book cover of Unruly Son
Added by 11 members
 

Unruly Son

(1978)
(Death of a Mystery Writer)
(A book in the Idwal Meredith series)
A novel by

 
 
Awards
1980 Edgar Award for Best Novel (nominee)

From master mystery writer Robert Barnard, one of his early novels, Death of a Mystery Writer.

First published in 1979, Death of a Mystery Writer received an Edgar Award nomination for "Best Novel" of that year. It's with great pleasure that Scribner reissues this beloved novel from one of the most respected names in crime writing.

Sir Oliver Fairleigh-Stubbs, overweight and overbearing, collapses and dies at his birthday party while indulging his taste for rare liquors. He had promised his daughter he would be polite and charitable for the entire day, but the strain of such exemplary behavior was obviously too great. He leaves a family relieved to be rid of him, and he also leaves a fortune, earned as a bestselling mystery author.

To everyone's surprise, Sir Oliver's elder son, who openly hated his father, inherits most of the estate. His wife, his daughter, and his younger son are each to receive the royalties from one carefully chosen book. But the manuscript of the unpublished volume left to Sir Oliver's wife -- a posthumous "last case" that might be worth millions -- has disappeared. And Sir Oliver's death is beginning to look less than natural.

Into this bitter household comes Inspector Meredith, a spirited Welshman who in some ways resembles Sir Oliver's fictional hero. In Robert Barnard's skillful hands, Inspector Meredith's investigation becomes not only a classic example of detection but an elegant and humorous slice of crime.


Genre: Mystery

Visitors also looked at these books

cover of Heavy Are The Stones
Heavy Are The Stones
J D Barker and Christine Daigle

Used availability for Robert Barnard's Unruly Son


About Fantastic Fiction       Information for Authors