His Fatal Legacy (The Alardyce series #3) by Heather Atkinson
Genre: Historical thriller, Victorian Era
Read: 21st March 2023
Published: 20th March 2023
★★★★★ 5 stars
DESCRIPTION:
Edinburgh 1897
Amy Alardyce's once-perfect life is in tatters. Her eldest son, Robert, has come of age, become the master of his own home, and married his childhood love Jane. But with maturity has come a terrible legacy, and the dark desires Robert inherited from his evil father Matthew, are fighting to get loose.
Whilst Jane is working hard to get her and Robert accepted into fashionable society, poor women are being hunted on the streets of Edinburgh, and Amy fears her son is to blame. And once the infamous Inspector Murphy takes up the case, Amy has to face a stark choice - denounce her son as a monster or risk her own safety to protect him from the consequences of his lethal actions.
MY THOUGHTS:
"We were going to announce this at dinner," said Robert, wrapping an arm around Jane. "But I can't keep it in any longer. I'm very happy to announce that Jane is with child."
"Oh, that's wonderful," beamed Amy. "Congratulations," she said, kissing Jane's cheek before hugging her son.
"Yes, really wonderful news," said Henry, shaking his stepson's hand.
"With child?" repeated a confused Lydia. "What does that mean?"
"It means I'm going to have a baby," replied Jane.
Lydia clapped excitedly while her brothers still looked puzzled.
"For dinner?" said John.
"What a disturbing notion," commented Andrew.
"I have a baby growing inside my tummy," said Jane, pressing a hand to her abdomen.
"How did it get there?"
"There's a question for your parents," smiled Andrew, sipping his Scotch.
"Your brother put it there," Henry told John.
"Robert or Stephen?" he replied.
"Robert," he quickly replied while Andrew chuckled.
"How did he put it there?"
Henry's mouth opened and closed as he became increasingly flustered, Andrew grinning like a Cheshire cat.
"I'll tell you when you're older," was his reply.
"Why?"
"Because it's grown up knowledge."
"The curious minds of the young," smiled Andrew. "How about another magic trick, children?"
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A dark heart or an honourable man...only one will prevail...
The third book in the Alardyce series has readers swept back to Victorian times as a darkness sweeps over Edinburgh once more, picking up soon after the end of the second thrilling installment "The Cursed Heir". While it can be read as a standalone, this is one series that can only be fully appreciated in all its ruthless glory from the very beginning. I highly recommend going back to "The Missing Girls of Alardyce House" first, which I found to be the most brutal of the three. It lays the foundations of the the second and third books, carrying a dark and atmospheric chill throughout. Think Jack the Ripper but on a greater scale...and what if Jack the Ripper had a son to take up his legacy?
Edinburgh 1897: Life has not always been kind to Amy Alardyce. But now she has found love with Henry, remarried and they have three beautiful children together. But Amy eldest child continues to worry her. Born from a liaison with an Alardyce footman when she was just just a teenager herself, Robert revealed his proclivities to be just like his father's before him thus prompting Amy and Henry to attempt to take matters into their own hands to prevent him from marrying his childhood sweetheart Jane. Alas, they were too late and the couple were wed.
Now a few short months later, Robert is proving to be a devoted husband, his love for Jane never wavering and as clear as night and day. And Jane continues to be blissfully oblivious to her husband's true nature, encompassed as she is in the throes of newlywed happiness. But how long can he keep his secret from her? He vows that she will never know...but how can one claim to know what the future holds?
When news reaches Henry and Amy that young maids have been attacked in alleyways late at night, they know at once that Robert is responsible and are dismayed. They had hoped that marriage might be the making of Robert but sadly too much of his father's blood runs through his veins. Henry confronts Robert who of course denies any knowledge of the attacks. But Henry has a proposition for his stepson...if he loves Jane and his mother enough.
And then Jane falls pregnant. Robert is excited, certainly, but he is also fearful. What if their child is a son? And he too shares his father's proclivities? What then?
Meanwhile, the Alardyces have been shunned by society for the past decade due to the shame brought on the family name by Henry's younger brother Edward and Amy's dalliance with their footman, of which Robert is the product. But with Robert and Jane's marriage, suddenly they have become accepted within society again, propelling Robert forward as master of his own destiny at the tender age of seventeen years.
Suddenly there are murders in the Old Town and young women are being attacked. And this time, they do not go unnoticed. An Inspector Murphy is on the case and he will stop at nothing to uncover the truth behind these crimes. Is Robert a guilty man and has he gone too far this time? Is there any coming back from this? And will Amy protect her son till the end?
HIS FATAL LEGACY is something of a sad tale as Amy's story almost comes full circle and Matthew's legacy lives on in Robert. It also raises the question of nature vs nurture. I'm a firm believer in nurture but sometimes people really do bear the sins of their fathers before them through no fault of their own. This series belies the nature edict as is seen over the course of each book, though none have been as graphic or as brutal as that first one. But each are just as equally chilling. Though I did feel this one lacked some of what the previous two had, it was still dark and disturbing as we watched like voyeurs relishing our delight as Amy and Henry attempt to take back some control before it's too late. Robert is just as pathological and yet in this book we begin to see a different side to him and we find ourselves sympathising with him.
This book also differs in that it has a small police procedural side to it, though it is very minimal with the focus mainly on the Alardyces rather than the investigation. I mean, to us as the reader, there is no mystery. We know who did what...we just don't know whether the police will get there with what they've got. Or how long it will take them.
I am thoroughly enjoying this series and part of me doesn't want it to end. Although this had initially been a trilogy, a fourth book - "Evil at Alardyce House" - is to be published in July. And I can't wait!!
Overall, HIS FATAL LEGACY is a deliciously dark tale following on from the previous two books in the series that is atmospheric and chilling throughout. The entire series would make a brilliant TV series. But it's dark and it's chilling...who would be brave enough to undertake it?
I would like to thank #HeatherAtkinson, #Netgalley, #BoldwoodBooks and #RachelsRandomResources for an ARC of #HisFatalLegacy in exchange for an honest review.
MEET THE AUTHOR:
Heather's tastes in all things are eclectic, which extends to her writing. Although she primarily write crime books - especially gangland thrillers - she also write paranormal, historical romance and fantasy. She publishes on Amazon Kindle and some of her novels are available in paperback too. She has also signed my first traditional publishing contract with Boldwood Books for the gangland Gallowburn series, set in Glasgow. As well as the republication of the Alardyce Trilogy, beginning with "The Missing Girls of Alardyce House".
When she's not writing - which isn't very often - she enjoys reading, especially the Assassin's Creed novels, Agatha Christie, Oscar de Muriel and Edgar Allan Poe, among many others. Heather also enjoys walking, exercising and spending time with her family.
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