A review by carbs666
The Death of Mrs. Westaway by Ruth Ware

dark mysterious tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

2.5

This was okay! I saw people talking abt it favorably online so I figured I would give it a try, even though it's not my usual genre. It's definitely not as weird and gothic as I'd been led to believe it would be, and to me it has the quality of a book that is written by someone who churning out a mystery every 18 months (not a criticism, I wish I could do that!) but I definitely wanted to find out what would happen which is a mark of a successful plot. I felt like the twists were a bit obvious (I guess them early and then second-guessed myself because I felt like it couldn't be that easy) and I felt like the "character who keeps murdering people for no reasons" bit didn't make a ton of sense, but my biggest issue was with the MC. I felt like the characterization of Hal wasn't consistent - on one hand we're supposed to believe she's an accomplished cold reader and con artist, but every time she talks to her extended family she consistently fumbles it. Overall I thought this was fine, if you're looking for a pulpy read it will do.
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