Saltwater
A Novel
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4.7 • 3 Ratings
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- $16.99
Publisher Description
From the New York Times bestselling author of The Cloisters comes a slow-burn psychological drama about an opulent family that unravels when a decades-old crime resurfaces.
“Full of chills and darkness.”—Oprah Daily
“Fans of family dramas and thrillers will devour this tense, suspenseful novel.”—Woman’s World
In 1992, Sarah Lingate is found dead below the cliffs of Capri, Italy, leaving behind her three-year-old daughter, Helen. Despite suspicions that the old-money Lingates are involved, Sarah’s death is ruled an accident. And every year, the family returns to prove it’s true. But on the thirtieth anniversary of her death, the Lingates arrive at the villa to find a surprise waiting for them—the necklace Sarah was wearing the night she died.
Haunted by the specter of that night, the paranoid, insular Lingate family begins to crack, and Helen seizes the opportunity with the help of Lorna Moreno, the family assistant. But then Lorna disappears, and the investigation into Sarah’s death is reopened. Everyone who was on Capri thirty years ago remains a suspect—Helen’s controlling father, Richard; her rarely lucid aunt, Naomi; her distant uncle, Marcus; and their circle of friends, visitors, and staff. Even Lorna, her closest ally, may not be who she seems. As long-hidden secrets about that night boil to surface, one thing becomes clear: Not everyone will leave the island alive.
Combining a glittering, dark atmosphere, morally-gray characters, and mind-bending twists, Saltwater is an exploration of the corrupting effects of generational privilege and the lengths people go to protect a legacy—and how no one can hold a grudge like family.
APPLE BOOKS REVIEW
Backstabbing and betrayal is the name of the game in this taut high-society mystery. Since the suspicious death of her mother, Sarah, when she was three, heiress Helen Lingate has felt like the black sheep of her socialite New York family. Now, on the thirtieth anniversary of her mother’s disappearance, her family, accompanied by her friend Lorna, returns to the scene of the crime—a lavish Italian retreat, where long-held secrets and hidden agendas may finally see the light of day. Author Katy Hays has crafted a modern-day twist-a-minute thrill ride. From the start, we were intrigued by the mystery of Sarah’s death and the Succession-like dysfunctional-family dynamics. But when Helen’s bestie Lorna goes missing, we were hooked. We especially loved how the dual timelines came together, linking the two crimes in a way we never expected.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Hays's stellar sophomore novel (after The Cloisters) is a powerful, surprise-packed study of family, wealth, and consequences. In 1992, promising playwright Sarah Lingate—wife of the youngest heir to the Lingate oil fortune—drowned beneath the cliffs of the family's property in Capri. Her daughter, Helen, was three years old at the time. Three decades after Sarah's death, which was officially ruled an accident, the Lingates are preparing for their latest trip to Capri when Helen intercepts an anonymous package addressed to her uncle that contains a necklace Sarah was wearing the night she drowned. Before the family arrives in Capri, Helen and her friend, Lorna, who happens to be her uncle's assistant, decide to seize on the opportunity and use the necklace to blackmail the family for 10 million euros, which would allow them to break free of the Lingates' suffocating clutches. When Lorna disappears, however, it becomes clear that each member of the Lingate family has their own agenda—and that many of them are willing to go to extremes to keep the police from reinvestigating Sarah's death. Hays uses the island setting to brilliantly exploit locked-room mystery tropes, and doles out jaw-dropping reveals at just the right moments. This masterful suspense story has all the momentum of a runaway train.
