The Villa by Rachel Hawkins

November 28, 2022

The Villa by Rachel Hawkins

Emily Sheridan and Chess Chandler have been friends since elementary school. Both are writers: Emily writes cozy mysteries and Chess writes self-help books. Following a bad period in Emily's life, Chess suggests they spend the summer at a villa in Italy where both can work on their writing. At first, the house seems like the perfect place to spend the summer. But when Emily learns that a murder occurred at the villa 50 years earlier, she begins to dig deeper into the story.

There are two timelines here, set 50 years apart, that mirror each other to a certain extent. I figured out the plot about one third of the way into the story. But there were some unexpected twists as well as two different endings, and the reader is left wondering about the truth. Quite a few of the characters are unlikeable, so it didn't bother me when they died or got killed. This is enjoyable escape fiction, well-written, that is perfect for vacation, and readers of psychological or suspense fiction will be drawn into the story.

Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for providing an eARC.

Orvieto, Italy, the setting for The Villa