I received this book for free in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.
See How They Fall by Rachel Paris Published by Scarlet on April 29, 2025
Genres: Mystery, Thriller
Pages: 330 •Format: E-ARC •Source: NetGalley, Publisher
Goodreads
When Skye married into the wealthy Turner family, she thought she was entering paradise. But now, several years later, she remains uneasy amid the opulence of her husband’s world, struggling with her own secrets and working to maintain a normal life for their young daughter, Tilly.
Skye’s delicate balance is undone when the family patriarch, Sir Campbell Turner, dies suddenly and an illegitimate heir comes forward to stake his claim in the luxury goods empire the old man leaves behind. Reluctantly, the Turners receive the newcomer at an intimate weekend retreat at Yallambee, the family seaside estate, but tempers flare and egos clash within their first few hours together and the night ends in a tragedy that leaves one dead and another fighting for life.
Sergeant Mei O’Connor is assigned to investigate the incident and though her superiors are keen to close the case as swiftly as possible, the evidence just isn’t lining up. Convinced that there’s more to the suspicious death than a simple accident, Mei continues to search for answers. But pulling at these threads may just tear down the Turner empire.
*Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for providing an ARC in exchange for an honest review!*
This book made me SO angry, but in the best possible way; it was a scathing commentary on how women are so often gaslit, belittled, and overlooked in both personal and professional settings. And while I wanted to rage at the characters for this behavior, I also greatly applaud the attention to these matters that the author is able to bring, all while weaving together a compelling mystery with twists that are both surprising and yet exactly what you’d expect.
See How They Fall follows two protagonists with alternating POVs: Skye, a working class gal who marries into an insanely rich family but who learns she has very little control over her life, and Mei, a police detective whose personal life is in shambles and whose professional contributions are often overlooked. Their worlds collide after a poisoning happens at Skye’s family’s Easter holiday celebration leaving one dead and her daughter, Tilly, in a critical, hospitalized state.
This mystery was quite twisty, with many revelations (both some that I guessed and some that REALLY surprised me, which I always love!) There was one twist at the very, very end that was wild and I did not see coming (but looking back I see how well it was plotted!) The setting was the ever popular rich-people-with sinister-secrets situation (in the vein of Succession, White Lotus, etc) but was grounded by Mei’s POV as a more “normal” person, and yet her and Skye’s parallel experiences as women in the heart of this web was well-done. The dual POVs also provided a good balance between the family drama and the police investigation elements. Mei and Skye are also both absolutely flawed characters but it made their narration compelling and honestly made me root for them even more.
While I will admit the ending felt a bit abrupt and glossed over some elements that I wish had been fleshed out more (a frustrating trend in thrillers, I fear) I think this story was a great debut and was so much more than “just” a thriller, but really a look at how women are treated despite their place in society.
Overall: A really strong debut thriller that’s smartly written with enough twists and turns to keep you on your toes!
Leave a Reply