The Villa: A captivating thriller about sisterhood and betrayal, with a jaw-dropping twist Paperback – 6 July 2023

Emily is the author of cozy mysteries who, following illness and separation from her husband, is struggling to focus on her writing. When her oldest friend Chess, a hugely successful writer of self-help books, and from whom her recent relationship has been somewhat distant, invites her to spend the summer in a villa in Italy Emily jumps at the chance.It turns out that the villa has quite a history - in the summer of 1974 it was the scene of a murder when it was rented to a famous musician and his friends.With one of their number dead, another behind bars, one went on to write a bestselling book and another became an acclaimed singer songwriter. Emily becomes fascinated by what happened that summer and soon her interest in the story provides much richer inspiration for a book than the story she had planned to write - but the more she digs into it the more strained her relationship with Chess becomes.This is a many layered story - told in dual timelines and moving between Emily in the present and Mari in the 1970s, we also have snippets of Mari’s best selling novel as well as excerpts from podcasts and newspaper articles. Hawkins weaves the stories together to create a read full of suspense with some intriguing twists - and understanding her inspiration for the book adds another fascinating layer to this entertaining read.

Book came in LOVELY condition it was a nice little read however I do think it was quite slow and the chapter that a written in the past weren’t as enjoyable and the present day chapters over all probably a (2.5 ⭐️⭐️✨) star book wasn’t bad but it was good!!

I wanted to like this more. Firstly, I think the author is American but she chose to make the 1970s characters English, that’s fine but if you do that you also need to do some careful fact checking. Brits don’t refer to sneakers, certainly not in the 1970s, more likely plimsolls! Also, and crucially to the plot, healthcare has been free to all in the U.K. since the 1950s. This error made a major storyline pointless.As I said, I wanted to like this more, Italy in high summer, what’s not to love, well the atmosphere wasn’t really there, the conversations were stilted and rather strange and the characters not likeable. I just didn’t realise we were supposed to draw parallels with Mary Shelley and Byron, it was so subtle to be all but invisible.Not a terrible book by any means and I read it quickly but it could have been so much better. I was disappointed. My first go at this author’s books but it might be the last.

Thank you to the author, publishers Headline and NetGalley UK for access to this as an advance reader’s ebook. This is an honest and voluntary review.Emily has lost her writing mojo. Recovering from a lengthy, unexplained bout of illness and facing an acrimonious divorce it’s not surprising that she’s struggling to write the 10th novel in her cost mystery series. But, when her childhood best friend invites her on a spontaneous summer long trip to Italy she leaps at the chance to try and kickstart the writing. But, the villa, site of an infamous celebrity murder in the 1970s, proves even more inspiring than she imagined.Like the author’s previous novel The Wife Upstairs, this is heavily inspired by classic gothic fiction. In this case it’s actually they story behind the classic, with ‘70’s musicians replacing famous poets in an homage to the story of Mary Shelley and how she created her her most famous story, Frankenstein.While you don’t need to be familiar with Mary Shelley’s story I did find recognising the parallels an enjoying part of the reading experience. And, even if you are familiar it doesn’t give away anything significant about the plot as what happens in the book takes a very different turn.I enjoyed this as a quick thriller, and it’s the perfect tone to make for a great summer read. The characters are mostly good, Emily’s best friend Chess sometimes seems a bit one-dimensional, although she is a very important part of the plot it did make harder to understand why Emily didn’t get more annoyed with her though.Overall a good read.

Usual high standard of writing keeps you wanting to read more

Read this on a sun lounger and let the 70s vibe take you over!The Italian villa in question has a murky showbiz past: in 1974 it was hosted up-and-coming rockstar Pierce Sheldon and his girlfriend, Mari. By the end of the holiday Pierce is dead, and Mari becomes a horror writer.. Roll forward to the present day and Emily and Chess, renting the villa, become obsessed with the death, looking for clues as to whether it was innocent or something more sinister.I really enjoyed it, its sharp and clever, with plenty of twists in the tale, and the 70s timeline is so delicious.

I really enjoyed this book which I listened to on Audible. The narrators did a perfect job bringing the characters to life. Gripping dual timeline story and a satisfying twist at the end. Highly recommended.