'Inherit the Dead' by 20 Great Crime Writers

Published by Simon & Schuster.
16 October 2014.
ISBN 978-1-47113-019-9

This is a cleverly put together novel.  The 20 chapters are all written by different people but the continuity of the story is undimmed by the multiple authorship.  That is possibly because of the fact that these are all mystery writers of distinction.  The detective is Perry Christopher whose career as an NYPD cop ended in scandal, and he was unable to prove his innocence.  He has lost his job and his wife over the whole thing and is now a private investigator.

Perry is asked by a wealthy Manhattanite to find her missing daughter, Angelina, whose 21st birthday is imminent and the inheritance of great wealth from her grandfather.   Perry has to undertake a complicated journey as he talks to those connected with the stunningly beautiful Angelina.  There seem to be threats to her life and the perpetrator seems to be following Perry, perhaps as a way of finding Angelina.  The contacts with Angelina's friends, relatives and enemies (sometimes two of those are combined) produce a confusing picture of the missing woman.  A deliberately slow start to events suddenly changes to fast action as the story gets very serious. The conclusion is both shocking and satisfying.

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Reviewer: Jennifer S. Palmer

The book is to raise support for Safe Horizons, a victims support charity in the USA.

Jennifer Palmer Throughout my reading life crime fiction has been a constant interest; I really enjoyed my 15 years as an expatriate in the Far East, the Netherlands & the USA but occasionally the solace of closing my door to the outside world and sitting reading was highly therapeutic. I now lecture to adults on historical topics including Famous Historical Mysteries.