It's been over three years since a dozen extremely wealthy and influential individuals were assassinated in a Star Island mansion near Miami, Florida, on New Year's Day 2015. After an extensive investigation by every agency imaginable, as well as the offer of a huge bounty, no killer was identified and the high-profile case went cold. It also meant lead detective Lila Day, with an excellent eight-year record on the Miami police force, was relieved of duty for failing to solve the crime. It also left Lila with a feeling of inadequacy and self-doubt that has only gotten worse as the years have passed.

In July 2018, when reclusive South Beach billionaire Teddy Hawkins offers Lila a way to go back in time to find the Star Island killer, naturally she's hesitant about his methods. After a demonstration that time-travel is possible, Lila agrees to Teddy's terms. When she returns to late 2014, Lila will have a new identity, she can never let her past and future selves meet, and she's forbidden to do anything in the past that will alter the present, which means she cannot prevent the massacre from happening. She's being given three months to identify the murderer so he/she can be brought to justice. Confident she'll solve the mystery before the time limit, Lila is not prepared for the strong connection she makes with the people who are doomed to die. Living a life of deception and knowing the tragic event that's about to take place, Lila doesn't know if she'll be able to stick to the terms of the bargain.

With a surprise ending I did not see coming, Liv Spector's THE RICH AND THE DEAD is an amazingly suspenseful time-travel story filled with a striking cast of characters. It moves along briskly and keeps the reader involved in the complex plot until the stunning ending. THE RICH AND THE DEAD is a great reading experience.