A book based on family trauma & the lengths they'll go to to keep secrets & to protect the family unit. The reader knows someone is dead from the beginning but the author ensures we don't know who untill the very end!

The Inheritance is a dark, intriguing & traumatic thriller with lots of twists & turns set in a remote island in Scotland.

This is the first book I have read by this author, it certainly won't be the last!

Thankyou to Netgalley for my ARC in exchange for an honest review.

The Agarwal family have gathered on a remote, exclusive Scottish island to celebrate their parents’ anniversary and discover their inheritance plans.

Their three adult children have their own reasons for needing the money, all having diverse characters and secrets to explore. The book consists of short chapters, each written from a different character’s perspective, which gives a more rounded picture.

Aseem, Myra and Aisha need financial help for various reasons, causing arguments between them. Aseem’s wife Zoe resents the way that his mother wants to take charge of her pregnancy, and Aisha’s new fiancé causes suspicions to arise. The characters are well drawn, but difficult to like, all being greedy and self serving.

Although the first few chapters seemed slow, as secrets are explored the pace increased making this book a real page turner. There are lots of twists and turns in this dark atmospheric novel, and an unexpected dramatic ending. Recommended.

What a story! A family saga with so many turns and twists. What would you do to protect your family? Outsiders are tolerated, family first! Set on a remote Scottish island, the family come together to celebrate their parents’ anniversary. The large house becomes a cauldron of high emotion. Each of the family members has a secret, each has an opinion of the others. The story bubbles along until the proverbial hits the fan. I will definitely look for more by this author.

This engaging locked-room thriller centres on an Indian family and is reminiscent of The Guest List. The rich, detailed character development pulled me in, maintaining my interest throughout the middle of the book. However, as the story progresses, familiar tropes like arrogance, entitlement, and blind loyalty start to surface among the wealthy characters. I found the ending a bit disappointing but it was still worth a read. Many thanks to Penguin Random House/Viking Books and NetGalley for providing a digital review copy.

Wonderful characterisation, perfect scene setting and a knock-out ending makes The Inheritance one of my stand-out reads of the year.

A private island retreat is the perfect setting for an Agarwal family reunion. Delhi based business tycoon Raj Agarwal is retiring and has plans in place to sell off his assets and his three children all have plans for their share. Dysfunctional families are nothing new but the Agarwals are something else, bound together by lies, deceit and a lifetime of secrets, family comes first whatever the cost.

Very much a character driven novel, I loved the slow reveal, the pacing, the intrigue and the sense of atmosphere. First book I've read by this author and I've already added her previous novel to my reading list. A stunning read from start to finish.

The Agarwals are a close family, the father is Raj, a wealthy business man who is contemplating retirement, and wondering how best to divide his assets between his children. His wife Shalini just wants the best for all her family. Myra is the oldest daughter, who is currently having severe financial problems, but has admitted it to no one. The son, Aseem, who is the expectant heir, and his wife Zoe, who has never felt fully accepted by the family, and the youngest daughter, Aisha, who feels her family still treats her like a child.
The reunion takes place on a remote Scottish island, just the family present to celebrate the anniversary of Raj and Shalini, and the children hope, sort out their inheritance. However, the reunion does not go to plan, old grievances between the family members, secrets and lies come to light. Although some harsh words are spoken, no one thought it could end in one of the family being found dead. Except the murderer of course.
I really enjoyed this book, the dysfunctional family and the twists and turns of the plot all add up to a gripping mystery I could not put down. 5 stars.

Calling all thriller lovers! You might want to mark February 13th 2025 on your calendars. "Why?", I hear you ask. Well, I'll tell you why. That's the day The Inheritance is published, and trust me folks, you don't want to miss this gem.
You'll be wanting me to tell you what it's all about, I expect. I'm not going to give you a plot synopsis, that would give too much away. What I will tell you is that the story's central characters are the Agarwal family, as dysfunctional a family as you will ever find. I give you Raj and Shalini Agarwal and their three children, Myra, Aseem, and Aisha, and Aseem's wife Zoe. All of them have secrets they'd prefer the rest of the family didn't find out. All of them are skilled liars. One of them is going to die.

The story is mostly told from the POV'S of Zoe and Myra, but sometimes we hear from Aisha.

The setting for the story is an isolated island off the coast of Scotland, which lends an eerie atmosphere to the book.

The Inheritance is a gripping, suspenseful, brutally shocking tale of secrets and lies, and murder. The revelations at the very end will leave you reeling.

What are you waiting for peeps. Preorder this today.

Thanks to Random House UK and Netgalley for the digital ARC.

An interesting read, showing the inner workings of a family leading to a murder, the victim being a surprise to me.
Lota going on and different stories for each family member and their relationships with each other.

There is something incredibly entertaining about reading or watching incredibly wealthy people being horrible to each other - think Succession, or Netflix's new adaptation of Elin Hildebrand's novel The Perfect Couple. So I was sold on the premise of The Inheritance, which finds wealthy Indian businessman Raj gathering his family on a remote Scottish island, purportedly to celebrate his wedding anniversary to powerful family matriarch Shalini, but (so his three children expect), also to sign over control of the family trust.

It is incredibly difficult to explain why I, ultimately, didn't enjoy The Inheritance without giving spoilers, so look away now if you'd rather not know what happens. Ultimately, this kind of book is only satisfying if you get to witness the horrible rich people (or at least some of them) get their comeuppance, while the lowly working class character who's had a hardscrabble life (in this book, Zoe, wife of Raj and Shalini's son Aseem) comes out at least sort of on top. That is not the case with The Inheritance, which despite some strong plotting and moments of tension, and an interesting twist at the end, left me frustrated as a reader.

Loved this! Family secrets, murder and money! A great twisty thriller that unravels on a private island of billionaires, what’s not to love!
Big thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for my ARC!

An observation on how the family dynamics are tested by those who are considered outsiders - and a discovery of where loyalties really lie
All the Agarwals meet on an exclusive and remote island in Scotland to celebrate both their parents wedding anniversary and the handover of the family business valued at millions of pounds

Tensions run high, all three adult children are expecting a substantial inheritance and Aseem in particular expects a changed role in running the business

All three adult children have partners from a different background who have been accepted into the family to a lesser or greater degree. During the days they are together the events from the past return to haunt some of them and the family close ranks when another major event occurs

An original book which I found to be believable and engaging

This was nothing short of incredible! It drew me in and kept me hooked from start to finish! That ending, oh my goodness that ended was astonishing! I’m usually quite spot on with guessing whodunnit but this one took me by surprise and I loved every moment of it! 5 stars for me all day long! Incredible

This was a very atmospheric book (set on a remote Scottish island with no-one around but our seven members of a wildly privileged & self-absorbed rich family) with some excellent writing, some fantastic secrets & twists to uncover, and an interesting & deeply flawed set of characters to explore. Think Succession's Roy family meets The Midnight Feast.

This isn't a murder mystery, though it is still a satisfying mystery uncovering all of the lies, secrets and contexts of this incredibly rich family that are teased throughout the story. But if like me, you assumed from the description that this would be a classic murder mystery set-up, you'll need to recalibrate your expectations. I felt that some of the mystery elements became a little chaotic, with a couple of the twists falling a little flat, but for the most part they were well-earned and enjoyable!

The shift in how you see certain characters' relationships & interpersonal dynamics as you learn more about what they're hiding, is very compelling. I found myself both loving & hating every single character at various points, but for me, I think this ended up straying too far away from "love to hate them" and it became hard to stomach the entitlement, cruelty and manipulation on display. The interplay of loyalty, ruthlessness and trauma within this family was really well developed, but sometimes it felt played up to unbelievable levels, making it hard for me feel as grounded in the characters' perspectives during the second half of the book.

The writing style was fantastic, particularly the descriptions of the island & manor house, and I enjoyed the pacing; it was difficult to put the book down. The ending & final twist were not surprising, but that is testament to how well the author had sown relevant breadcrumbs & character insights throughout the narrative.

Many thanks to NetGalley, Cornerstone & Random House UK for sending me this ARC in return for an honest review. I'm very interested to read more of Trisha Sakhlecha's work in future!

I will now also include some Content Warnings for those who find them helpful, so be warned, look away now to avoid SPOILERS BELOW:

Content Warnings:
- Bereavement, including loss of a baby or child (multiple instances)
- Child abuse, including physical violence and neglect
- Death in a fire (multiple instances, including one semi-detailed description)
- Domestic violence, including physical abuse, sexual abuse & rape (mentioned as prior event, not described in detail)
- Manipulation & gaslighting, involving parents, siblings and/or a partner
- Pregnancy and miscarriage (multiple instances)
- Violence and murder

This book is a slow burn. Two-thirds of the way in, I was still wondering when somebody was actually going to get murdered. Personally, 90+% through is too late for me to take a murder mystery entirely seriously.

The setting - a private Scottish island - is an unlikely setting for a family gathering. But this is undoubtedly an unlikely family. Super-rich petrochemical family, the Agarwals, are gathering for the 40th wedding anniversary of Mr and Mrs Agarwal. Each of their three children is hoping to find out how much of a split of the estimated £300 million price tag on daddy's company is going to come their way. Each of the family and associated hangers-on has dark secrets to hide. There are no heroes or heroines in this one - they are all deplorable characters.

I didn't guess the big reveal - although it's also fair to say that I wasn't entirely surprised by it.

With thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for my copy.

This book had me hooked within a page or two. It is well written, with lots of twist and turns, which helps to keep interest and sustain suspense! I love the setting; it is well described that I can see the island in my mind. I found the characterisations were really good, with information being drip-fed into the story.
I have never read any of Trisha’s books before (I don’t even know if there are any), but I’ll be certainly on the lookout for more. Considering I read an unedited copy from the publisher, I can’t fault the book/story.

Seemingly a pretty straight forward time away when they would find out how the inheritance from their father, when he imminently retires. Things start to go wrong and I was genuinely stunned by how this story weaves its way to a shocking conclusion. Slow to start with but it does pick up and I quite enjoyed it.

Tremendous, page turning gripping novel.

Set on an island of the coast of Scotland the scene is set for a full Indian family reunion. One big happy family!

Then the greed of the children comes to the fore when father thinks about selling his multi million pound business. Who gets what and how much?

Can an English woman really be happy In Delhi when her live is run by her mother in law, via her husband. Who could predict the outcome of this weeks idyllic getaway?

Thank you Netgalley for giving me the chance to read this book.

Wow!

Wow, wow, wow, wow, wow!

Calling all thriller fans - read this IMMEDIATELY!

How have I not heard of Trisha Sakhlecha before?! Incredible.

The book was unputdownable. The story gripped me from the first page, and up until the final sentence the twists didn't stop.

Incredible!

Thank you so much to NetGalley and Random House UK for the ARC.

I'm off to buy her other books...

I started this book with some doubt because the context of a family celebration in a remote location ending with a murder is not a particularly unusual setting. That didn’t last largely because of the unusual family. An Indian couple have now three adult children. They are rich although going through business problems. Their relationships within the family are complicated with a question about how the family money will be divided if dad retires but he takes them all by surprise on deciding to remain in charge. That causes problems. Bringing outside partners into a family where arranged marriage has been the norm also brings issues. The story is very well told giving the reader plenty opportunity to try to guess how the celebration on the remote Scottish island owned (sort of) by one sister will fall apart. The climax is unexpected. I do recommend this book.

The Inheritance is the story of the Argarwal family. They are meeting at a remote island in Scotland, owned by their daughter Myra, to celebrate their wedding anniversary. The whole family is coming together to celebrate whilst also hoping Papa will announce the sale of his company and how the family trust will be divided once the sale is complete. Each member of the family has their own agenda and use for the money. This dynamic coupled with the isolated location means that everyone is in the frame when the reader is told that the weekend ends in murder. The Inheritance is perfect for readers who love a twisty mysterious whodunnit filled with glamorous characters and dysfunctional family dynamics. I was exactly in the mood for this type of read and really enjoyed it. I will say there are a lot of red herrings and backstories and I do not know if they are all necessary but it did mean that the victim took me by surprise.