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    The Inheritance
    The Inheritance
    The Inheritance
    Audiobook12 hours

    The Inheritance

    Written by Simon Tolkien

    Narrated by Simon Tolkien

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    About this audiobook

    A complex mystery of deception and betrayal that follows the court case of a young man set to hang for the murder of his father When a famed Oxford historian is found dead in his study one night, all evidence points to his son, Stephen. About to be disinherited from the family fortune, Stephen returns to home after a long estrangement—and it happens to be the night his father is shot to death. When his fingerprints are found on the murder weapon, Stephen's guilt seems undeniable. But there were five other people in the manor house at the time, and as their stories slowly emerge—along with the revelation that the deceased man was involved in a deadly hunt for a priceless relic in Northern France at the end of World War II—the race is on to save Stephen from a death sentence.

    Everyone has a motive, and no one is telling the truth.

    Unwilling to sit by and watch the biased judge condemn Stephen to death, an ageing police inspector decides to travel from England to France to find out what really happened in that small French village in 1945—and what artifact could be so valuable it would be worth killing for.

    Author Simon Tolkien received rave reviews for his first legal thriller, The Final Witness. Now, in The Inheritance, Tolkien sharpens his craft even more, deftly weaving psychological suspense and family drama to create a mystery steeped in memories, betrayal, and the long shadow of the past. Part courtroom drama and part historical thriller, The Inheritance is a dark, dynamic thriller that tests the strength of blood ties, loyalty, and revenge.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherBrilliance Audio
    Release dateApr 15, 2010
    ISBN9781423390329
    Author

    Simon Tolkien

    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.

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    Reviews for The Inheritance

    3/5

    89 ratings20 reviews

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    • 3/5
      This book was just okay to not great for me. I didn't like the main character all that much. Also the plot lacked something - it was just not as clever as I expected it would be. It was predictable. I enjoyed the parts about the court system in Britain but that's about it.
    • 4/5
      I enjoyed this book more than I expected. Story that begins with a war crime, a young man falsely accused of murder, a set of parents who can't love their adopted child once they manage to have another one born to them, another father grieving the loss of his son and a wife who left him for another man, a quest for an ancient religious relic, revenge seekers, and madmen. Never a dull moment. Well written.
    • 4/5
      Very enjoyable
    • 2/5
      Multiple genres. Historical, family, mystery, crime, etc.
      Catching up on books read on this site for a place to keep my records.
      Wish I'd made better notes on this book - enjoyed it while I was reading it.
      Notation was that plot seemed a bit contrived but good reading.
      Read in 2010.
    • 2/5
      As a fan of murder mysteries and courtroom dramas, I was disappointed after reading this book. I am a fast reader usually, but it took me a long time to finish this one, largely because I was not really interested in whatever happened to any of the characters. In fact, the main problem the author had was his development of he characters - none of them was even remotely likable, and I would say they mostly felt artificial to me.
    • 3/5
      I received this book through the LibrayThing Early Reviewer's program. This mystery, set in the 1950s, reminds me of some of Agatha Christie's. I felt the courtroom parts were particularly well done, and rang very true to me. The background of the crimes committed in the search for a long-lost treasure added a nice touch and several potential suspects and motives. I did have a hard time getting into the characters, even the detective and the son accused of his father's murder. I will definitely look for other books by Simon Tolkien, but will probably get them from the library.
    • 4/5
      This is a fun read, full of twists and turns as a young man stands wrongly accused of murder while others race to find a long-hidden religious artifact. I'll be looking for more of Tolkien's stuff!
    • 4/5
      A good murder mystery set in Britain in the late 1950's. Well-plotted without being complicated. Characterization is better than average. Interesting contrast among characters' relationship with their respective parents. I'd recommend it to readers who like P.D. James, Peter Robinson and Martha Grimes. The description of the preparations for a hanging at the prison were haunting.
    • 3/5
      The Inheritance is, in my estimation, a very good murder mystery. The World War II back story is intriguing and interesting and the characters are, for the most part, believable and worth investing time in. While the mystery, which borders on being a locked-room-murder, is similar to others of the genre and is well-executed Tolkien really shines when he gets into the politics, intrigue, and tension of the court room. The story is a complex mystery filled with courtroom drama and believable well-researched history and I found every aspects of the story truly enjoyable. From the quest for the missing religious artifact to the massacre of an entire village during World War II to the mechanics of corporal punishment in England in 1959 and by combining elements of the classic whodunit with those of the court room thriller I found The Inheritance an entertaining and interesting read.
    • 3/5
      This book was just okay to not great for me. I didn't like the main character all that much. Also the plot lacked something - it was just not as clever as I expected it would be. It was predictable. I enjoyed the parts about the court system in Britain but that's about it.
    • 3/5
      The Inheritance- by Simon Tolkien This was another history-mystery book, with the addition of courtroom drama. I have to say, I liked the book, it was faced paced, and well written. I learned about how the English Court system worked in the 1950s during death penalty cases. I actually find that very interesting. I found out what a “barrister” was. It's “English” for lawyer! I was actually quite curious what a “barrister” was when reading the authors bio before starting to read the book, because that was his former profession. Though the history-mystery storyline is starting to get a “unoriginal,” to me...or maybe that I have just ended up reading a bunch of them over the past couple of months and I'm looking for something that stands out, the courtroom aspect added something extra. The story itself was a fun, fast read and kept reminding me of playing Parker Brother's “Clue.” There was a body in a room of a manor, and the more you read, the more clues you figured out to eliminate people who were in the home that night. I just kept picturing a big giant game of “Clue,” and it turns out “I suspected” right. I guess it was like “History-Mystery Clue” for those interested in also the Criminal Justice System.
    • 3/5
      A workmanlike mystery, quite reminiscent of the Christie locked room type, but uninspiring. I figured out whodunnit quite early on. And I absolutely hated the ending, which I thought was cheap and sentimental.
    • 4/5
      Simon Tolkien's "The Inheritance" was a pleasant surprise - it exceeded my expectations. I was caught up in the mystery and drama within the first few pages. It is an extremely well written book. I like old-fashioned mysteries - one where suspense is the key element - and this novel delivered. On trial is Stephen Cade for the murder of his father, a renowned Oxford historian and WWII Colonel who we quickly are shown had a dark past. The cast of characters isn't at all a sympathetic lot, and in fact it is hard to feel sympathetic at all for the son accused of murder. I did like the character of Detective Inspector William Trave who feels that he did not investigate the case thoroughly or correctly and is being disuaded from doing so by a rather nasty little prosecutor named Thompson who I would prefer to have hung in the first couple of chapters. Thompson seems intent on railroading and a quick hanging, all for the glory of himself. DI Trave perseveres however. This is more of a courtroom drama than anything else, but well handled I believe and I really got a sense of a 1959 British court. The author's introductory note nicely set up for the reader an understanding of the limited appeal rights of those convicted of murder and sentenced to hang in 1950's Britain and how quickly the death penalty was delivered.An above average read that I can recommend. I received this book as part of the early reviewers program but do not think that fact affected my reading or review.
    • 1/5
      Since this ER book arrived months after it had been released, I was surprised to get it. I set aside my current reading and got to it. I made it about 75 pages before I decided to just read the end. I started to read the end and I still didn't care, so I didn't even finish that. I found the writing lackluster and the characters uncompelling. I didn't care who had committed the crime and I didn't care about the underlying old mystery a la Dan Brown. This isn't the worst book I've read, but it also isn't worth the time it would take me to finish it.
    • 1/5
      I'm giving up. I waited 5 months for this ER book to arrive and as soon as I finished the books I had been reading at its arrival, I started this book, but I can't go on!What's wrong with it you say? First the writing is not great - it is extremely disjointed, vague, repetitive. There was a small mystery introduced at the beginning and then no further clues. The characters are one-dimensional, and not one is someone that I would care to ever meet and I definitely cannot develop any empathy for.This is supposed to be a mystery/thriller, well I haven't found anything thrilling in the 120+ pages that I've read, so I quit!IMO, this book needs a complete re-write. I actually thought I'd skip to the last few chapters to see what the mystery was all about, even those couldn't grab my interest. The concept may have been good, the execution fell flat. This book is ABANDONED.
    • 4/5
      Got this book yesterday and finished it today. It's an enjoyable read from start to finish and well paced.
    • 3/5
      This is part mystery, part courtroom drama and part secret-code treasure hunt. Tolkien writes intensely at times, compelling me into the story with his action. His characters are well drawn, yet I was lacking sympathy for any of them. Possibly I could become attached to Inspector Trave, if he developed some more. As for the others, most were despicable, which may have been the author's point, but made it difficult for me to want to continue reading until the end. Near the end I felt that the author was pushing hard for the "no death penalty" argument, rather than allowing the story to do the work. The temptation to skip the last third of the book and read the ending was strong. I can't say there were any great moments of inspiration or surprise, but it made a good mystery to read and I wouldn't hesitate to recommend it to someone who enjoyed that genre. I do not analyze my mysteries as to whether they are "fair" to the reader. Though this one wasn't a great puzzler, it was still a decent read which others may enjoy.
    • 3/5
      Set mostly in the late 50's in England. The opening was a crime commited during the last days of the war, then it drops into the murder of one of the members of the original atrocity. You never feel any sympathy for the murdered man, instead feel that he received his justice for his past actions. Then the story meanders between the suspects and their actions, and the police and lawyers doing their jobs, and not always finding the truth, or even wanting the truth in some cases. By the end, it was apparent one of two people did it, through process of elimination and in some cases death. And I don't know if the author meant to imply it or not, but the women seemed to be the stronger and more complex of the characters in the story. All in all I liked it.
    • 3/5
      Stephen Cade and his father have been estranged for years, thanks to the latter's crimes in pursuit of a rare item dating to the era of Charlemagne. Covered up as a war crime, those misdeeds are going to come back to haunt Colonel Cade -- but is it Stephen who kills his father 15 years after the first round of murders? How are the events in the French countryside in the waning days of WW2 and those of the English countryside 15 years later linked? This isn't a bad novel, just not nearly as good as it could have been. Like Tolkien's previous novel, the heart of this story is the criminal trial, but there are too many inexplicable decisions made by the characters to move the plot forward. It doesn't matter to me that characters are unlikeable; it does when their actions or personalities are over-the-top and thus yank me out of the narrative in disbelief. The book doesn't really get going as a suspenseful read until the final few chapters, when there is a race against time to stop the wrong man paying the ultimate price for murder, but I had figured out the real culprit's identity about 1/3 of the way into the book, so that was no real shock, and I found one of the final twists rather unbelievable. Adequately entertaining, but no more than that.
    • 4/5
      A story of murder, motives, and memories - Tolkien does a fine job keeping you interested in all three. The book has a rough start but then the story picks up and gets you hooked. The characters also are a bit flat, but that also gets better as the story goes forward. Part mystery, part Grisham, and part Dan Brown - wholly entertaining. It’s fun ride of a story.