Chilling
His Fatal Legacy by Heather Atkinson is an historical novel that gripped me from the start. It is the third book in the Alardyce House series but can be read as a stand-alone.
The tale is set in Edinburgh in the late nineteenth century. It has elements of the Gothic tradition with large houses, dark nights, deserted alleyways and sinister characters. The tone is chilling as an air of menace appears.
Family is important. A mother’s love is fiercely protective, needing to uphold appearances no matter the cost. Dreadful secrets and suspicions arise but lips are sealed.
We witness nature versus nurture – are monsters made by their genes or a product of their environment? A character wrestles with the darkness within as he tries to focus on the light.
We all make choices. There is always the choice to do the right thing.
Policing is teetering on the modern era. Mistakes made in London during the Ripper investigation mean that the Scottish police are determined not to repeat those mistakes. A dedicated policeman uses his brain and powers of intuition to work to uncover the truth. He is relentless in his pursuit of justice.
Heather Atkinson has produced an exciting novel that is more than a little creepy. I read it mainly in one sitting as I could not put it down! It was a compulsive, if rather scary read! It would make a marvelous movie – but I am not sure if I am brave enough to watch it!
His Fatal Legacy is a cracking novel – just don’t read it alone!
I received a free copy via Rachel’s Random Resources for a blog tour. A favourable review was not required. All opinions are my own.
JULIA WILSON
His Fatal Legacy
Edinburgh 1896
Amy Alardyce’s once-perfect life is in tatters. Her eldest son, Robert, has come of age, become the master of his own home, and married his childhood love Jane. But with maturity has come a terrible legacy, and the dark desires Robert inherited from his evil father Matthew, are fighting to get loose.
Whilst Jane is working hard to get her and Robert accepted into fashionable society, poor women are being hunted on the streets of Edinburgh, and Amy fears her son is to blame. And once the infamous Inspector Murphy takes up the case, Amy has to face a stark choice – denounce her son as a monster or risk her own safety to protect him from the consequences of his lethal actions.
Purchase Link: https://amzn.to/3vEn6Bs
Author Bio –
Heather Atkinson is the author of over fifty books – predominantly in the crime fiction genre. Although Lancashire born and bred she now lives with her family, including twin teenage daughters, on the beautiful west coast of Scotland. Her gangland series for Boldwood, set on the fictional Gallowburn estate in Glasgow begins with the title Blood Brothers.
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