Saltwater

• Author: Katy Hays
• Genre: Mystery
• Publication Date: March 25, 2025
• Publisher: Ballantine Books

Thank you to NetGalley and Ballantine Books for providing me with an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

In 1992 Sarah Lingate is found dead below the cliffs of Capri, leaving behind her three-year-old daughter, Helen. Despite suspicions that the old-money Lingates are involved, Sarah’s death is ruled an accident, and every year the family returns to prove it’s true. But on the thirtieth anniversary of Sarah’s death, the Lingates arrive at the villa to find a surprise waiting for them—the necklace Sarah was wearing the night she died.

I fell in love with Katy Hays’ writing before I had even finished The Cloisters. Requesting this book was something that didn’t involve any conscious thought, and I was really curious to see what Hays was going to do with this book. Her previous book left the standards high, and I thought this was a wonderful follow up.

To start with, this is a slow, meandering story that unfolds over two timelines and through the eyes of multiple characters, matching the laid-back island vibe associated with Capri itself. The end is pretty fast-moving, but I liked that it went at the pace that it did. It isn’t a mad dash through a story, instead we get to know the major players, see the events through different perspectives, and really become invested in the story. 

The summary sounds fascinating, and I really liked the way that Hays incorporated a lot of great elements that I gravitate towards—a fascinating location, getting a view of a world that exists right beside the ordinary one, and an old-money family full of secrets. Reading this was like going on vacation with an old-money rich friend, and getting to see all of the behind-the-scenes dirt that happens.

There are a handful of characters in the story: the Lingates in the 1992 timeline, and only a few more in the present timeline, and those are the people who have been added to the family, or are associated with them in some way. To start with, my feelings about the characters changed over the course of the reading, with my impression of characters changing based on their thoughts and behaviors. 

As a whole, the Lingates are the kind of people who seem to be surrounded by tragedy. The death of Sarah Lingate in what is ruled to be an accident, but the family makes it a point to return to Capri each year in an attempt to quell rumors that have persisted since 1992. And while the family members vary significantly in terms of how likable they are and where they are in the spectrum of moral grayness, I found myself actually not liking any of the characters outside of Helen. She has grown up in the shadow of her mother’s mysterious death and is pretty thick-skinned as a result, but she also gets to see the way her family’s money has served to protect and insulate her from reality, so while she is pretty clear-eyed in some ways, there are other things that her family has obscured. 

I’m sure it is no surprise to any mystery reader that there are secrets in a rich family. But the deliberate choice of setting this story during the week that the family is in Capri for vacation, when they’re all living in the same villa, going through their days on a slow-paced island, made it feel significant, almost as if Capri itself, or at least its cliffs and rocky shores, were a threatening character lurking around the bend. 

But the real star of this book is the twisty, turning, dark plot and the stunning plot twists involved. Every time that I thought I knew what was going to happen next, the plot took a hard turn in the opposite direction, and it was refreshing to see such an unpredictable story without veering too far into unbelievable territory, although there was something towards the end of this book that had me reducing my star rating from 5 to 4.5 stars because it felt too over the top. Aside from that, I was really enjoying this book.

Overall, this is a really well-written and tightly plotted mystery, although I didn’t like how one loose end was tied up. However, the other ones were done so well. This was the kind of book that I savored and wandered my way through, rather than the kind I had to race through at breakneck pace. I liked seeing how everything unfolded, and the slower pace wasn’t bothering me because the mystery wasn’t as urgent to solve, allowing me to just hang on for the scenic ride. Also, this book kind of allows me to feel like I get to see how the other half lives, and see what a week on Capri might be like.

You might enjoy this one if you:

• Like a mystery that unfolds slowly, rather than a fast-paced read.
• Love Capri or the idea of it.
• Seek out books featuring family secrets.
• Can’t resist the kind of mystery that has unpredictable twists.

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