The Heiresses

Summary (from the publisher): The only thing more flawless than a Saybrook solitaire is the family behind the diamond empire. Beauties, entrepreneurs, debutantes, and mavens, they are the epitome of high society. Anyone would kill to be one of them. But be careful what you wish for, because if you were a Saybrook, you'd be haunted by secrets and plagued by a dark streak of luck.

Tragedy strikes the famous family yet again when thirty-four-year-old Poppy, the most remarkable Saybrook of them all, flings herself from the window of her office. Everyone is shocked that someone so perfect would end her own life...until her cousins receive an ominous threat: One heiress down, four to go.

In the aftermath of the tragedy, the remaining heiresses - Corinne the perfectionist, Rowan the workaholic, Aster the hedonist, and Natasha the enigma - wrestle with feelings of sadness, loss, guilt, and most of all, fear. Now they most uncover the truth about their family before they lose the only thing money can't buy: their lives.

The Heiresses is a whip-smart mystery that simmers with a wicked sense of humor and intrigue that made Pretty Little Liars a must-read, must-watch phenomenon.

Review: I received an uncorrected proof copy of this book from HarperCollins.

The Heiresses is the first in a new series from the author of Pretty Little Liars (which I have not read.) It follows the intrigues of the wealthy Saybrook cousins: Poppy, Corinne, Rowan, Aster, and Natasha. Set in New York City, this book reminded me so much of the intrigues and soap opera/drama feel of the Gossip Girl TV show. Like Gossip Girl, the Saybrook ladies have a devoted fan page that tracks and reports on their every move.

A lot of this book seemed over the top. Shepard takes pains to emphasize how wealthy and privileged the girls are; "the time she and her rotating posse piled into a private plan and flew to Ibiza; the time they pooled their cash to buy a Porsche Carerra and drove to someone's upstate chalet and partied like people in the Jazz Age. Once she flew a friend's twin-prop plane around his Connecticut airfield on a dare, even though her last lesson had been years ago. She'd water-skied naked on an ice-cold lake in Maine, and mountain-biked down dangerous trails in Sedona" (23). Similarly, the plot is filled with dramatic plot twists - suspicious suicides, a secret love child, a body that disappears in a canal. It's a light hearted read that's juicy and I absolutely see why it appeals to many readers looking for fun entertainment. However, I wanted it to offer more breadth and believability than it was able to offer me.

I was disappointed in the lack of character development. I realize that a large part of this novel is setting up the narrative for the books that will follow in the series. However, there were too many characters to really flesh them all out. It was hard to feel too sad about Poppy's death when the reader barely got to know her. Similarly, I thought the older generations of Saybrooks were summarily glossed over. I would have liked to learn more about the founding of the family business and the matriarchal figure of the grandmother.

Stars: 3