The Inheritance

The Agarwal family has gathered on Kilbryde — a private, 2,000-acre island off the west coast of Scotland — for a much-anticipated family reunion. The occasion: Raj, the patriarch and head of a Delhi-based petrochemicals empire worth multimillions, has six weeks to announce his succession plan. Everyone is there. Shalini, the fragile matriarch, who has spent decades sacrificing herself to the business and wants her husband back. Myra, the eldest daughter and golden child — poised, elegant, the host of this reunion — who is secretly on the brink of financial ruin and desperately needs this inheritance to save herself. Aseem, the son and supposed heir, torn between his loyalty to his father and his love for his wife. Aisha, the show more wild youngest daughter, who has spent her life being dismissed as a party girl and is furious about it. And Zoe — Aseem's wife, the outsider, the only one who isn't Agarwal by blood — whose picture-perfect Instagram life is built on a foundation of lies nobody has thought to question yet.
Staff have been sent away so the family can speak freely. There are no outsiders. Just them, their secrets, and 2,000 acres of rugged Scottish wilderness. The prologue tells you a body is coming. What it doesn't tell you is whose, or who put it there. Everyone has a motive. Everyone has something they'd die — or kill — to protect. Described widely as Succession meets Knives Out with Christie-level misdirection. Already acquired for TV adaptation, with Kunal Nayyar producing.

[May contain spoilers]
The succession itself is the wound that everything festers around — Raj's announcement, when it finally comes, detonates rather than resolves the family tensions. The secrets are multi-layered: financial desperation, infidelity, a pregnancy loss, a buried grief that several characters have been silently carrying for years, and at least one identity built almost entirely on deception. The killer and victim are both surprises — the Christie-style misdirection is genuine rather than cheap, with the final twist reportedly landing hard on the last page. The slow-burn pace frustrated some but the payoff is considered worth it.
What I think: Private island, obscenely wealthy dysfunctional family, everyone's a suspect, Christie misdirection, Christie structure — this is absolutely your kind of book. The Scottish setting is atmospheric and the Indian family dynamics give it a cultural specificity that distinguishes it from the genre crowd. The slow burn might try your patience slightly but the ending delivers. Probably a strong 4 from you. show less

I saw that Sophie Hannah had given Trisha Sakhlecha’s latest book - The Inheritance - a thumbs up. I enjoy Hannah’s work and if she liked this one, I was sure I would also. Well, the truth is I loved this book!

The book is set on a private island owned by the Agarwal family. They've gathered to celebrate Raj and Shalini's 40th anniversary. Their three adult children also have another item on the agenda...

Sakhlecha does a wonderful job of creating her characters - I could easily imagine them. Did I like them? My opinion changed with every revelation.

Sakhlecha carefully drops hooks as the book progresses. Events are alluded to, but not fully detailed. Under that veneer of civility are old hurts, secrets, anger, loss and more.

More than show more one character is given a voice and the reader is privy to their thoughts - and actions. I applaud the plotting and the end. I totally did not see that coming! A great read. show less

Inheritance by Trisha Sakhlecha contains a lot of modern thriller tropes — family secrets, marriage trouble, money problems — and drops them onto an isolated island in Scotland for a family anniversary. The Agarwals are gathering for their parents' celebration at the under-renovation retreat, but they are all looking forward to their father’s announcement of the sale of the family business that will make them all even more wealthy. Sakhlecha’s prologue clues readers in on a tragic event, but she does a nice job of leaking out the details as the family holiday progresses. Told in alternating voices of two of the characters, Inheritance is a solid thriller that may not be packed with surprises, but is engaging enough to keep the show more pages turning. show less

The Inheritance by Trisha Sakhlecha is a recommended family drama following the highly dysfunctional Agarwal family. This is a locked-room mystery where a wealthy family gathers on a private, luxury island off the west coast of Scotland.

The Agarwal family includes: Raj, the patriarch, Shalini, the matriarch, Myra, the oldest and owner of the island, Aseem, the son, Zoe, Aseem's wife, and Aisha, the youngest. Also present is Gabe, Aisha's boyfriend. The plan for the weekend is that the family will celebrate their parents anniversary, but more importantly for the children, Raj is going to announce the succession plan after the sell of his multimillon-dollar Delhi-based petroleum company. Nothing goes as planned for the weekend.

Every show more single character is unlikable. Every single character has secrets. Every single character is deceptive. They are all planning and scheming in various duos behind each other's back while presenting a privileged picture of wealth and simultaneously genuflecting to their equally scheming parents.

The narrative is told from the point-of-view of Myra and Zoe. Myra is broken, both her heart and financially, while still grieving the loss of her twins. Zoe is pregnant and frustrated with her life being controlled by Shalini. She and Aseem plan to move to London after they receive their inheritance.

The quality of the writing is good and the setting is interesting, but the familiar plot moves at a glacially slow pace. Combining the pace with not a single character to support weighed this novel down for me. I did keep reading, hoping for a huge family fight and cataclysmic breakup. There were a few promising story lines presented that fizzled out into nothing. I felt like I slogged through all the complaints and secrets of this family with no real pay off until the shocking ending.

Mostly this novel is about a wealthy but miserable dysfunctional family who keep secrets. Thanks to the Penguin Group for providing me with an advance reader's copy via NetGalley. My review is voluntary and expresses my honest opinion.

http://www.shetreadssoftly.com/2024/12/the-inheritance.html show less

The Agarwals are a wealthy Indian family. They gather on a remote island off of the coast
of Scotland where one of the daughters wants to build a luxury resort. The children hope to hear that their father is selling the family business and they will all receive a windfall inheritance. The siblings, as well as the parents, have secrets and troubles in their past which continue to haunt them.
This story is full of greed, bad decisions, and an overwhelming desire to protect family over doing what is right.
Just OK for me.

Meet The Agarwal family, Papa, Mama and their three grown up children, Myra, Aisha, Aseem and his wife Zoe. They are all going to a Scottish Island that is owned by Myra with it's luxurious property in the making to celebrate their parents anniversary. Things however will not go to plan.

This book does have tropes that I normally enjoy, a family gathering, remote location and something going wrong. However I really didn't enjoy this book at all.

The story didn't quite have that locked room feel as it was possible to leave the island. It obvious from the start that there is a murder but at this stage you won't know who or why. It then takes a lot of the story to finally find out. The majority of the story is all about the family and their show more own agendas. I felt like I was watching Eastenders, which BTW I haven't watched in years.

This is the first book I've read by this author and I'm sorry to say I'm not really inclined to read anymore. show less

The "Nom de Guerre" trope is starting to happen more and more in recently published works and I hate it!!

Alias:
Lachlann=Stu
I'm punching the air.