April 2025

As my sons are now in their 30s, I miss spring break, which was a standard thing in their youth. So it was no surprise that I was eager for a book that took place in a location with sun and sand. SALTWATER by Katy Hays fit the bill. It’s set on the isle of Capri, where the Lingate family has gathered for a week each summer to vacation. What’s a tad odd about this return trip each year is that it’s the anniversary of the week when Sarah Lingate was found dead in 1992. Are they coming back there to honor her, or to be sure that people believe she died of natural causes and that no one in the family had anything to do with it? Interesting question, right?

But then the necklace that Sarah was wearing on the night she disappeared shows up again, and the investigation into what happened to her is reopened.

It’s a great setup to be someplace this posh with mysterious intrigue surrounding it. Sarah’s daughter, Helen, was just three years old when her mother died. She has been under something like house arrest since she gave an interview about her family to the Los Angeles Times --- one that was killed before publication. Since then, she has been shuttled places with a family chauffeur, whether it be to her classes or to an art studio. She has been kept under close watch with the tight circle surrounding her, which includes her controlling father, Richard; her uncle, Marcus, who watches at arm’s length; and her aunt, Naomi, who muddles through life in an alcohol-soaked and pill-spiked haze.

On Capri, Helen enlists her father’s personal assistant, Lorna Moreno, to get her freed from these familial bonds until that too goes awry when Lorna disappears. The action is brisk, the secrets are deep, and the plot is completely satisfying. As for that necklace, you will have to read the book to see how it layers cleverly into the story.

I talked to Katy about SALTWATER, and I highly recommend that you watch the video or listen to the podcast.