Publisher Description

From The Times bestselling author of The Other Mrs Walker - Waterstones Scottish Book of the Year 2017 - comes Mary Paulson-Ellis's second stunning historical mystery, The Inheritance of Solomon Farthing.Solomon knew that he had one advantage. A pawn ticket belonging to a dead man tucked into his top pocket - the only clue to the truth . . .An old soldier dies alone in his Edinburgh nursing home. No known relatives, and no Will to enact. Just a pawn ticket found amongst his belongings, and fifty thousand pounds in used notes sewn into the lining of his burial suit . . .Heir Hunter, Solomon Farthing - down on his luck, until, perhaps, now - is tipped off on this unexplained fortune. Armed with only the deceased's name and the crumpled pawn ticket, he must find the dead man's closest living relative if he is to get a cut of this much-needed cash.But in trawling through the deceased's family tree, Solomon uncovers a mystery that goes back to 1918 and a group of eleven soldiers abandoned in a farmhouse billet in France in the weeks leading up to the armistice.Set between contemporary Edinburgh and the final brutal days of the First World War as the soldiers await their orders, The Inheritance of Solomon Farthing shows us how the debts of the present can never be settled unless those of the past have been paid first . . .

Flap

'A profound and moving book' Woman's Weekly In the end they drew lots to decide who would choose first: A wishbone; A tanner; A reel of pink cotton . . . France, 1918. In the final weeks of the First World War, a disparate group of British soldiers shelters in an abandoned farmhouse. To while away the time, they place bets using the few precious objects they still possess. But as the soldiers become restless awaiting their orders, tensions rise. Then a terrible act is committed that will bind the soldiers together forever . . . A century later, an old man dies alone in his Edinburgh nursing home. No known relatives, and no will to enact. Just a pawn ticket found amongst his belongings, and fifty thousand pounds sewn into the lining of his burial suit. Heir Hunter Solomon Farthing, tipped off on this unexplained fortune, sets out to find the dead man's closest living relative for a cut of the cash. But as he trawls through the deceased's family tree, Solomon keeps finding connections to a group of soldiers and a secret they thought would never come to light . . . 'Skilful juggling of the twin timelines in this engaging mystery reveals a darkness at its core' Sunday Times 'The characterization is great and the atmosphere powerful. The bored and fractious platoon is wonderfully evoked' Daily Mail

Author Biography

Mary Paulson-Ellis lives in Edinburgh. She has an MLitt in Creative Writing from the University of Glasgow and was awarded the inaugural Curtis Brown Prize for Fiction in 2009 and the Maverick Award from the Tom McGrath Trust in 2011. Her critically acclaimed debut, The Other Mrs Walker, reached number three in The Times paperback fiction chart. The Inheritance of Solomon Farthing is her second novel.

Review

A richly rewarding, gripping page-turner -- Val McDermid
A profound and moving book * Woman's Weekly *
The characterisation is great and the atmosphere powerful. The bored and fractious platoon is wonderfully evoked. * Daily Mail *
Skilful juggling of the twin timelines in this engaging mystery reveals a darkness at its core * Sunday Times Crime Club *
Riveting . . . A deftly woven, moving plot * Woman & Home *
Richly enjoyable. Paulson-Ellis writes with verve and vividness, also with sympathy. * The Scotsman *

Promotional

An heir hunter in modern-day Edinburgh searches out the rightful inheritor to a dead man's fortune - an investigation that will lead him to the battlefields of WWI France, and the mystery of a six-man firing squad...

Review Quote

Riveting . . . A deftly woven, moving plot

Promotional "Headline"

An heir hunter in modern-day Edinburgh searches out the rightful inheritor to a dead man's fortune - an investigation that will lead him to the battlefields of WWI France, and the mystery of a six-man firing squad...

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