Fall from Grace by Richard North Patterson

Adam Blaine has moved as far away from his home in Martha's Vineyard as it's possible to be. He works as an agricultural advisor in Afganistan. At least, that's what he tells everyone. He's estranged from his father, Benjamin, a famous novelist but, when Ben dies in an apparent accident, Adam returns home for the funeral to find his mother has been disinherited and the circumstances of Ben's death are less than straightforward. Much to his amazement, Ben's will appoints Adam as the administrator of his estate.

Even though Adam is the administrator, he feels duty bound to his mother to try to overturn the will, protect his mother, uncle and brother from poverty and accusation, and get to the bottom of the circumstances of his father's death. What he uncovers is a labyrinth of lies, deceit, betrayal and secrets.

RN Patterson has written many books about secrets, guilt and judgement. In this one he populates his narrative with fine portraits of familiarly related and flawed characters, all with their secrets. Everything that happens is linked back to the character of the one person who features only as a dead man - Ben Blaine. We can, however, read between the lines as Patterson draws us into the weaknesses of the other characters - why did they allow their lives to be dominated so intently by Ben Blaine? What hold did he have on each of them? Why did he feel the insatiable need to dominate and control his family?

I found this to be a fascinating read about what motivates people and just how far will they go to protect their own weaknesses, which kept me turning the pages long after I should have turned out the light. I was keen to find out if Ben's death was an accident or if he was murdered. If he was murdered, was it one of those relatives or someone not yet introduced into the story? Characters whom the reader is encourage to see as 2 dimensional suddenly become interesting in their own right, with back stories that could form another story.

I enjoyed this book and recommend it.

Fall from Grace is published by Querus, ISBN978 0 85738 700 4 or eBook 978 0 85738 701 1