1978 mystery, fourteenth in the series about Superintendent Henry
Tibbett. Just before Lord Charlton dies, he decides to leave his
company and fortune to his nephew Simon, thought by most to have died
as a baby in the Blitz but secretly adopted by an American officer and
his English wife. It's been a while, information has been lost, and
two plausible claimants appear. But then one of them is murdered…
The other claimant is an obvious suspect; but there are also
people who've been expecting to be involved in the running of the
foundation, or to take over the company themselves, and they too have
motives.
Things ebb and flow, with some hidden information, and various people
turning out to be other than what they claim. It's a slight book for
most of its length, but then drops a bomb which would be mildly
contentious even now, and I'm sure put off a lot of stereotypical
old-fashioned mystery readers when the book was published.
An awful lot rests on that revelation, which I shan't spoil; and
although it's well handled I suspect I shan't be in a hurry to
re-read this book, because the rest of the book definitely takes a
second place to it, but as always with Moyes it's a solid piece and
well worth reading.
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