From New York Times bestselling author Rachel Hawkins comes a deliciously wicked gothic suspense, set at an Italian villa with a dark history, for fans of Lucy Foley and Ruth Ware.
As kids, Emily and Chess were inseparable. But by their 30s, their bond has been strained by the demands of their adult lives. So when Chess suggests a girls trip to Italy, Emily jumps at the chance to reconnect with her best friend.
Villa Aestas in Orvieto is a high-end holiday home now, but in 1974, it was known as Villa Rosato, and rented for the summer by a notorious rock star, Noel Gordon. In an attempt to reignite his creative spark, Noel invites up-and-coming musician, Pierce Sheldon to join him, as well as Pierce’s girlfriend, Mari, and her stepsister, Lara. But he also sets in motion a chain of events that leads to Mari writing one of the greatest horror novels of all time, Lara composing a platinum album––and ends in Pierce’s brutal murder.
As Emily digs into the villa’s complicated history, she begins to think there might be more to the story of that fateful summer in 1974. That perhaps Pierce’s murder wasn’t just a tale of sex, drugs, and rock & roll gone wrong, but that something more sinister might have occurred––and that there might be clues hidden in the now-iconic works that Mari and Lara left behind.
Yet the closer that Emily gets to the truth, the more tension she feels developing between her and Chess. As secrets from the past come to light, equally dangerous betrayals from the present also emerge––and it begins to look like the villa will claim another victim before the summer ends.
Inspired by Fleetwood Mac, the Manson murders, and the infamous summer Percy and Mary Shelley spent with Lord Byron at a Lake Geneva castle––the birthplace of Frankenstein––The Villa welcomes you into its deadly legacy.
Title: The Villa
Author: Rachel Hawkins
Expected Publication Date: January 3, 2023
Expected Publication Date: January 3, 2023
Publisher: St. Martin's Press
Review:
A special thank you to St. Martin's Press and NetGalley for providing me with an e-galley of this book to read and give my honest review.
I'm so excited that I was approved and got to read this book. Why, you ask? Because I love Rachel Hawkins and her writing and her stories. They are fun, inventive, and always have great turns in them. I will say I didn't know she was more than a young adult writer until recently when I was handed one of her adult books to read by a friend who is an avid reader. And, I must say, I'm happy I've learned of this side of Ms. Hawkins.
What drew me to the book: Villa, Italy, mystery, and suspense.
What kept me reading: all of the above!
The fun part: the main character is a writer. Because of course she is!
Emily, newly separated and getting divorced from her husband of 7 years, torn apart so much so that she cannot bring herself to write. That is until her bestie, Chess, invites her to spend the summer at a villa in Italy. And not just any villa, but one with a rich history (and mystery) of murder!
I honestly went into this thinking it would be much more bloody, but I was pleasantly surprised that it was filled with a rich back story. Two, actually. So you're getting not just one story with this book, but three! And they are woven together fairly seamlessly to help you see the true background behind all that happens. I do believe it could have used a bit more of a sinister or even spiritual twist to it, but overall it didn't really need it because it is not meant to be a paranormal book.
I will say I had things figured out somewhat, or so I thought until the author threw in a twist at about 80% in! Then the author surprised me again at the very end. It was fun watching it all unfold, and being proven wrong (even though I so wanted to be right with my theories!).
Overall, I enjoyed this book tremendously and it has solidified for me that I would love to read anything Hawkins writes in the future.
Author:
Rachel Hawkins was born in Virginia and raised in Alabama. This means she uses words like "y'all" and "fixin'" a lot, and considers anything under 60 degrees to be borderline Arctic. Before deciding to write books about kissing and fire (and sometimes kissing while on fire), Rachel taught high school English for 3 years, and is still capable of teaching you The Canterbury Tales if you're into that kind of thing.
She is married to a geologist, which means that they have incredibly strange dinner conversations ("So today at work, I wrote a chapter where killer fog, like, ATE PEOPLE." "Huh. Well, I was chased by an angry reindeer while trying to map parts of Norway." "Um...okay.")
Rachel also has a little boy whose main hobbies are playing video games, running around in circles, and plotting his Future Intergalactic Take-Over.
When not writing books, Rachel enjoys reading, travelling, and knitting (very terribly.)
Here are her books. She would really appreciate it if you read them. :)
She is married to a geologist, which means that they have incredibly strange dinner conversations ("So today at work, I wrote a chapter where killer fog, like, ATE PEOPLE." "Huh. Well, I was chased by an angry reindeer while trying to map parts of Norway." "Um...okay.")
Rachel also has a little boy whose main hobbies are playing video games, running around in circles, and plotting his Future Intergalactic Take-Over.
When not writing books, Rachel enjoys reading, travelling, and knitting (very terribly.)
Here are her books. She would really appreciate it if you read them. :)
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