The Rich and the Dead: A Novel (Lila Day Novels, #1)

by Liv Spector

To solve the crime of the century, she'll have to go back in time...Welcome to Star Island, where Miami's wealthiest residents lead private lives behind the tall gates of their sprawling mansions. It's a blissful escape from the hot and dirty city-or it was, until New Year's Day 2015, when twelve of the most powerful people in the world were found murdered in the basement of a Star Island mansion. The massacre shocked the nation and destroyed the life of investigator Lila Day. Her hunt for the Star Island killer consumed her. But the case went unsolved, resulting in her dismissal from the Miami PD. Now, three years later, life hands Lila an unexpected second chance: reclusive billionaire Teddy Hawkins approaches Lila and asks her to solve the case. But how do you investigate a crime when all the leads have long ago gone cold? The answer, Teddy tells her, is to solve the case before it happens. He's going to send Lila back in time. With nothing left to lose, an incredulous Lila travels back to 2014, determined to find the Star Island killer once and for all.
But as she goes undercover among the members of Miami's high society, she finds herself caring for-and falling for-people who are destined to die that fateful night. Now she must either say good-bye or risk altering the future forever.

• ISBN10: 0062258397
• ISBN13: 9780062258397
• Publish Date: 10 April 2014 (first published 18 March 2014)
• Publish Status: Active
• Out of Print: 15 October 2021
• Publish Country: US
• Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers Inc
• Imprint: William Morrow Paperbacks
• Format: Paperback
• Pages: 320
• Language: English

Reviews

[meowstina]

I received an advanced reader copy from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

Time travel is always intriguing, but throw in a murder mystery and it becomes even more interesting. This book doesn’t necessarily live up to its exciting premise, but it’s still an ok read.

Lila’s actions throughout her time in 2014 don’t exactly live up to her earlier character description. She’s supposed to have a keen sense and knack for investigating, but she doesn’t show it. I understand some of it being for the sake of the reader not figuring things out too quickly, but for ninety percent of the book she is way off the mark. Also, I guessed who the killer is upon the first mention of them. That made reading about Lila’s other suspects kind of tedious, yet I was still kind of in suspense because I wanted to see if I was right.

While the story left me semi-interested yet still a little bored (probably because of my correct suspicions - if I was as confused as Lila, I’m sure it would have been a lot more captivating), the characters left me feeling…well, the same. Some of them are really overdone, especially when it comes to common tropes. There are a few that are ok, mostly the ones that have genuine acts, which kind of balances things out. The book really seems like a typical mystery, though, so maybe I’m just not used to how stories in this genre are told.