1
of
1
The Villa
Book Hero Magic crafted this summary to help describe this book. While it's new and still
learning, it may not be perfect - your
feedback is welcome!
Summary
Read More
Format: Paperback / softback
$5100
Unit price
/
Unavailable
International Supplier
This title is in-stock with overseas suppliers. While it is not available locally, we fly books in weekly from the US and UK to our Auckland warehouse for immediate dispatch.
AVAILABLE WITH SUPPLIER
Ships from our Auckland warehouse within 2-3 weeks
Found a better price? Request a price match
The Villa
$5100
Unit price
/
Unavailable
Book Hero Magic created this recommendation. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! IS THIS YOUR NEXT READ?
This thrilling novel will appeal to fans of suspense, gothic mysteries, and stories rich in atmosphere and psychological twists. Readers who enjoy complex female friendships and dark secrets unravelling through historical and contemporary narratives will find this a compelling read.
Latest News
The Book Briefing 21/10/2026
Welcome back to another edition of 'The Book Briefing', your weekly round-up of all the...
Story to Screen - 21/10/26
It's been another huge week in the world of book-to-screen adaptations! From record-breaking trailers and...
Things We Learned from an Evening with Alice Oseman
Liam and Lizzy went along to an evening with Alice Oseman of Heartstopper! Here are...
The Book Hero Team's Wins and Misses in Film and TV Adaptations
We all love arguing in a mostly good-natured way about which adaptations of our favourite...
Vanya Insull (aka VJ Cooks) visits Book Hero
We were lucky to have a visit from popular foodie, home cook and baker Vanya...
See moreFrom the New York Times bestselling author Rachel Hawkins comes a deliciously wicked new gothic suspense, set at an Italian villa with a dark history, for fans of Lucy Foley and Ruth Ware.
Book Hero Magic formatted this description to make it easier to read. While it's new and
still learning, it may not be perfect - your
feedback is welcome!
Description
INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER!
"Hawkins weaves an engrossing tale about betrayal, sisterhood, and the power of telling your own story. Captivating!" --People
"Hawkins is the reigning queen of suspense." --Heather Gudenkauf, New York Times bestselling author
The bestselling author of The Wife Upstairs returns with a brilliant new gothic suspense set at an Italian villa with a dark history.
As kids, Emily and Chess were inseparable. But by their 30s, their bond has been strained by the demands of their adult lives. So when Chess suggests a girls' trip to Italy, Emily jumps at the chance to reconnect with her best friend.
Villa Aestas in Orvieto is a high-end holiday home now, but in 1974, it was known as Villa Rosato, and rented for the summer by a notorious rock star, Noel Gordon. In an attempt to reignite his creative spark, Noel invites up-and-coming musician, Pierce Sheldon to join him, as well as Pierce's girlfriend, Mari, and her stepsister, Lara. But he also sets in motion a chain of events that leads to Mari writing one of the greatest horror novels of all time, Lara composing a platinum album—and ends in Pierce's brutal murder.
As Emily digs into the villa's complicated history, she begins to think there might be more to the story of that fateful summer in 1974. That perhaps Pierce's murder wasn't just a tale of sex, drugs, and rock & roll gone wrong, but that something more sinister might have occurred—and that there might be clues hidden in the now-iconic works that Mari and Lara left behind.
Yet the closer that Emily gets to the truth, the more tension she feels developing between her and Chess. As secrets from the past come to light, equally dangerous betrayals from the present also emerge—and it begins to look like the villa will claim another victim before the summer ends.
Inspired by Fleetwood Mac, the Manson murders, and the infamous summer Percy and Mary Shelley spent with Lord Byron at a Lake Geneva castle—the birthplace of Frankenstein—The Villa welcomes you into its deadly legacy.
Book Details
INFORMATION
ISBN: 9781250834591
Publisher: St Martin's Press
Format: Paperback / softback
Date Published: 07 November 2023
Country: United States
Imprint: St Martin's Press
Audience: General / adult
DIMENSIONS
Spine width: 23.0mm
Width: 135.0mm
Height: 216.0mm
Weight: 259g
Pages: 320
About the Author
Rachel Hawkins is the New York Times bestselling author of The Wife Upstairs, Reckless Girls, The Villa, and The Heiress, as well as multiple books for young readers. Her work has been translated into over a dozen languages. She studied gender and sexuality in Victorian literature at Auburn University and currently lives in Alabama.
Also by Rachel Hawkins
View all-
The Heiress
There's nothing as good as the rich gone bad. 'One of the most deliciously twisted families ever put to page' – Riley Sager With the death of his adopted mother, Camden McTavish hopes that he can finally be free of his scandalous family. Ruby McTavish was North Carolina's richest woman, and its most notorious: the victim of a famous childhood...Paperback$2799Unit price /UnavailableAvailableShips in 4-6 weeks -
Her Royal Highness
Her Royal Highness will make you swoon. - Entertainment Weekly Regal romance abounds in this flirty, laugh-out-loud companion novel to Prince Charming, by New York Times bestselling author Rachel Hawkins. Millie Quint is devastated when she discovers that her sort-of-best friend/sort-of-girlfriend has been kissing someone else. Heartbroken and ready for a change of pace, Millie decides to apply for scholarships...Paperback$2200Elsewhere:$2400Unit price /UnavailableAvailableShips in 4-6 weeks -
The Wife Upstairs
The Top 10 New York Times bestseller “I was completely blown away by The Wife Upstairs. This is a compulsive, irresistible retelling of Jane Eyre with a modern, noir twist – and wow, does it work” — Samantha Downing, bestselling author of My Lovely Wife Stylist's best paperbacks of 2021 Hello Magazine's best new books released in 2021 A girl...Paperback$2300Elsewhere:$2500Unit price /UnavailableIn StockShips today -
The Storm
It was the trial that swept the nationBut her story isn't finished yet . . . 'Had me hooked from the very first page' Reader Review ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐'Unputdownable!' Reader Review ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐'I devoured it in a single day' Reader Review ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐St Medard's Bay, Alabama is famous for three things: the...Paperback$3799Unit price /UnavailableAvailableShips in 4-6 weeks -
The Storm
NATIONAL BESTSELLER - A January 2026 Indie Next Pick - "This gripping page-turner feels like it was ripped from the juiciest headlines." --People - "Sexy and full of surprises...an ideal curl-up-by-the-fire read." --Real Simple Hurricane season can be murder... St. Medard's Bay, Alabama is famous for three things: the deadly hurricanes that regularly sweep into town, the Rosalie Inn, a...Hardback$7200Unit price /UnavailableAvailableShips in 2-3 weeks -
Reckless Girls
Instant New York Times and USA Today bestsellerIndie Next Pick and LibraryReads Pick From Rachel Hawkins, the New York Times bestselling author of The Wife Upstairs, comes a deliciously wicked gothic suspense, set on an isolated Pacific island with a dark history. "A literary pina colada." --Entertainment Weekly"A high-octane thriller." --New York Times Book Review (Staff Pick) ONE ISLAND Beautiful,...Paperback$5300Unit price /UnavailableAvailableShips in 2-3 weeks -
The Heiress
Hawkins is the reigning queen of suspense – Heather Gudenkauf When Ruby McTavish Callahan Woodward Miller Kenmore dies, she's not only North Carolina's richest woman, she's also its most notorious. The victim of a famous kidnapping as a child and a widow four times over, Ruby ruled the tiny town of Tavistock from Ashby House, her family's estate high in...Paperback$3799Unit price /UnavailableAvailableShips in 4-6 weeks -
The Wife Upstairs
Instant New York Times and USA Today Bestseller "Compulsively readable...a gothic thriller laced with arsenic." -- EW One of the Most Anticipated Books of 2021: CNN - Newsweek - Vulture - PopSugar - Parade - BuzzFeed - E!Online - TimeOut - Woman's Day - Goodreads - She Reads - Good Housekeeping - CrimeReads - Frolic - Hello! - Mystery and...Paperback$5300Unit price /UnavailableAvailableShips in 2-3 weeks -
The Storm
It was the trial that swept the nation. But her story isn't finished yet . . . ‘Had me hooked from the very first page’ Reader Review ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ‘Unputdownable!’ Reader Review ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ‘I devoured it in a single day’ Reader Review ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ The Storm, set in St Medard's...Paperback$2799Unit price /UnavailableAvailableShips in 4-6 weeks -
Reckless Girls
The gripping new thriller and instant New York Times bestseller, perfect for escapist reading! The holiday of your dreams…When Lux and Nico get the chance to sail to a remote island off the coast of Hawaii, they’re thrilled. It’s the trip they’ve been dreaming of their whole lives. A tropical paradise…Despite a dark history of shipwrecks and murder, the island...PaperbackSold Out
More from Crime & Thriller
View all-
New ReleaseKing’s Ransom
Five innocent hostages. Five private investigators. A fiendish ransom game. Has Detective Sam Speedman met his match? A fast and deadly Matthew Reilly thriller. A DARING ABDUCTION The richest man in the world has been kidnapped. Along with four of his children. THE DEADLY CHALLENGE The kidnapper's demand: the five best private detectives in America must come to the missing...Paperback$2999Elsewhere:$3499Unit price /UnavailableIn StockShips today -
New ReleaseThe French Illusion
Bestselling author John Grisham delivers a new gripping, suspenseful page-turner about aParis honeymoon gone horribly wrong - and the nightmare that follows. After Paul and Chelsea Tanner's fairytale wedding, their future is full of promise. But their honeymoon to Paris takes a dark, shocking turn when they are kidnapped while on a day trip to the French countryside. Who would...Paperback$3199Elsewhere:$3799Unit price /UnavailableIn StockShips today -
New ReleaseKing’s Ransom
Five innocent hostages. Five private investigators. A fiendish ransom game. Has Detective Sam Speedman met his match? A fast and deadly Matthew Reilly thriller. A DARING ABDUCTION The richest man in the world has been kidnapped. Along with four of his children. THE DEADLY CHALLENGE The kidnapper's demand: the five best private detectives in America must come to the missing...Hardback$4499Elsewhere:$4999Unit price /UnavailableIn StockShips today -
New ReleaseChain Reaction
Jack Reacher, \"the coolest continuing series character\" (Stephen King), returns in a brand new, pulse-pounding read from Lee and Andrew Child. The world’s bestselling hero is back in a brand new, high-octane adventure! ‘She knew that finding Reacher would not be easy . . .’ Washington DC. General Susan Turner needs help from the only guy she knows will get...Paperback$2999Elsewhere:$3800Unit price /UnavailableIn StockShips today -
New ReleaseThe Family Cross
In the gripping new thriller in James Patterson's globally bestselling series, Alex Cross faces his most personal case yet as a ruthless conspiracy targets Washington's most vulnerable... and his own family. Discover the latest gripping thriller in the globally bestselling Alex Cross series - now the inspiration for the original series CROSS on Prime Video starring Aldis Hodge as Alex...Paperback$3199Elsewhere:$3800Unit price /UnavailableIn StockShips today -
The Heights
In The Heights by #1 Sunday Times bestselling author Sir Ian Rankin, murder comes to London's most exclusive high-rise - and every resident is a suspect... MURDER COMES TO LONDON'S MOST LUXURIOUS HIGH-RISE: AND EVERY RESIDENT IS A SUSPECT. The Heights: a gleaming, high-end high-rise looming over Hyde Park. Newly built from steel and smoked glass, it is a billionaire's playground offering sumptuous suites...Paperback$3199Elsewhere:$3799Unit price /UnavailableBackorderShips mid November -
New ReleaseDeath Row
With all hope of an appeal fading away, the fate of a condemned murderess takes a shocking turn in a breathtaking short story from the #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Housemaid! A thrilling novella from #1 New York Times bestselling author Freida McFadden! Death is coming for her… unless she finds the truth first. Talia Kemper is on death row for murdering...Paperback$2299Elsewhere:$2400Unit price /UnavailableIn StockShips today -
Signed Copy19% offDying Days
Award-winning writer delivers a pulse-pounding espionage thriller. Missing soldiers, MI6 secrets and European partisans collide in a deadly game where the lines between lies and reality are fast disintegrating. In the dying days of the Second World War, a new conflict is about to ignite. May, 1945: After fighting to liberate Europe from the Nazis, Tito's Yugoslav Army and Allied...Paperback$2600Elsewhere:$3699Unit price /UnavailableIn StockShips today -
19% offNew Release
Fury In Death: An Eve Dallas thriller (In Death 63)
In the new crime thriller from the bestselling author, Lt. Eve Dallas journeys into the darkness where murder is born… NYSPD homicide detective Eve Dallas has seen a lot in her time but even she is shocked by the savagery of a beating which leaves a wealthy biotech executive dead in his home office. The victim’s corpse is so mangled...Paperback$2600Elsewhere:$3799Unit price /UnavailableIn StockShips today -
19% offNew ReleaseTom Clancy Pressure Depth
Jack Ryan Jr leads a team of divers in a race to beat the Chinese Navy to a weapon of terrible destructive power in the latest entry in the #1 New York Times bestselling series. Jack Ryan Jr. is on Guam to work on a project for Hendley Associates. It's a perfectly ordinary insurance matter, but trouble finds the Ryans...Paperback$2600Elsewhere:$3799Unit price /UnavailableIn StockShips today -
10% offNew ReleaseThe Country Road Murders
From the Sunday Times bestselling author comes a pulse-pounding thriller about justice, vengeance and the roads that lead us home. No one gets this big without amazing natural storytelling talent - which is what Jim has, in spades — LEE CHILD Cross Rivers is the kind of small town where everyone knows your name – and your secrets. Silas Tucker...Paperback$2700Elsewhere:$3800Unit price /UnavailableIn StockShips today -
15% offEvery Lake
Scary stories are fun... until your life becomes one. When Alice was fifteen, her father killed Mia Heywood in their lakefront cottage before vanishing into the trees. At least that's what the locals think happened. Over a decade later, Alice has lost her job as a journalist, she's going through an expensive divorce and she desperately needs to sell the...Paperback$2800Elsewhere:$3799Unit price /UnavailableIn StockShips today
Why buy from us?
Book Hero is not a chain store or big box retailer. We're an independent 100% NZ-owned business on a mission to help more Kiwis rediscover a love of books and reading!
Service & Delivery
Our warehouse in Auckland holds over 100,000 books, toys, board games and puzzles in-stock so you're not waiting for your order to arrive from overseas.
Auckland Bookstore
We're primarily an online store, but for your convenience you can pick up your order for free from our bookstore, which is right next door to our warehouse in Hobsonville.
Our Gifting Service
Books make wonderful thoughtful gifts and we're here to help with gift-wrapping and cards. We can even send your gift directly to your loved one.
Crime & Thriller lists from the team
Explore our curated lists from our heroes to find your next read!
-
![]()
![]()
![]()
Lizzy's listCrime & Thriller
Thriller Novels for the Spooky Season
I love that my local book club always chooses a thematic book for October to fit with Spooky Season, but instead of...View the list -
![]()
![]()
![]()
Lizzy's listCrime & Thriller
Classics for the Crime & Thriller Reader
Here are some classics that are perfect for someone who already loves a crime & thriller novel - the fathers (and mothers)...View the list -
![]()
![]()
![We Need to Talk About Kevin]()
Lizzy's listCrime & Thriller
Thriller Novels that Won't Leave Lizzy's Brain
These are the books that Lizzy almost wishes she could forget about because they've ruined something for her - whether it's making...View the list -
![]()
![]()
![]()
Shirl's listCrime & Thriller
Shirl's Crime & Thriller Picks
I've always loved a good crime and thriller read! Here are a few of my favourites from past and present that have...View the list -
![]()
![]()
![]()
Lizzy's listCrime & Thriller
Lizzy's Top Kiwi Crime/Thriller Writers
Looking for your next Crime/Thriller pick? We have some amazing authors right here in Aotearoa doing everything from releasing amazing spine tingling...View the list -
![]()
![]()
![]()
Hannah's listCrime & Thriller
Gripping Crime and Thriller Books
From the fast paced and stressful to the laborious and creepy, this is a selection of some of my favourite crime and...View the list
