"A Gothic is a story about a girl who gets a house."
--Abby Adams Westlake
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| The Inheritance by Tom Savage |
The house. Set in Connecticut, Randall House is a three-story mansion with tall columns and ivy-colored stone walls. Built over 100 years ago on a cliff overlooking Long Island Sound, it is a house that has seen scandal and murder; a house that holds many secrets.
The girl. Adopted at birth, the girl in question lived the first twenty-four years of her life as Holly Smith. Only she is really Holly Randall, heir to Randall House and the entire Randall fortune. But not everyone is happy to see her come home. Like her Uncle John and his wife, Catherine. And the residents of the town of Randall, Connecticut.
The mystery. Like every good Gothic story, The Inheritance has a crazy girl living in the gatehouse, the possibility of a romance with the handsome young chauffeur, and a mysterious old man who creeps through the halls of Randall House like a ghost. Then there's the hit man who's been hired to make Holly's death look like an accident. (And the one who hired him.) As well as a silent outsider, his German Shepherd in tow, who watches everyone and everything. And it's at Randall House where all these lives, and all the secrets of the past and present, intersect.
My thoughts. This is an interesting mystery. Every time I thought I had it figured out, it took a turn that I wasn't expecting. Especially at the end. Some of the turns I liked, some I did not. It was the same with the characters; there were so many plots and counter-plots it was hard to know who to trust. Or like. But this modern-day Gothic mystery is still a pretty entertaining read. It'll never be my favorite, but it did keep me guessing.
Happy Reading!
