A Rather Lovely Inheritance
by C.A. Belmond
NAL, HK$101
With a title like A Rather Lovely Inheritance, readers will grasp immediately the storyline and perhaps a bit of the flavour of what's to come. Ingredients that make up the novel - about an American history researcher who becomes an heiress when a distant aunt dies - are romance and mystery, spiced by sassy dialogue that the author says was influenced by 1920s and 30s movies and theatre. The playful back-and-forths make a pair out of protagonist Penny Nichols and Jeremy, who faces losing his part of the bounty when it's revealed that he's not a blood relative of the deceased. This discovery frees him from the guilt he has harboured about his attraction to Penny, whom he believed to be a cousin. While their relationship blossoms, our heroine is spurred to use her research skills to work out her family tree. Part of the novel's charm rests on the Mediterranean locations Penny visits in her quest to find out what her aunt intended for her and Jeremy. Dealings with family vultures add a hint of danger.