Blog Tour and Book Review of Fatal Inheritance - Rachel Rhys - dazzling delight

Blog Tour

Today I bring you my thoughts on a wonderful new book, welcome to the blog tour for the new book Fatal Inheritance by Rachel Rhys which was published on 26th July 2018 and you can find it here.

As my contribution to the tour and to whet your appetite here is my review of this wonderfully enjoyable book

Review

I’m deliriously happy to be included in the blog tour for this absolutely wonderful, feel-good romantic mystery by Rachel Rhys, aka Tammy Cohen, a brilliant novelist who turns her hand to two different genres with each persona she dons and does it with ease and panache. She demonstrated this succinctly in her first historical drama “A Dangerous Crossing”, which I also loved. you can read my review of that book here.

Author Rachel Rhys

If you’re looking for the absolutely perfect book to enjoy on holiday or curl up and relax with over the weekend then look no further you’ve found it in Fatal Inheritance.

The period setting is post war England in 1948, where our heroine Eve is sadly very typical of many housewives of this era. 

The sheer monotony of her mundane life, married to a dull, pompous husband, who never appreciates her attempts to be the perfect wife and sees her as a mere accessory to his chokingly dull existence, is suddenly shattered by a letter announcing a completely unexpected inheritance for Eve.

Despite her husbands’ insistence that it will be a mistake and can all be dealt with by him, without her worrying her little head over it, she sees it as a ray of hope on an otherwise very bleak horizon, especially when she finds out she has been left a part share of an old villa in the South of France and, taking the bull by the horns, sets off, alone, to discover more about her mysterious inheritance.

Eve heads off to the sun-soaked Riviera to claim her inheritance and soon begins to rub shoulders with celebrities and the Nouveau riche. 

Whilst making some new friends she also discovers a simmering resentment towards her and a veiled sense of threat surrounding her presence in the charming pink villa overlooking the glittering Mediterranean.

In the hedonistic and cosmopolitan surroundings of the French Riviera she finds the situation even more puzzling than expected. She is an unwelcome intruder to the family to whom she is as great a mystery as this bequest is to her.

The story gallops along, with sublime characters, exquisite descriptions of the glitzy location and the occasional glamorous party and illustrates how a mousy everyday 1940s housewife throws caution to the winds and gradually creates a niche in this new life for herself. I adored watching her grow in confidence and self-worth and mutating from a subject of pity to a source of admiration.

If this had been a book purely about the upper class and privileged classes I may have found it a tad tiresome, but in creating a sympathetic relatable character in Eve, the author made this book very accessible, wholly enjoyable and a delight from start to finish. 

I loved following Eve's character developing and the strange mystery and stunning location, blended together to create an unsurpassed novel of sheer, dazzling, delight. A book which never lets up its pace and manages to fit an awful lot in to the pages without ever becoming overcomplicated nor twee.

I’m aware that the description may possibly sound as though similar stories have been told before. Not with such panache and deliciousness, this book is completely original and exciting all the way from start to the highly satisfying conclusion! 

Rachel Rhys has her own very unique writing style and I can hardly wait for this author to reach for her pen and begin to write in this historical genre again.

The Blurb

1948: an English housewife trapped in a dull marriage escapes to the South of France to claim a mystery inheritance. But rivals to her unexplained fortune begin to emerge, and now they want her out of the way ...

She didn’t have an enemy in the world… 

until she inherited a fortune 

London 1948: Eve Forrester is trapped in a loveless marriage, in a gloomy house, in a grey suburb. 

Out of the blue, she received a solicitor’s letter. A wealthy stranger has left her a mystery inheritance but in order to find out more, she must travel to the glittering French Riviera. 

Eve discovers her legacy is an enchanting villa overlooking the Mediterranean sea and suddenly, life could not be more glamorous. 

But while she rubs shoulders with film-stars and famous writers, under the heat of the golden sun, rivals to her unexplained fortune begin to emerge. Rivals who want her out of the way. 

Alone in paradise, Eve must unlock the story behind her surprise bequest – before events turn deadly…

Reminiscent of a Golden Age mystery, Fatal Inheritance is an intoxicating story of dysfunctional families and long-hidden secrets, set against the razzle-dazzle and decadence of the French Riviera.