hands of his family once and for all by relinquishing his inheritance. But when Jules finds herself drawn to the house, and the family's secrets start to be exposed, it becomes a question of whether Camden will be able to escape Ruby's machinations even now. Featuring unreliable narrators and twists throughout, Hawkins' (The Villa, 2023) latest continues her reign as the queen of slow burn domestic thrillers. This is a page-turner that readers will find hard to put down and is perfect for fans of stories with ambiguous morals and dysfunctional families.COPYRIGHT(2023) Booklist, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
- Heather Gudenkauf, New York Times bestselling author "Hawkins brilliantly stitches together past and present, deftly luring readers into a deliciously dark tale. Everything about The Villa is pitch-perfect, again proving that Hawkins is the reigning queen of suspense."
- Sarah Penner, New York Times bestselling author "The Villa teems with sexual tension, festering tempers, and questionable friendships. Hawkins' latest thriller reminds us that writers cannot always be trusted--and certainly not the tales they tell."
