Saltwater
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Synopsis
On glittering Capri, anything can be a mirage. And no one holds a grudge like family.
From the New York Times bestselling author of The Cloisters comes an electrifying thriller about an opulent family retreat to Italy that’s shattered by the resurfacing of a decades-old crime.
In 1992 Sarah Lingate is found dead below the cliffs of Capri, 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 Sarah’s 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 legendary Lingate family unity is pushed to a breaking point, and Helen seizes the opportunity. Enlisting the help of Lorna Moreno, a family assistant, the two plot their escape from Helen’s paranoid, insular family. But when Lorna disappears and the investigation into Sarah’s death is reopened, Helen has to confront the fact that everyone who was on Capri thirty years ago remains a suspect—her controlling father Richard, rarely-lucid aunt Naomi, 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.
Synopsis source: The StoryGraph
Review
Genre(s): Fiction, Mystery/Thriller
HB&W Rating: 5 stars
View on StoryGraph, Goodreads
Buy on Barnes & Noble, Amazon
Rich people and their secrets. Everyone is hiding something. Everyone is suspect. Every. One.
Katy Hays’ Saltwater kept me guessing almost the entire way through, largely because every character was a believable killer. There’s something deliciously unsettling about a story where you can’t quite trust anyone, where everyone seems just morally flexible enough to be capable of something terrible.
The book digs into the darker side of wealth: the hunger for more, what people are willing to do to get it—or keep it—and the ways they justify their choices along the way. Basically, entitled rich people behaving like entitled rich people.
It took me a little while to get into the story. The pacing is definitely slower at the beginning, but once things started taking off, I did not want to put this book down. Hays does a fantastic job of planting breadcrumbs while simultaneously throwing out red herrings, and the balance felt incredibly intentional and precise. Just when I thought I had figured something out, I’d start questioning myself again.
And then there’s the atmosphere. I loved the juxtaposition of the beautiful setting with the rotten core of what’s happening beneath the surface. Everything looks idyllic, but underneath all that beauty are secrets, greed, manipulation, and some truly questionable decisions. That contrast made the story feel even more sinister.
And the ending? So good. The twist genuinely worked for me, especially because the book had spent so much time making everyone seem suspicious. Looking back, the clues were there, but I certainly didn’t have it all figured out.
If you like atmospheric thrillers, morally questionable characters, wealthy people with far too much to lose, and mysteries that keep you second-guessing everyone, Saltwater is worth picking up.
Until next time,
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