Review copy was corrupted so unable to read or review. I’m sure it’s brilliant because Katy always is, but it was totally illegible with errors and sentences and paragraphs running together. So I had to abandon it ten pages in

The Vipers by Katy Hays

I really enjoy thrillers in the summer. I don’t go far from home during the summer holidays because my disability is affected badly by the heat. So books like this one, set in beautiful holiday locations are my summer break. Set on the island of Capri, we accompany the Lingate family on their annual pilgrimage to where Sarah Lingate, the famous playwright, lost her life. The family were investigated and absolved of any crime, but they can’t fully accept that her death was just a terrible accident. Helen Lingate was her heir, but she’s constrained by her father who controls every aspect of her life. She asks the family’s assistant Lorna Moreno, to help her escape his hold on her life. When they arrive at their villa there’s a chilling reminder of Sarah. The necklace she wore the night she died has reappeared. Family members become paranoid and Helen loses trust in everyone, even Lorna who’s past is still a mystery. The tension and mistrust build until the secrets of Sarah’s death boil over and the villa could easily be the venue for another murder.

I love dysfunctional families, especially wealthy ones, so this was a delicious treat for me. It was like pulling up a chair and listening to the neighbours having a row. The various characters are hard to like and there were times when I wished they’d all kill each other and make the world a better place. They are narcissistic, amoral and selfish. I had some empathy for Helen, who can at least see that she needs to find a way of escaping their stranglehold. But she’s been trying to work out what happened to her mother and this is a family you can’t leave, especially if you happen to have information that threatens their wealth and survival. I love how much time the author gives to establishing these dynamics before the fireworks start.

The pace really does speed up before the end of the novel and i think waiting to that point really gave the reveals and the twists more impact. I felt like I was in The White Lotus final episode. I’d have liked a bit more of the stunning setting to really ground the story because I did feel at times this could be anywhere. The focus was truly placed on the appalling members of those dreadful family members, constantly behaving badly while wanting to be seen as loving and close. In actuality it’s a viper’s nest of jealousy and deceit. A great holiday read.

I originally received an ARC of this book but the file was corrupted and I was unable to read it. As a result I had to wait until it was released and I could get my own copy to be able to read and review it.

After loving Hays’ debut The Cloisters I was really looking forward to this one. Where that first book is very much playing in the ‘dark academia’ pool, dipping into secret societies and hinting at magic and occult goings-on, this is a much more straightforward thriller.

Initially I was really enjoying this. Hays’ writing is strong and her version of Capri is richly realised. The layers of the mystery are stacked together in a way that’s intriguing and made me want to keep reading long into the small hours of the morning, and the ticking clock chapter headers telling us Lorna was going to disappear injected a really nice meta-level of tension into everything.

Unfortunately, once that disappearance happens at around the halfway mark, things start to unravel a little. I’d been enjoying Lorna’s point of view and her character, and to have her suddenly ripped out of the book - even though we know it’s coming from chapter one - was a little jarring. I never really settled into the voice of the new narrator after that point, and felt myself longing for a return to the first half.

In addition to that, I wasn’t particularly satisfied by the way the various threads woven into the first half of the novel are resolved. The book gives us multiple ‘reveals’, giving us explanations of what happened that are later revealed to be false, and it all becomes a bit wearying. I started to feel like I was being told a bit of a shaggy dog story, with twists for the sake of twists that didn’t really mean anything. The novel ends with a pair of revelations that didn’t feel earned, and that made everything that preceded them feel a little pointless.

It’s definitely a fun read, and if I’d churned through it in a couple of hours on a sun lounger while on holiday I think I would have told you that I enjoyed it a lot. But as it is I thought it was just fine, and a bit of a disappointment after a very strong debut novel.

This is definitely a good twisty summer read. I enjoyed the drama of the current timeline and the present day and how they intertwine together. The ending had quite a few plot twists and I didn’t really expect any of them. I also enjoyed Katy Hays writing, very engaging. I read this in 24 hours!

This seems to also be published under the title ‘Saltwater’. Set on Capri, this ia a mystery with reveals that I was not expecting. It does seem to drag a little in places and for me, there was not quite the tension that I would have liked, but overall the twists were worth it. In 1992, when Helen Lingate was 3 years old, her mother, Sarah, died. The death was ruled as accidental even though her body being found at the bottom of a cliff was suspicious. And to prove all doubters wrong, every uyer the Lingates return to Capri. Moving on 30 years, Helen arrives with her boyfriend, Freddy, her father Richard and her uncle, Marcus and his wife Naomi. Also accompanying them is Lorna, who is not only Marcus’ assistant, she has also developed a friendship with Helen. On Capri are Renata who used to be housekeeper for the Lingates during their stay. After Sarah’s death she left their employ and became babysitter for little Helen who became friends with Renata’s son. Ciro, who was the same age. On this trip two things happen, the necklace that Sarah was wearing when she died suddenly reappears and Lorna disappears. The timing causes Sarah’s case to be re-investigated. Told in multiple POVs - Sarah, Lorna and Naomi, we are flipped between present day and 1992. As I sai, this is a twisty read and the feeling of suffocation that Helen experiences, the way she is being controlled is well written. Capri itself also becomes another character in the novel - it is alive. The Lingates are not likeable - these are rich people using their wealth to get their own way. An enjoyable read.

Thirty years ago the Pulitzer Prize-nominated playwright Sarah Lingate died on Capri in mysterious circumstances, while holidaying with her husband Richard and his brother Marcus, the heirs to a vast oil fortune. Though it’s true that behind every great fortune lies a great crime – in this case, an ancestral Lingate swindled a widow out of her oil fields – the brothers have always denied any involvement in Sarah’s death, proudly returning to the island every summer with their heads held high. As the family now return to Capri for their annual trip, Sarah and Richard’s daughter Helen is plotting her escape, concocting a plan to free herself from the Lingates’ influence and escape with the help of Lorna, her uncle’s personal assistant. The family arrive at their holiday home and gather for drinks when a delivery arrives: someone has sent Helen the distinctive necklace that Sarah was wearing when she died, and seismic ripples tear through the brothers as they realise the gift’s significance. The tension builds as the brothers lock themselves away to discuss the necklace, but readers will already be aware that the clock is ticking as each chapter begins with a countdown: 36 hours to Lorna’s disappearance… This shimmering, superbly descriptive, expertly-plotted novel is a rewarding and suspense-packed read: a welcome dose of balmy Mediterranean sunshine for any readers currently navigating the peaks and troughs of a British winter.

There is no doubt that Katy Hayes is a talented writer. Her debut, The Cloisters, was amazing and I've been looking forward to reading her next novel.

However I found it a little disappointing. While I love the writing style, for me, it just didn't work for this type of novel. I found the pacing excruciatingly slow which made it feel like a slog to get through. The twists were surprising but I felt like they all came together in a rush in the last half a dozen chapters.

I did love the setting of this novel and the plot was an interesting one, with a cast of unsavoury and unlikeable characters. With the right balance in pacing this novel could have been amazing.

Thank you Transworld Publishers and Netgalley for providing me with a complimentary copy for review purposes.

3.5 stars rounded up to 4 for Goodreads.

Firstly I loved the vibes of the family villa on Capri and the alternating timelines/POVs, even if it did mean I kept getting mixed up between Richard and Marcus in my head. Normally I really like books written in mixed media but other than the newspaper clipping at the start detailing the police report, I didn't feel like the others added much to the story. That being said I would've liked some more diverse media like maps of the island, audio transcripts and other evidence in the investigations. I do think the first 80% or so dragged and none of the reveals in that time were really surprising to me. I did like the last 20% and I probably should've seen the final twists coming but I didn't. Finally I wasn't expecting any of the characters to be likeable but all of them were downright unbearable and the story was more rich people being d***s than a thriller/murder mystery

Thank you so much to the author, Netgalley and Random House UK for providing me with an eARC in return for an honest review. All thoughts expressed here are my own.

Sarah died in 1992, she fell, or was pushed off a cliff on Capri. Now, thirty years later, her daughter Helen wants to know what happened to her mother. She asks Lorna, her uncle's assistant for help, because both know her father and her uncle and aunt are hiding something. They are not the only ones with secrets. And things get stranger when the necklace arrives that Sarah wore on the night she died and then Lorna is suddenly missing.

It's a thriller that is more about rich people behaving badly than about solving a murder. The characters were rather flat. There were a lot of red herrings early on so that I knew what happened in 1992 long before the big reveal, which made the story drag on for me.

If you're on the edge of your seat waiting for each new White Lotus episode, this is the book for you. Rich people behaving badly in luxury locations is a trope/subgenre/not sure what to call it that I thoroughly enjoy, on screen or on page. A bit of a guilty pleasure. I had loved The Cloisters and though this is very different, it has the same skilled writing and clever twists (many of them). The characters aren't really likable but I don't think they were meant to be; pretty much like most White Lotus characters, I just enjoy their outrageous, messy, dysfunctional dynamics. I will continue to watch for new releases by Katy Hays!

3.5 upped to 4
I wasn't a huge fan of the Cloister, a story full of potential but with some dubious senteces about Renaissance art like "early Renaissance not interesting" (the Italian in me was listing Botticelli/Masaccio/lippi/Piero della Francesca")
i was curious about this one. There's a lot of subplots, some parts are gripping, some seems to drag a bit.
It's not my cup of tea but I think a lot of people will appreciate it
Many thanks to the publisher for this ARC, all opinions are mine

The Lingate family are no strangers to scandal, secrets, and a mysterious death close to the family. 30 years ago on the island of Capri, Sarah Lingate was found dead, members of her family were suspects, but it was ultimately deemed a suicide. The family is back on the island but despite their close knit facade the family is in shambles. Helen Lingate has been desperate to get out, and when the necklace Sarah was wear before she died shows up she sees an opportunity, and hatches a plan to gain her independence. Family secrets are finally being revealed and truths long buried are being exposed.

This book had a lot of moving parts, it followed multiple timelines, no character was likeable in any way. This kind of gave me The White Lotus vibes which is what I loved about it. I liked the book over all, but it did feel a bit long, everything felt drawn out and I did not feel like the way the story was told work 100%. Also the ending was A LOT and felt too twisty and also convenient. So there were many parts I loved, and some parts I felt needed work but over all was a good read.

On the island of Capri in Italy, playwright Sarah Lingate goes missing. 30 years on Sarah’s daughter Helen and family arrive back in Capri where a surprise awaits. Helen hopes she can discover what really happened all those years ago.

This sounded like a very compelling read, set in a luxury location and with a striking cover that caught my eye I decided to give it a go. This was less of a thriller and more a slow burn drama. I found it hard to get into due to the slow start, however I liked the setting and the multiple points of view. Saying that, I did not connect to any of the characters. This was a well written book overall, and even though it was a bit slow for me, I can see this being a very popular read. Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for this copy in return for an honest review.

An essay on the many ways that money can't buy happiness. It's a twisty turny tale of a very rich family and their hangers on, as Helen holidays with her family while she plots to break free. Her uncle and father are reluctant to allow her any independence, on account of her mother's tragic death which is surrounded with suspicion. Helen forges a way to independence that is not without risk and collateral damage.

There are so many unexpected revelations as you read breathlessly through the story, nothing is quite what or who it seems and the surprises keep on coming. It is fast-paced an intelligently written and captures your imagination as the many repercussions of small and distant actions still have massive impact on this rich people's holidays. Love the descriptions of Capri and the lifestyle, great setting and satisfying read.

3 stars

The story itself was fun and interesting, but the way it was told was messy and so confusing at times that it was hard to follow. I don't like it when I have to reread the same chapter several times to understand what's happening.
I wanted to love this, but the messy writing style made me follow the plot a bit hard, which is a shame.
I still like this author's creative style and ideas, and I'm looking forward to reading more from them.

An adventure set on a beautiful island with a wealthy but dysfunctional family. The scene had been set decades earlier for this family; and woven through with lies, hate and deception.
It’s a great story and kept me riveted. How could one family have so much that was wrong with them and so many secrets - even from one another.
It had a really surprising ending too. Wasn’t expecting that little twist at all.
If you’re looking for something with a lot of content, twists, turns and surprises along the way - then this book is for you.

3.5 rounded to 4

This had some great elements to it - I loved the Italian island setting and the mystery surrounding the privileged family and their secrets. The pacing was good and it had a satisfying ending

Katy Hays’ The Cloisters was launched with a lot of comments claiming it to be ‘the new Secret History’ – always a bit of a poisoned chalice for a new author when readers then draw comparisons for an acknowledged masterpiece. Me? I enjoyed the descriptive style of writing and slow burn of the book.
The Vipers is similarly ‘literary’ in its prose and descriptive style, as it follows the wealthy Lingate family shrouded in gossip after a decades old mysterious death on the island of Capri which still follows them on their annual return. Each family member has their own secret which, depending on how invested you become in them given the fact that they’re not exactly the most loveable of characters, added to multiple POVs and timelines will keep you guessing throughout.

A twisty tale of family drama and murder on Capri that moves back and forth in time and between narrators. Helen's mother Sarah died-was killed-on the island when she was three and her family shut down around her after. Now, in the present, Lorna, who is a bit of a grifter, has managed to wind her way into the family and into a friendship of sorts with Helen, a friendship which she exploits. What really happened to Sarah, who was once a playwright, and what's happened to Lorna will collide over time. Helen's perspective and Lorna's are a bit different to say the least but then there's also Naomi, Helen's alcohol soaked aunt. Her father Richard, her uncle Marcus don't have a voice in this but they loom over it all. It's nicely atmospheric - with tastes, smells, heat and the rest that will transport you to Capri. What is the secret of the necklace that arrives at the Capri vacation home? So many secrets, so many questions, so many twists, some of which you might see coming and others which will be a surprise. If I have a quibble it's that this goes on a bit too long but wow that end. Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC. A very good read.

The Vipers is a masterfully crafted thriller, weaving rich descriptions and intricate character dynamics into a compelling narrative. Its atmospheric depth and suspenseful pacing make it a standout choice for discerning readers of the genre.