The Bequest

Joanna Margaret’s suspenseful literary thriller “The Bequest” is set in the “dark academia” subgenre. The narrative centers on Isabel Henley, who relocates to Scotland to start a PhD program with a well-known feminist scholar but discovers that her advisor has died in a fall.

After reconnecting with her captivating undergrad classmate Rose Brewster, Isabel learns that Rose is in trouble before she vanishes. Rose is alive, according to a suicide note and a coded message, but unless Isabel can finish the research before Rose vanishes, both women will be slain.

Following Rose’s paper trail from Genoa to Florence and ultimately Paris, Isabel discovers a web of treachery and betrayal, family secrets, and the story of a massive cursed emerald. The novel is a fascinating read for lovers of Donna Tartt’s “The Secret History” and Alex Michaelides’ “The Maidens,” as it blends Gothic suspense with epistolary elements.