The Belting Inheritance by Julian Symons

The Belting Inheritance by Julian Symons ISBN-13: 9781464210877 Paperback Publisher: Poisoned Pen Press Released: Jan. 8, 2019

Source: ebook review copy from the publisher through NetGalley.

Book Description from Goodreads:
Lady Wainwright presides over the gothic gloom at Belting, in mourning for her two sons lost in the Second World War. Long afterwards a stranger arrives at Belting, claiming to be the missing David Wainwright - who was not killed after all, but held captive for years in a Russian prison camp. With Lady Wainwright's health fading, her inheritance is at stake, and the family is torn apart by doubts over its mysterious long-lost son. Belting is shadowed by suspicion and intrigue - and then the first body is found.

This atmospheric novel of family secrets, first published in 1964, is by a winner of the CWA Diamond Dagger.


My Review:
The Belting Inheritance is a romantic mystery originally written in 1964. The viewpoint character is a young man who gets stuck in the middle of the debate when a stranger arrives claiming to be a dead son who stands to inherit. The other heirs don't think he's actually their brother and bring others in to confirm that he is a fraud. When someone who could identify him turns up dead, the police get involved.

The main characters asked the stranger questions to determine if he was genuine or a fraud. The main character and his girlfriend end up going to France in pursuit of proof of who he really is and almost by accident uncover what really happened in the past and present. Two couples end up married by the end of the story. There was no sex. There was a fair amount of bad language. Overall, I'd recommend this interesting crime story, though it's not a typical mystery.


If you've read this book, what do you think about it? I'd be honored if you wrote your own opinion of the book in the comments.