Question of Inheritance, A

A Very English Mystery #2

by Elizabeth Edmondson, Michael Page (Reader)

December 1953

Hugo Hawksworth is on the tail of rogue Cold War agents at a top-secret government facility, while back home at Selchester Castle they’re awaiting the arrival of the new Earl—an American, the long-lost son of the murdered Lord Selchester.

The town of Selchester, rich in scandal and gossip, is unsure what to make of the Earl or his teenage daughters, but they know that his sharp-tongued half-sister, Lady Sonia, furious at being deprived of her inheritance, won’t be a merry guest over Christmas.

The new Lord Selchester can cope with the strangeness of English country life, but he hadn’t expected stolen paintings—or a body in the hothouse.

What’s the link between Hugo’s investigations and the suspicious goings-on in the town and at the Castle? And will he and his allies get to the heart of the mystery before the murderer gets to them?

Revised edition: This edition of A Question of Inheritance includes editorial revisions.

Genres: Mystery, Historical Fiction, Fiction, Historical, Audiobook, Historical Mystery, Crime

MP3 CD

First published October 27, 2015

About the author

Born in Chile, and educated in Calcutta and London before going to Oxford University, Elizabeth Edmondson divided her time between the countryside north of Rome and the spires of Oxford. She was married to an art historian and had two children.

In Edmondson's words: "I write historical mysteries about love, marriage families and friendship, where the loyalties, feuds, secrets and betrayals of the past cast long shadows. I’m fascinated by characters who are quirky, mysterious, funny, unexpected and interesting and I want readers to share, as I do, in their joys and sorrows.

"My books are set in the Thirties, Forties and Fifties, at home and abroad. With dramatic and glamorous settings from icy lakes to Italian villas, from wintry Budapest to fashionable France, the landscapes are as powerful as the stories are complex. The tense realities of life mingle with supernatural elements : ghosts, prophetic dreams and voices from the past, but fun and humour also dance in and out of the light and darkness of the stories.

"My aim is to enthrall, delight and amuse readers as they are transported to a different era."

Reviews

[Ingie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Review written January 19, 2016

3 1/2 Stars - Perfect audiobook for a girl with the flu. Another lighthearted cozy mystery set in the 50:s

Book #2

A Question of Inheritance is the second part in an modern 1950:s (non romance) mystery series I started a month ago with #1-A Man of Some Repute (3.5 stars). I listened to the 8:16 hours audiobook ver well narrated by Michael Page. Looking forward to new parts in the future.

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This is books about a limping former spy hero Hugo Hawksworth, and his nosy and curious 13-year-old sister Georgia which are moving from London to the middle of nowhere to the, by now more or less empty old, "Selchester Castle" in 1953. Hugo is supposed to work as a statistician at "Thorn Hall" and his (motherless) sister to study in the local highschool. Their lodgings will to start be in some rooms in the old big castle. There in the castle are also Freya Wryton living. She is former (missing) Lord's free-spirited niece. We also met the lovely (but gossipy) castle cook and housekeeper Mrs Partridge.

Winter 1953...
A delicate mystery was solved in the first book and it was time for the next clue to solve. — There is a new Lord, an American, with two teenage daughters arriving to the castle. They aren't all that happy about that.

Here should my review and my thoughts be...

Excuse and sorry but I'm feverish and a bit weak... Without any inspiration or energy for proper review writing will it just be short and sweet:

I truly enjoy these books by Elizabeth Edmondson and even more to listen to them read by Michael Page. This second part was as solid nice as the first part. — Not a single kiss or any romance stuff but a good underlying storyline about sweet characters, family and care. A quite clever crime plot too. Not to forget: add the fortune to get the chance to be in the English countryside in an old castle at Christmas times 1953. — Absolutely Jolly British Good!.

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I LIKE - quite predictable and simple stories too

[Les · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the second book in the A Very English Mystery series. You could probably read it as a stand alone but why would you. Again set in Selchester Castle and its environs Hugo Hawksworth returns but this time there is an 18th Earl and Lady Sonia's plans to sell the castle have collapsed. It has been revealed that the 17th Earl had a secret first marriage that resulted in a son, an American son. Gus and his daughters Lady Babs (Barbara) and Lady Polly, have arrived and are trying to settle in for Christmas.

Their arrival means that Freya and the Hawksworths are about to be evicted and are desperate to find new lodgings in a house shy, post war England. Additionally Hawksworth is tasked with solving a crime where an English officer had been accepting rare and missing works of art in post war Berlin to denazify people and absolve them of their sins.

Lady Sonia, her alleged fiance and Oliver; an art dealer, arrive at the Castle for Christmas to befriend the new Earl. She isn't exactly altruistic and is seems that the new Earl is dreadfully accident prone; or perhaps someone is trying to kill him.
And for someone who has spent 7 years writing a family History; Freya is dreadfully clueless about the details, what could she be writing?

[Ivonne Rovira · Rating 5 out of 5]

Elizabeth Edmondson proves that her excellent debut novel, A Man of Some Repute, was no fluke with the sequel, A Question of Inheritance.

Set a few months later than A Man of Some Repute, it’s now December 1953, and Hugo Hawksworth and the late earl’s niece Freya Wryton managed to track down the new heir, a widowed American academic with two teenaged daughters. Seventeen-year-old Babs and 13-year-old Polly Fitzwarin, plucked from comfortable America to a post-war England still bothered with rationing and deprivation, bitterly resent living in drafty Selchester Castle. Almost as much as
13-year-old sister Georgia Hawskworth, who has been lodging at the castle with her brother, resents those she sees as intruders.

But domestic upset is the least of it. The late earl’s daughter, Lady Sonia Richmond, bitterly resents the new earl, Gus Fitzwarin, for depriving her of a king’s ransom from her plans to sell Selchester Castle to a posh hotel and auction off all of the contents. At the same time, Hugo, still working in intelligence at nearby Thorn Hall, comes to suspect that someone is trying to kill the new earl. Meanwhile, Hugo is drawn back into an old case having to do with looted art treasures in the chaotic days at the close of World War II.

Full of suspense and perilous scenes, A Question of Inheritance will keep you glued to your seat until you finish the very last page. Like A Man of Some Repute, which foreshadowed the mystery at the heart of A Question of Inheritance, this novel provides a clue to the mystery in the third novel in the series. Damn! Now I have to wait months — maybe a year — to find out more!

In the interest of full disclosure, I received this book from NetGalley and Thomas & Mercer in exchange for an honest review.

[Celia {Hiatus until August} · Rating 3 out of 5]

Adorava saber quem escreve as sinopses dos livros...
Talvez os mesmo que editam os livros aleatoriamente sem respeito pelas séries 😈
"Os recém-casados Hugo e Freya Hawksworth receiam estar prestes a perder um dos seus sítios preferidos."
Não sei a que livro esta sinopse pertence, mas garantidamente não ao livro que li... 🤣
Aliás, estou no terceiro e último volume e o Hugo ainda continua com a idiota da Valerie e a Freya solteirissima 🙄
De qualquer forma esperava mais...
Estou "ligeiramente" desiludida com a série e com a autora, não "me apanham" a ler mais nenhum livro dela.
Mas já agora.... Vamos lá a ver se é no terceiro volume que eles se casam 🤭 ou se foi apenas misinformation ou desejo de quem escreveu a sinopse de um casamento 🤥
🤣 🤣 🤣

[Katya]

As promessas cumprem-se, nem que seja com três meses de atraso. Por isso, o ano não podia acabar sem me sentar a ler esta sequela.
O problema continua a ser o mesmo: A intriga e a herança é, como o seu antecessor, um romance chocho a dar no policial, com vários buracos, falhas e falhinhas (de enredo, detalhe e construção de personagens) que se espera que escapem às leitoras que procuram uma "leitura de conforto". Para mim não serve, de todo! Mas foi lido de muito boa vontade para ver outra pessoa que não eu feliz por me dedicar a esta leitura.
Vá, pelo menos deu para exercitar a vista...

[Debbie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I received this book in exchange for an honest review.

I was so excited to be able to read and review this book before it comes out next month! I absolutely loved the first one, (A Man of Some Repute), and had actually pre-ordered/bought this one already, to be honest! This sequel does not disappoint!

It's Christmas at Selchester Castle, but all is not quiet. The new Earl has arrived from the United States with his two daughters, joining Mrs. Partridge, Hugo, Freya and Georgia at the castle, along with other, less desirable guests for the festive season..
Drama ensues with murder, espionage and other Cold War post WWll shenanigans all on the menu!

I highly recommend this second book in A Very English Mystery series, and I'm looking forward to the next one very much.

[Ink Drinker · Rating 3 out of 5]

I found the prose less engaging than Edmonson's first novel in this series and even reread a significant portion of the novel due to fear I had missed pages (read on my Kindle), which I had not. The writing was really more of a screenplay than a novel and I found this unappealing. I also wondered at the protagonist: was it Freya or Hugo? The lack of definition in these characters was disappointing because they each have such potential, but neither felt fully developed. I hope these characters find another story with more depth of plot and person.

[Sophia · Rating 4 out of 5]

The case of the late Lord Selchester's disappearance is solved and his dark clandestine activities discovered, but now, it's Christmas and time to welcome the new Earl, a long lost son of the late Earl, to the castle along with his two teenage daughters. In the meantime, Lady Sonia is fuming and makes her own plans to return to Selchester Castle for Christmas. Freya and the Hawksworths are divided between welcoming the new Lord Selchester and now having to consider where they'll live next. Hugo's new assignments involving tracing those in key places that might turncoat to the Russians. Meanwhile, what does art stolen by the Nazis and then used as bribes got to do with the people at the castle?

The second installment of the A Very English Mystery series picks up some time after the first book with a novella in between. I'm really vested in this engaging series by now and especially after listening through this one. I loved the familiarity of the 1950's in the English countryside with a gossipy small village, espionage and government work up at the Hall, murderous doings at the castle, and a fantastic cast of characters.

Hugo Hawksworth, former spy during the war and after, but sidelined due to a permanent leg injury, is now riding a desk job at the Hall, looking after his much younger sister, Georgia, a precocious teen, and now on his second murder mystery at the castle.

Narrating the story with Hugo is Freya, cousin to the earl and secretly a novelist while pretending to research and write the family history while living up in the castle tower.

Lady Sonia the late earl's daughter and half-sister to the new earl is probably the most intriguing character of the stories. She's a side character, but she's a tad outrageous, shady on her ethics while keeping a clear line that she won't cross, and holds secrets about her father. She's a stunning London socialite who just doesn't give a rip about what other people think, but still has a bit of the traditional aristocrat in her.

This latest mystery involved the artwork from all over occupied Europe that the Nazis took and then some of it slid into greedy hands in the turmoil after the war so that recovering it and getting it to rightful owners is tough and some don't want it coming out that they had their hand in all this. The mystery wasn't that hard to work out, but it was still an entertaining story.

There are some loose ends left over like the new Earl's accidents, the mysterious stranger, and Sonia's secrets that I hope to discover in the next book.

Michael Page is a great narrator for this series. He has a wonderful versatile English voice that had no trouble with a large cast of older, younger, genders, classes, and even the occasional foreign accented English. I'm well settled to his voice and style after two books and would gladly pick up other books he's done.

All in all, this was the coziest of English armchair-type mysteries with a classic mystery style of writers from England's golden age of mystery writing.

COYER Summer Scavenger Hunt Clue- Christmas time 1 pt.

[Anna Catharina · Rating 3 out of 5]

3,5 Sterne

Eigentlich passiert kaum etwas, aber ich verbringe so gerne meine Lesezeit mit Hugo und den anderen auf Selchester Castle.

[Tempo de Ler · Rating 3 out of 5]

Com uma contextualização histórica muito interessante, Elizabeth Edmonson cria em A Intriga e a Herança um mistério bastante intrigante.

Gus, simples cidadão americano, nunca sonhou acabar com passaporte, título e castelo inglês... mas foi exactamente isso que lhe aconteceu! É suposto que Gus e as filhas, Barb e Polly, se habituem a viver num castelo medieval numa Inglaterra pós-guerra em que os próprios habitantes ainda estão a tentar aprender a lidar com a mudança, com o racionamento e a austeridade. Esta seriedade é cortada pela fricção imediata entre Polly e Georgia (já nossa conhecida do livro anterior), que tanto contribuem para o bom humor do livro… isso e o facto desta família parecer bastante desajustada em Selchester.

Como se não bastasse, Lady Sonia telefona a avisar que vem passar o Natal no castelo…e não vem sozinha…! Depressa nos vemos enredados entre espionagem, misteriosos acidentes, obras de arte desviadas durante a guerra, segundas intenções e mais um homicídio no castelo. Vai ser um Natal no mínimo diferente em Selchester!

Embora tenho gostado de ler A Intriga e a Herança, gostei mais do primeiro livro. Depois de desenvolver o enredo a um ritmo que eu considero algo lento, a autora apressa-se para um final insatisfatório. Há também a falta de aproveitamento de algumas personagens, cheias de potencial. Estas 'falhas' tanto no desenvolvimento das personagens como em dar resposta a todas as questões deve-se muito provavelmente à intenção de continuar a série, o que sabemos agora, infelizmente, não ser possível.

[Christy · Rating 5 out of 5]

A Question of Inheritance follows fairly closely on from A Man of Some Repute, with the empty space between the books revealing the shocking news that Lord Selchester had an heir in America. Strange things happen, some accidents appear a little bit too co-incidental and once again someone is murdered at the castle - it seems like a bit of an unlucky place! For a second time Hugo, with the help of his sister Georgia and Freya must use their investigative powers and smarts to try and figure out what exactly is going on.

I really like the setting of this novel and the proceeding novel, and love the descriptions of the castle and of village life in England in an era where class barriers were still there; but beginning to merge. The writing is lively, descriptive and easy to read, and the mystery kept me turning the pages. There some drama, some violence, some espionage and a bit of history and culture thrown in too, an excellent mix!

I would recommend reading A Man of Some Repute first, as it gives a great deal of backstory about most of the main characters in this novel and was an excellent read.

I really appreciate the opportunity given to me by NetGalley and Thomas & Mercer with an advanced review copy of this book.

[Beachreader · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is the second book in the series. The first was quite good, but this one had too many characters and a storyline that was difficult to follow. So much of the book was slow and boring. While the reocurring characters are likeable and interesting, the author doesn't know how to write a tight story around them.

There will be no more from her on my reading list.

[Maria Alice · Rating 4 out of 5]

Gostei há semelhança de todos os livros desta autora, e posso dizer que já li todos, no entanto no final fiquei com a sensação que ainda poderia haver um outro livro para continuar a colecção selchester.... a ver vamos já que tanto quanto Seia a autora faleceu este ano com muita pena minha pois adoro a sua escrita e os seus enredos

[Jennifer (Jaye) (checking back in slowly) · Rating 4 out of 5]

*Art & Danger*

This instalment sees intelligence Officer Hugo Hawksworth still staying at the castle with his much younger sister Georgia. Hugo is on another assignment but will the castle and it’s antics get in the way of his assignment. I find it interesting that he is posted in what is supposed to be a quiet sleepy town, when the castle alone with its characters is amusing due to the language & the use of words like “skulduggery” and “scoundrel”

After the shenanigans of the previous book the castle and it occupants are awaiting the arrival of the new Earl much to the annoyance of his half sister Lady Sonya who thought she would be inheriting the lot. Sonya is rude, cold and unapologetic for her behaviour and this will be her first time meeting him having not known of his existence. He is American and arrives with his 3 daughters. What will they make of each other?

Unbeknown to the others there is a room full of paintings and Lady Sonia has the only key, are they on the inventory that the new Earl has?

We see lots more drama
and gossip due to it being a village. After yet another incident at the castle Hugo smells a rat and he is not wrong but how to prove it. My favourite character is Freya the cousin of Lady Sonia, there is more to her than meets the eye and Freya and Hugo seem to be on the same page and make quite the team.

This book comes more alive in the second half for me but I am falling in love with this historical fiction series.

[Kate · Rating 5 out of 5]

Hugo, Georgia, and Freya are still in the castle but a new Earl is coming to take possession. The nasty Lady Sonia is also coming for Christmas and bringing a friend and an art dealer to check out some paintings she says are hers. Intrigue! Murder! Revenge! An excellent sequel, although I really wish I’d been able to read the novella that explains how we get from the end of book 1 to the beginning of this book 2, and there is One Large Dangling Thread that goes unresolved here. I really do think it was genius to have the old Earl be such a terrible person, his perfidies seem to offer unlimited future plots but alas there is only one more book, and that completed by the author’s son.

[Vicki · Rating 4 out of 5]

I greatly enjoyed this and the first book in the series, and was saddened to find that the author died in January 2016 after a short battle with cancer. I was so looking forward to where this series would go. What a loss to the reading world, as well as to her family and friends. RIP Elizabeth Edmondson.. :(

[Isabel Keats · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ha sido todo un descubrimiento esta autora. Y yo, como soy un poco obsesiva-compulsiva cuando encuentro a una autora que me gusta, he leído varias de sus novelas este verano.

[Lee at ReadWriteWish · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is the second in the A Very English Mystery series. While I enjoyed this book, all the things that I found fault with in the first book of the series (A Man of Some Repute) unfortunately continued here.

For example, there was the awkward introduction of regular/major characters in the first book. I assumed this wouldn’t be a problem with the second in the series, but Edmondson threw this theory out the window by inserting three more major family members into the mix. These types of books already have a plethora of characters from which potential victims and/or suspects originate. All these have various backgrounds etc that the reader must learn and remember, without adding to the list unnecessarily! 

The post-WW2 setting is again important to the plot. It’s a plot which is not as complicated as some reviewers would suggest, but I will admit it is a little muddled. For example, there is one scene which shows a character smoking in a hothouse, and I waited for this knowledge to be used to solve the murder, but it’s simply never mentioned again. 

Also, whilst the main murder plot reached a resolution, most of the B plots were left without an ending or explanation. (There is a third book I’m about to start reading, so I will get back to you on this one.)

I wouldn’t call Hugo (a secret spy) and Freya (a secret novelist) the most capable detectives They do very little detecting actually.   Still, happily, they are a likeable pair. (But sadly still in a platonic relationship with only hints that there could be further development in the future.)

You do not need to read the first book in the series for this one to make sense. Most of the important stuff is recapped. In fact, the repetition of some facts got frustratingly annoying at times.

All in all, I was a little disappointed, and can only give this a 3 out of 5

[Damaskcat · Rating 5 out of 5]

The new Earl of Selchester is due to arrive at the castle in time for Christmas. He is an American and never expected to inherit the title and everything that goes with it. Hugo Hawksworth and his sister Georgia have been lodging at the castle and fear that they will need to find a new home while Hugo continues to carry out top secret government work.

Freya - who has been looking after the castle - has her own secrets to hide and she also fears she will need to find herself a new home. The new Earl's half sister, Sonia has had her nose put out of joint by the discovery of the Earl but she is also descending on the castle for Christmas along with her fiancé and an art expert.

This ill-assorted group of people are also joined by Hugo's Uncle Leo - a Roman Catholic priest and scientist. There are many tensions between the various people gathered at the castle and the stage is set for murder.

Spies, stolen art work, ghosts and plenty of secrets combine to make this an exciting and fast paced read set in the 1950s when everyone is still recovering from World War II. I enjoyed reading this well written mystery from this underrated author and I shall look forward to reading more in this series.

[Nicole · Rating 1 out of 5]

Very poorly edited. Chapter 5 has the sudden appearance of a main character who wasn't previously in the scene, but everyone acted like he'd always been there. There were also typos (maybe only in the kindle edition?)

The book was authentic to the time, even being subtly anti-semitic (describing someone who was Jewish as dark, like another character, but "sallow"--ding, ding!) Subtle, because the characters were supposedly going to clear thefts by Germans during WWII. Less subtle since the British Jew betrayed a British member of the resistance? In cahoots with some French Jew? Never explained how or why that would've happened.

Disappointing since it wasn't a bad series, and seemed like it was going to get into Cold War antics.

[Julie · Rating 3 out of 5]

There were many things about this book that I enjoyed tremendously. I like the characters, I love the setting and the cozy British writing style. But the kindle version, at least, which is what I read, didn't seem quite polished enough for publishing. There were lots of errors - words left out, repeated, etc. And after a long, slow detailed build to the climax, the ending seemed overly rushed and simplified. Overall a good read, but left me feeling it was rushed to meet the advertised publication date?

[John Hardy · Rating 4 out of 5]

I picked this up on spec, as I haven't read anything by this author before. I'm afraid it was one of those that I started reading, then put down, and expected not to return. I did pick this up again over a week later, and continued to the end. There was something about the writing, perhaps. The atmosphere is similar to some of the old Christie novels set in English country mansions.
There is some historical basis for the premise, which I initially found far-fetched, as many of these mansions had been taken over by the government during WW2. Set in December 1953, rationing was still in place in Britain, and was only discontinued the following year. Therefore I suppose it is possible that the government still had the right to billet various departments in these mansions.
The previous owner, Lord Selchester, had disappeared many years ago and his bones were found fairly recently (I know this because I'm currently reading #1 in this series). Lady Sonia, a stuck-up, aristocratic b-b-beauty, is set to inherit the lot, but somehow, an American called Gus with a true claim has been discovered, and has arrived to take over. One is not pleased, as Lady S would never say, as she has quite the temper. Imagine what everyone thinks about Lord Gus!!
So, we come to our hero, Hugo Hawksworth, who works for secret intelligence (MI5?) under a facade of Dept. of Statistics, based in said mansion.
There are many threads in this novel. Who's been trying to kill Gus, and why? Lady S claims some art works in the mansion belong to her, and proposes to take them without informing Gus. There's a potential issue of artworks which have been looted by the Nazis, and which would have no provenance if sold. There are plenty of minor characters, some of whom are definitely sus, and may even be Marked For Death!
All the while, Gus's daughters and Hugo's younger sister interact in a teenage-y sort of way, slowly getting used to each other. It's a bit Girls Own to be honest.
Will Gus survive to be Lord of the Manor? Will Hugo figure out the mystery?
Read on to find out. I awarded this a rating of 3.7, and think that I will search out some other titles by this author, such as her "Jane Austen sequels".

[Lara · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book follows soon after the first book in the series. The new earl arrives and Hugh is asked to look into the background of a Russian diplomat. It's Christmas time and Sonia has another greedy scheme in the works, so she shows up for the holiday with two guests. Among the uncertainty faced by Hugh, Georgia, and Freya, there is scheming, a potential threat to the new earl, and a murder.

This book has art sales and theft around the WWII period as its subplot. It is interesting, and the old earl's shadow still looms large.

The characters develop, there are new characters to get to know, and the various threads come together with some underlying issues that are still a mystery. I'm really looking forward to the final book in the trilogy.

[Helen · Rating 4 out of 5]

An enjoyable cozy mystery with a fish-out-of-water element when the surprise American heir to the castle and his two teenage daughters arrive to make their home in Selchester in 1953. What I didn't know before I read this was that there is a novella between this and book one that explains how the new lord was located. However, it's not necessary to read the novella in order to follow this book's plot. As usual, Hugo's sister Georgia and her American counterpart provide a good share of the humor that makes this series so much fun to read. Hugo, his uncle Leo, and Freya from book one get help from the new lord to solve this mystery while we the readers enjoy a peek into life in postwar England where rationing hasn't yet ended and the Cold War is very much in progress.

[Laurel Hicks · Rating 4 out of 5]

Haunted castle, romance, murder, two eligible bachelors, amateur sleuths, espionage, family, and quite good writing—this one has something for everyone. It’s the second of three books and should not be read until you read the first book.

The series:
1. A Man of Some Repute
2. A Question of Inheritance
3. A Matter of Loyalty

[Laura Hannaway · Rating 4 out of 5]

*Thanks the NetGalley and the publisher*

[Debra B · Rating 5 out of 5]

Book #2 of a 3 book English cosy taking place in the countryside.

[Karen Jenkins · Rating 4 out of 5]

A pleasant sequel.

[Linda Baker · Rating 4 out of 5]

A Question of Inheritance begins a few months after A Man of Some Repute in December 1953. Hugo Hawksworth and his sister, Georgia, along with Freya Wryton are still in residence at Selchester Castle; all three wonder what will happen to them upon the arrival of the long-lost heir. Housing is very scarce in post-war Britain and even though Freya is a cousin of the Selchester family she is afraid she will lose her much loved and convenient tower residence.
The heir to the Earldom is American, after all.

Gus Mason and his two teenage daughters, Polly and Babs, never expected to be moving into an ancient castle, much less owning one. Gus had lived in England while attending Oxford, but he is a Classical scholar, not a British one. He is very unsure of his surroundings and it's history. His daughters are also unhappy about leaving America for this unknown world. He never expected an onslaught of visitors at the castle, chief among them Lady Sonia Richardson. Lady Sonia thought that she was the sole heir. Her plans to strip the estate of it's liquid assets while cheating the Inland Revenue of its' due share have been thwarted. Needless to say, she is livid and will do whatever she can to recoup at least some profits. Still less does Gus expect multiple attempts on his life and a dead body in the hothouse.

A Question of Inheritance, like its' predecessor, is an interesting look at a bleak time in British history. Despite having won the War, rationing is still in effect and social upheaval has everyone on edge. The exposure of the Cambridge Spy Ring (Burgess, McClain, Philby, et.al) has shaken the government and the British public to its' core, especially Hugo's employers. If well-born, well-educated, highly placed people can turn out to be Russian spies, who can one trust?

A Question of Inheritance combines history and mystery, along with some dysfunctional family dynamics into a satisfying read. I know you shouldn't judge a book by its' cover, but I love both covers in the series. They are very evocative of a bygone era. Thanks to Thomas and Mercer and Netgalley.com for and advance digital copy.

RATING- 4 Stars

[Stephanie Jackson · Rating 4 out of 5]

A delightful post war British mystery. I'm sad this is the end to the series!