The Presumptive Heir

by J.D. Eells

Isla Grey was all out of luck, her career as a journalist failed and her job writing obituaries for a local paper has never made ends meet.

But when Isla is hired by dying billionaire Victor Hargrave to attend the reading of his will at his exclusive island estate, Isla believes her luck has finally changed.

Behind the gates of the Hargrave estate, nothing is what it seems. The staff obey in silence. The guests lie with elegance. At the head of the table, the dying patriarch watches it all—because someone wants his fortune and will kill to have it all.

The game for his empire has begun.
And by the end of the week, someone will inherit it.
The rest will be buried beneath it.

375 pages, Kindle Edition

Published November 7, 2025

Reviews

[Sandy Benitez · Rating 3 out of 5]

I won this book through the Goodreads Giveaway. The story was very intriguing and full of mystery and suspense. Throughout most of the book, I kept wondering who would ultimately be designated the heir to the Hargrave fortune and estate. All of the characters spoke in short, obscure sentences which of course added to the mystery.

The one complaint I have with this book is that some of the characters may have been mixed up with other characters. In chapter 12, one of the characters died but he showed up again a few chapters later as if nothing had happened to him. I think this occurred again with other characters but I couldn't be sure unless I flipped back to an earlier chapter where I distinctly remember a character's demise or disappearance. It became a bit confusing, trying to keep track of who was who.

Overall, this was a decent book and would make for a nice weekend read.

[Kristina Linenberger · Rating 4 out of 5]

this was a really good mystery read , it kept me wondering and questioning throughout the book and i like the length of it , definitely will recommend this to my mystery besties !

[Georgia · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting read

🌟🌟🌟🌟
Thank you to the author, publisher and Goodreads for the giveaway. All thoughts and feelings regarding this book are my own.

A quick read for a 400 page book. Because of the formatting and structure of the book as well as the way the words flow this is one you can finish in a day or a few hours.

Overall, I enjoyed the storyline. Having a gathering of potential heirs and an outside 3rd party to determine who , if anyone, should receive anything. It was interesting, somewhat predictable, but a good read.

Below is for the author in case edits can still be made:

Page 99 - incomplete sentence - "Isla read the"; page 105 - uses 'in' instead of 'is'; page 210- wrong guest name is used when referring to people who are gone; page 401 uses 'as' instead of 'was'

[Cheryl Tabor · Rating 5 out of 5]

Isla Grey is hired to later create the obituary and also write about the inheritance of Victor Hargrave in her news paper. Victor is a complex person, and the family to gain anything from Victors inheritance are all cut throats. There are alot of vicious things said and done during their stay. They don't like Isla's presence and are wondering what is Victor's purpose for her invitation to a family gathering. There are interesting twist. You know family gets greedy when a Will is at stake. Who gets what and why. Bad things occur to some of these family members. There are secrets they all want to stay secret, and unfortunately this gathering has alot to do with unveiling those secrets. A well written storyof greed and who truly deserves the family inheritance and why. Thank you Goodreads, Author and Publisher for this story.

[Deanna · Rating 3 out of 5]

I like the idea behind this book. It is kinda like the game clue and it does make a “ reference” to the game. I just wasn’t crazy about the execution. The first 9 ish chapters have a lot of repetitive phrases and dialogue between characters. The actions of the main character Isla were redundant as well. She left her room, got scared or ran into someone that told her she was a threat. Then she would run back to her room and notice someone was there or left her a clue. I wanted to love this and was excited when I won it. The writing just didn’t resonate with me.

[Betty Stoneking · Rating 5 out of 5]

very good