A Deadly Inheritance - by Kelley Armstrong (Paperback)

Book Synopsis

After discovering she's an heiress to a billion-dollar corporation, seventeen-year-old Liliana finds herself at a new boarding school where she must navigate secret societies and a deadly competition. Not to mention two handsome boys.

The Reappearance of Rachel Price meets The Inheritance Games series in this new YA thriller from bestselling author Kelley Armstrong.

In the wake of her mother's death, Liliana Chamberlain's estranged (and very wealthy) grandparents swoop in. Or their lawyer does. Her grandparents aren't ready to meet her, but they want her to have the life her mother walked away from, starting with Westdale Academy, the elite boarding school her mother attended. It should be a Cinderella dream come true, but Lili has serious misgivings. Yet she doesn't have a choice, being under eighteen and dead broke.

Westdale Academy is a school of secrets as well as intriguing classmates, including Hollywood golden boy Theo Dubois and the mysterious Maddox Moreno. As she gets to know them all, Lili realizes there's more to the school than elite-level networking. Something deadly.

For the new girl at school, investigating the deaths of past students -- including Maddox's own sister -- is a very dangerous game. Do those deaths have something to do with why her mother fled Westdale at the cost of her inheritance?

When a fun night out turns bloody, Theo is the prime suspect, and Liliana must race against time to connect the past with the present and discover the truth behind her inheritance.

Review Quotes

An Indigo's Best Books of 2026 (So Far) Pick

"Readers will be swept along with this engaging, over-the-top account of a school that's filled with a diverse group of glittering teens. . . . A suspenseful thriller that's elevated by a fresh romance storyline." --Kirkus Reviews

"Readers who enjoy seeing the cheating rich get their comeuppance juxtaposed with smart characters helping an underdog will enjoy this contemporary mystery." --Booklist

"[T]here's nothing better than the unraveling and intertwining of plot threads leading to a refreshing and a gratifying denouement, which is what you always get with Kelley Armstrong's suspenseful reads." --CanLit for LittleCanadians

About the Author

KELLEY ARMSTRONG is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of three trilogies for teens: the Darkest Powers; Darkness Rising; and Age of Legends, as well as several thriller and fantasy series for adults and four YA thrillers (The Masked Truth, Missing, Aftermath and Someone Is Always Watching). She is also the author of the Royal Guide to Monster Slaying series. Someone Is Always Watching was shortlisted for the Crime Writers of Canada Best Juvenile/YA Crime Book award.