Death of Mrs. Westaway

By: Ruth Ware

Narrated by: Imogen Church

Length: 14 hrs and 14 mins

Publisher's Summary

From the number-one New York Times best-selling author of In a Dark, Dark Wood, The Woman in Cabin 10, and The Lying Game comes Ruth Ware's highly anticipated fourth novel.

On a day that begins like any other, Hal receives a mysterious letter bequeathing her a substantial inheritance. She realizes very quickly that the letter was sent to the wrong person - but also that the cold-reading skills she's honed as a tarot card reader might help her claim the money.

Soon, Hal finds herself at the funeral of the deceased...where it dawns on her that there is something very, very wrong about this strange situation and the inheritance at the center of it.

Full of spellbinding menace and told in Ruth Ware's signature suspenseful style, this is an addictive thriller from the Agatha Christie of our time.

©2018 Ruth Ware (P)2018 Simon & Schuster Audio

I found it to be a slow burner.

I gave it 4 stars but that is rounded up from 3.5. I liked it, it kept me interested but I listened to it and found it a little confusing when you were trying to get the details. I was just reading the questions that others have asked and had many of the same questions. There are quite a few characters and having 2 with the same name made it a little hard to keep straight. You really had to pay attention. The disadvantage of listening compared to reading, in my opinion.

I found it to be a slow burner and wouldn't consider it to be a thriller. But enjoyable all the same.

18 people found this helpful

Terrible writing & gaping plot holes

The reader is very expressive, but the writing is incredibly overwrought and frustrating. So much inner monologue it’ll make you scream! And some HUGE inconsistencies in the story.

13 people found this helpful

Tedious...

Too long, too many “I’m sorties” to count ! This book really needed a better editor.

10 people found this helpful

The Death of Mrs. Westaway

I must say this was well worth the wait. Each month I would look at my wish list and long for a sample chapter of this audiobook. Then when time came near I counted down the days. I purchased it 24 hours before and counted down the hours....
When the minute came I pressed play to hear the words written by Ruth Ware strem out like spun gold from the lips of Imogen Church. I highly recommend this audiobook to thriller & mystery lovers alike as it was full of twist and turns that keep me up listening eagerly.
Hal the main character is about to be as surprised as the reader was at the end of this highly anticipated novel.
I don't want to say to much...my best advice is get this audiobook and enjoy the tale for yourself. It was my pleasure to listen to this well written novel as a fan of Ruth Ware it was an absolute bummer the story had to come to an end.😞

Review by DeAnn DeVille : Writer.Narrator. Audiobook Blogger

79 people found this helpful

Not my favorite, but worth a listen

I usually love Ruth Ware's stories. She has a terrific way of creating vivid images especially concerning weather, places, and characters. However, I feel that the female protagonist in this story was boring, redundant, and extremely frustrating. She is indecisive, mousy, and dull and I'm not sure if the other characters were actually interesting or if their contrast from Hal made them seem that way superficially. The book starts off fairly well but slow. The story itself was predictable - but this was my 4th Ruth Ware read, and I may be numb to her prose. What I do like about it is how, in true RW fashion, I have no problems seeing everything from the creepy house keeper, hearing the creaking door, or feeling the cold she describes ... I finished the book speedily, but more from compulsion rather than interest.

7 people found this helpful

Get on With It!

Good gravy what a slog! My kingdom for an editor!

With a few hundred slashes of an editor’s red pen, it could have been a decent enough mystery. Cut out half of the narrator’s extensive analysis, and, though it still wouldn’t be great, it would be good enough for a light read. As it is, I can only guess that the author assumes her audience to be a bunch of idiots, and that her publishing house is inclined to agree.

The story drags with torturously prolonged justifications for the protagonist’s logic and choices. Not a glimmer of information is spared from the microscopic gaze of our extraordinarily thorough heroine. Did you catch the significance of the odd look that man gave her? No? Well don’t worry, you’ll be hearing about it at great length soon. What could be the ramifications of the decision she just made? Just wait a few seconds and you’ll hear about every conceivable possibility. The author leaves no room for a reader to interpret anything, each morsel of information is so thoroughly digested by the narrator that the whole book ends up as, well... digested material.

By the last third of the book, I was skipping through 30 seconds of exposition for every two minutes of narrative with no loss of pertinent information. I’ll just skip the rest of this author’s works altogether.

62 people found this helpful

Edition tedious

I have enjoyed Ruth Ware's other books, and absolutely love Imogen Church's narration. This version of the book seems like it could use a bit more editorial work. Many passages were so repetitive I felt my mind drifting. I have not had this experience with any of this author's other titles.

6 people found this helpful

Great Story, Narrator Fantastic

This was a really good story with interesting twists that I didn't see coming and by the end, I was riveted. But what I think made this book so incredibly great was the narration by Imogene Church. Not only does she have a beautiful voice but her acting ability really brings the characters and the story to life.

13 people found this helpful

Loved it!

Such amazing story development - great characters! Imogen Church is simply brilliant - I wish she narrated every book! Ruth Ware is back!!!

25 people found this helpful

It's good, but the end?...could have been better

The first Ruth Ware book I read ('In a Dark, Dark Wood') was PHENOMENAL. Lots of twists. Lots of confusion. Plus the end truly shocked me. I am an unabashed bibliophile so I immediately devouring everything else she'd published....leading to the realization that she has a somewhat predictable pattern to her work. The stories begin and pull you in and there's twist and turns and then an end...that is rather flat. You may be surprised by the way its conveyed, but you will probably see it coming from way off.

That being said, I still enjoy her books. In fact, I got this book the minute it was available and was excited to read it. I love all the imagery, I love the vivid pictures of the UK her books create in my imagination, and I ADORE Imogen Church's narration. In every book she manages to convey all the characters, accents, genders, ages perfectly. Even if I can feel where the book is heading I am addicted to finishing it, waiting to see how the story plays out. Its what I expect from a Ruth Ware book.

In that sense, 'The Death of Mrs. Westaway' doesn't disappoint. The story is full of twists and the characters are brilliantly portrayed. However, I saw where it was going by the middle and I was 100% right. I did like the protagonist though. she wasn't whiny and had a strong voice. I finished it in 5 days. Considering how little time I have to listen to the book, that speaks a great deal to how addictive it was.

If you look at the reviews from some of the other books she's written my review isn't a strange one. Ruth Ware writes really great thrillers that you love about 95% of. It's the last 5% that always seems to need a bit more work, but it's worth a read anyway.

46 people found this helpful