The Man of Gold / Evelyn Hervey

Against her better judgment, Harriet Unwin hesitantly accepts a woefully underpaid position in the home of a miserly industrialist as governess to his two young granddaughters. Everyone is shocked when the old man suddenly dies a few months later, apparently of the illness that had been plaguing him over the past months and for which he had refused to seek medical attention. A post mortem examination reveals the cause of death as poisoning, and the police's suspicion naturally falls on his long-suffering son Richard.

Harriet's growing feelings for Richard, who has remained so kind and cheerful despite many years of hardship under his father's iron rule, impel her to launch her own investigation. With housemaid Mary Vilkins (an old friend from her early days in the workhouse) as her streetwise sidekick, she sets out to prove Inspector Redderman wrong.

While The Man of Gold offers no deep study of motive or grand philosophical discussion as to criminality or evil, it's a very satisfying crime novel, with an intriguing mystery, a good plot, solid writing, a well-paced narrative, and interesting characters — especially our amateur detectives Miss Unwin and Vilkins. It's the second of 3 books featuring Harriet Unwin, and I fully intend to seek out the others.

I was provided with a free electronic copy of this book through NetGalley by the publisher, Ipso Books, in exchange for an honest review.

Rating: ****