Tower and Town, October 2018 (view the full edition)Ruth WareEcstatic reviews for a new book are always gratifying for an author, but when they talk about it being the author’s best yet, and they’ve already written three terrific novels, you know something exciting is afoot. Ruth Ware, who is appearing at this year’s Marlborough LitFest, must be delighted by the reception for her latest thriller, The Death of Mrs Westaway. A.J.Finn, author of the hugely popular The Woman in the Window, is in no doubt that it’s her finest work: “A dark and dramatic thriller, part murder mystery, part family drama, altogether riveting.” Ware shot to fame with her first novel, In A Dark, Dark Wood, which was published in 2015. It was a Richard and Judy Book Club pick, quickly became a Sunday Times bestseller, and was translated into more than 40 languages. The Woman in Cabin 10 followed the next year. Billed as Agatha Christie meets The Girl on the Train, it cemented her reputation as a master of the psychological thriller. Last year, she had another hit with The Lying Game but it looks like her latest book, The Death of Mrs Westaway, is set to eclipse them all.
It’s a cracking premise for a thriller, with more than a whiff of du Maurier. Ruth will be talking at the LitFest about the book, all those incredible reviews and her life as a writer. Ruth Ware will be in conversation with Jon Stock at St Mary’s Church Hall, Marlborough at 6pm on Saturday 29 September Jon Stock |
Harriet Westaway works as a seaside fortune teller but she’s heavily in debt and the loan sharks are circling. So when she receives a letter telling her that she’s inherited a substantial bequest from her Cornish grandmother, it seems her prayers have been answered. Except that her grandparents died 20 years ago. The letter has been sent to the wrong person but that doesn’t stop her turning up to a stranger’s funeral in Cornwall to claim a bequest she’s not entitled to. And once she’s embarked on a life of deception, there’s no going back, even if she risks losing everything, even her life…