Fatal Legacy

Sheila Malory doesn’t often attend literary events, but she is pleased to see old friends from Oxford at this one, especially her good friend Beth Blackmore, now a celebrated novelist happily married to an international businessman. Although Beth has complaints about her children, Sheila thinks that she is doing well and looking forward to a research trip to Greece, but a few weeks later she is informed that Beth has died unexpectedly, apparently mixing up several of her many medications that were treating her arthritis and heart condition. Sheila is surprised to learn that Beth has named her as literary executor, which involves going through her papers, readying any suitable manuscripts for publication and preparing a biography, but show more soon Sheila finds the papers hold more information than she thought, information that leads her to suspect murder…. This is the tenth book in the Mrs. Malory mystery series and like all the others, it’s a nicely written cozy that specializes in the heroine’s understanding of human nature and her intuition, which enables her to make connections that otherwise might pass unseen. Although I guessed the culprit relatively early on, that in no way detracted from my enjoyment of the story, and Sheila remains an engaging and slightly silly protagonist, a Miss Marple for the modern age. I don’t think this series is one that demands the reader follow the books in order, although some references may be missed if one has not; either way, recommended! show less

Do yourself a favor and skip at least the first chapter. I almost gave up on it, but continued as it is a relatively quick read. It grows on you, though not my genre. Also all the character names are rather bland and was hard for me to remember who was who.
The story line itself is entertaining enough, with references to London area sites and literary executor type activities. The tension level increases as she lays out the story

This book's plot was perhaps suggested by Holt's own experiences as Barbara Pym's literary executor. I hope she didn't find herself in as much hot water as Sheila Malory in this book! Interesting insights into what being a literary executor is like, and decent plot.