Beyond Recall-Robert Goddard

Beyond Recall
Robert Goddard
Delta (Dell), Mar 3 2009, $12.00
ISBN 9780385341141

Estranged from his family, Chris Napier returns home for the first time in years to attend his niece’s wedding at the family estate Tredower House converted into a hotel in Truro, Cornwall. Unwanted at the ceremony, Nicky Lanyon arrives insisting to his childhood friend Chris that his father Michael never killed Chris’ great uncle Joshua Carnoweth over three decades ago; although authorities hung the man for the murder insisting the motive was greed as he was about to be replaced as the heir.

Nicky accentuates his point when he is found the next day hanging from a tree; apparently having committed suicide. As homage to Nicky and to alleviate his guilt having ignored the plea, Chris decides to investigate the 1981 homicide of Joshua though his preference remains leaving the past buried.

This is an exciting tale of murder, blackmail, and avarice within an extended family as secrets from the past are slowly revealed. The story takes a bit of time to introduce the three prime interrelated families, but once it does the plot never decelerates as the tangled history is unraveled one dangerous thread at a time by Chris. Fans will enjoy this fine suspense thriller filled with twists and spins that shake the hero as he uncovers the truth.

Harriet Klausner