Sinister Inheritance by Graham H Miller

 

Our Rating...4⭐s

You can buy Sinister Inheritance...Here

You can find out more about the author...Here

• The Blurb...

Melinda Lewis was the sole survivor when her family was murdered twelve years ago. She went on to die four years later. Which leaves Jonah Greene wondering why he's seen her in a cafe in France.

Anthony Bailey appears to have died in his sleep. But he leaves behind a property empire, and a widow that no-one in his family has ever met.

These are two of the cases that Jonah Greene must wrestle with when he returns from a break in France, while the powers that be try to shut both cases down. As the politics get more complicated, Jonah must use all his skill to investigate under the radar, and ensure justice is done.

• Our Review...

At last he is back.. "The Canton Columbo, The Shoestring of Splott." After 6 long years Jonah Greene, the Cardiff Coroners Officer returns to tackle not one but two cases of dodgy inheritance.

After recently reading a Pulitzer Prize winning novel, reading Sinister Inheritance felt like having a meal of fish and chips, after having a week on the froi gras and port. Simple but tasty but just what was needed after such a rich diet. 

So we have two potential perps (as the kid's say.) in one, if the person of interest is guilty they may have had provocation and mitigating circumstances. The other perp in the second crime is just an out and out wrong un. Contrast the two and even though both crimes are similar we view them in very different ways.

In the main case there is very little face to face confrontation. So much so that there is no direct dialogue between Jonah and his adversary until the last scene. This, I feel actually adds to the narrative. It has a feel of a cold war submarine war film. Both combatants, probing from a distance finding each others weakness. Imagine fighting an enemy you can't see.

I like the fact that Jonah is a semi-insular soul. Yes he has acquaintances and relationships. Yes he works for the coroner but he is a department of one. He doesn't spend a great deal of time with any one group or even one person including his wife. He is of his time I think in that he is in large part a loner, and he is comfortable with that. This seems to be the trend in modern society. 

Oops I'm rambling again. Back to the book. I really enjoyed it, as I knew I would. It bears the hallmarks of Graham H Miller, intriguing, interesting and easy to read.

This is Jonah's third outing after "The List" and "Buzzard House" both twisty police procedural novels. Once again in my head Jonah is operating in my head in the same literal universe as DI Mandy Wilde in the novels of Jacqueline Harret and possibly DI Mark Fagin books by Jason Chapman. I can get all the murder mystery I want without leaving Glamorgan, Gwent and Powys!

Graham H Miller never lets you down. But please don't make us wait another six years for the next instalment. 

• Selected Quotes...

Despite the warmth and friendly atmosphere he felt a sudden melancholy. It was the forced recognition that his children were growing up, forging their own lives. He knew they'd always need him, but not as much as previously. He'd be someone in their lives, just not at the centre of it.

November in Wales was never going to be good for someone’s mental health.

'I know it's not fashionable and probably doesn't fit in with modern restorative justice theories, but some people are just born wrong. With something missing. They are evil. Hundreds of years ago they'd have been driven out of villages or hanged. Now, they just walk among us.

closure.' He chuckled to himself although there was no humour in it. 'Stupid American phrase. What are those parents meant to do, once they get the news? Their only child was killed. Once they know, are they supposed to close that chapter? Just forget and get on with their lives.'

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