Review with Spoilers for The Inheritance

My Review with Spoilers for The Inheritance discusses this New January 2025 Release! The Inheritance is perfect for fans of Succession, complete with a rich family and a Scottish setting. Will you enjoy it? Check out Jen’s Quick Take OR peek at spoilers if you dare!

Jen’s Quick Take of The Inheritance by Trisha Sakhlecha

• This suspense story has a slow burn pace.
• It has a remote island setting and
• a locked room/closed circle feel, with limited characters
• the plot is mostly family secrets and drama
• It reminded me a little of The Guest List
• I’m adding it to my book list for fans of Succession.
• It won’t be for readers who like a fast-paced story with dramatic events at every twist and turn, but the suspense slowly builds to a truly chilling ending. I thought it was worth the wait!

Review with Spoilers for The Inheritance

As The Inheritance begins, members of the very wealthy Agarwal family gather for a small celebration on a private island.

There are really only about ten characters, but I struggled for a few chapters to understand who was connected to whom. So, with NO spoilers, here’s a list to help you out:

Character List for The Inheritance

• Papa and Mama (Shalini) Agarwal
• Aseem, the golden child who helps his father run PetroVision
• Zoe, Aseem’s wife
• Myra, Aseem’s sister; a lawyer
• Owen, Myra’s estranged husband; a wealthy Brit
• Aisha, younger sister to Myra and Aseem; she and Zoe were friends before Zoe married Aseem
• Gabe: Aisha’s brand new boyfriend
• Stu and Lorna: Scottish locals and caretakers at the island

The story starts with mild tension (a big business deal that Aseem and his father are managing and the family’s skepticism over Aisha’s new boyfriend) but slowly escalates to a tragedy and then shocking reveals.

That’s about all I can say without spoilers, so let’s move to that:

Spoilers and the Ending Explained for The Inheritance

There were several minor mysteries in the book:

• Who is narrating the prologue and who is dead?
• Who was Zoe’s mysterious online troll, NB_Lurker?
• What is with the Agarwal weird family dynamic?
• Why does no one talk about what happened in Greece? WHAT HAPPENED IN GREECE?

Then, around the 90% mark, things finally come to a head:

• We see the toxic and controlling side of “Mama” Shalini
• Zoe, now pregnant, wants Aseem to break away from his family
• But Zoe brings up the forbidden topic: the fact that the siblings’ brother Ishaan (twin to Aisha) died in a fire on a family trip to Greece twenty years ago. FINALLY!
• Aseem told Zoe this in confidence and he’s furious that she brings it up.
• We learn Aseem was supposed to be watching the younger children that day
• Aseem accuses Zoe of secretly using their money to fake her influencer success (true)

Then Zoe does the unthinkable:

Zoe betrays Asaam and the family by threatening to go public with a secret Aseem told her: that Mama Shalani was sleeping with her husband’s friend (maybe his frenemy Malhotra?) when she was supposed to be watching Ishaan.

The next thing we know, Zoe is dead.

What happens next:

• The family cold-bloodedly discusses who to pin the murder on and they decide on Gabe, the outsider. They methodically plant evidence and frame him.
• Gabe is convicted, Mama and Papa go back to Delhi, and Owen and Myra get back together.
• Then Myra meets Aseem for lunch
• We learn that Myra also knew about her mother’s affair
• And we get the final reveal: that Mama was the one who hit Zoe on the head with a rock, killing her.

How do you feel about all this?

Is “Mama” too evil? AND she gets to keep her secret?

Talk to me in comments! If you’ve read this, I want to know what you think, and spoilers are fine!

Check out all the other great mystery, thriller and suspense books coming out in January 2025!