The Inheritance
-
- ¥680
Publisher Description
When an eminent art historian is found dead in his study, all the evidence points to his estranged son, Stephen. With his fingerprints on the murder weapon, Stephen’s guilt seems undeniable.
As the police begin to question five other people who were in the house at the time, it is revealed that Stephen’s father was involved at the end of World War II in a deadly hunt for a priceless relic in northern France, and the case begins to unravel.
As Stephen’s trial unfolds at the Old Bailey, Inspector Trave of the Oxford police decides he must go to France and find out what really happened in 1944. What artefact could be so valuable it would be worth killing for? But Trave has very little time – the race is on to save Stephen from the gallows.
Reviews
‘A fine novel. A thinking person’s Da Vinci Code.’ Chicago Tribune
‘A deft combination of Agatha Christie manor-house whodunit. Erle Stanley Gardner courtroom drama, and Dan Brown thriller, The Inheritance is nonetheless unique to its creator.’ Richmond Times-Dispatch
About the author
Simon Tolkien was a successful Criminal Justice barrister in London specializing in serious crimes before moving to California with his wife and two children to take up writing full time. He has been acclaimed as a naturally gifted storyteller with a terrific command of language and a unique perception into the darker sides of human nature. The grandson of J.R.R. Tolkien, with whom he had a very special relationship, Simon Tolkien’s writing is set firmly in this world.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Set in 1959, Tolkien's strong if somewhat formulaic legal thriller, his second after The Final Witness, centers on the trial at London's Old Bailey of Stephen Cade, who stands accused of murdering his Oxford historian father. The evidence against Cade is overwhelming. After learning that he was about to be disinherited, Cade sought out his father, from whom he'd long been estranged, and argued with him. The police found his fingerprints on the gun used in the killing. The investigating officer, Det. Insp. William Trave, questions the accused's guilt, despite the case's prosecutor urging him not to muddy the water. The truth may lie in Normandy, where the older Cade was involved in an incident that left several French civilians dead toward the end of WWII. While Tolkien, the grandson of J.R.R. Tolkien, could've done a better job of hiding the clues pointing to the real culprit, fans of English courtroom dramas will be satisfied.
