This book was a pleasant book to listen to during the hot summer days we've been having. It is set in the beautiful French Riviera, and the time is June 1948, just after the war. The book was read by Charlotte Hamblin and Roy MacMillan. I found the narrators were very good and they suited the story. This book verges on being melodramatic, but it moves past that and turns out to be a pretty darn good mystery. Eve Forrester is a young woman who lost her first love in the war. Adrift and alone and with no family support, she marries Clifford Forrester and prepares to make some kind of life for herself with this loveless marriage. Her colourless and cheerless life in London seems to be the best that she can hope for. Then a surprising letter comes and Eve is on her way to the south of France without Clifford to claim an inheritance from a wealthy stranger. Once in Cannes, Eve falls in love with the countryside and the villa that she has inherited a 1/4 share of. She is in a whole new world and meets and interacts with totally different people than she is accustomed to. She also tries to find out what in her past has made this connection to someone she has never heard of, and why did this wealthy stranger bequeath her this generous inheritance. Things turn dark and Eve has become a target by someone who doesn't want her to live to enjoy her inheritance. When the truth about Eve's history becomes known it totally changes Eve's life, and she realizes that her unhappy childhood and very unhappy marriage no longer need to define her I enjoyed Eve and liked the supporting characters in this book. even if they were a bit stereotyped. . It was a pleasant, light read that I think was probably best enjoyed in the audio format. ( )

It has the change of daily life in England after WWII but sharing that some things like rationing continue to make things difficult and trying to make one's way when a loved one has been lost in battles of war and will never return.
It has the intrigue of an unexpected inheritance with notification coming in the mail on an "ordinary" day.
It has the mystery of a stranger that leaves an unparalleled bequest to a woman he has never met.
It has the charm of meeting new friends on an overnight train.
It has the glamour that instantly comes to mind when I picture the setting of the French Riviera (or Côte d'Azur) on the Mediterranean coast of southeastern France.
It has the glitter of 1948-1949 Hollywood stars enjoying the decadence of life and parties on the French Riviera.
It has twists and turns, mystery, intrigue, suspense, and romance in an exquisite setting.
Simply said, it is not to be missed!

From the first introduction to the character of Eve Forrester, I was interested to learn all of her story and how she would continue life in post-war England. I won't tell you when but along the way it was quite amusing to listen to life's interpretations by Mr. Stanley Sullivan (Sully for short), an American author.

The author, Tamar Cohen writes contemporary drama and uses the pseudonym of Rachel Rhys for historical mysteries, and the pseudonym of Tammy Cohen when writing psychological thrillers. She was previously a freelance journalist who has written for "The Times," "The Guardian," "Marie Claire," "Cosmospolitan" and many other publications. Prior to writing novels, she wrote 9 non-fiction titles. For more information about the author visit her website at http://tammycohen.co.uk/ or on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/MsTamarCohen/

p.s. This was another reading treat from the Mysteries-Book-a-Month 2020 package from Bas Bleu. To learn more about this package, please see my review of "A Lady's Guide to Etiquette and Murder" (Countess of Harleigh Mystery Series) by Dianne Freeman ( )

Really just loved the whole book.
Very atmospheric, this really captures the sights and smells of the south of France well
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‘Fatal Inheritance’ by Rachel Rhys is a mystery set in the South of France three years after the end of World War Two. This is a glamorous place of sun and colours and beauty but which hides wartime shade and recriminations, canker beneath the luxury and smiles.
When Eve Forrester receives a solicitor’s letter promising ‘something to her advantage’, she leaves her husband in England and travels to Cap d’Antibes. Clifford disapproves of her journey, he thinks it inappropriate, a waste of time, doubts the veracity of the will of this mysterious Mr Guy Lester who Eve does not know. But Eve defies her husband and goes anyway, curious, listening to the inner voice which tells her there is more to life. This is a novel where you want to shout to the heroine, to encourage her onwards, to have strength to take a new path.
Eve inherits a part-share in the Villa La Perle at Cap d’Antibes, near neighbours are the Duke and Duchess of Windsor. Eve, in her ‘make do and mend’ clothing, is thrown into a glamorous social whirl of people she finds awkward, dismissive and arrogant. Rhys draws a layered picture of society where obvious wealth may hide troubled finances, make up and lipstick covers bruises, and smiles hide venom. It is a place where the locals avoid people and businesses which ‘helped’ the German occupiers, where memories of the war are fresh. In the middle of this, Eve struggles to understand her inheritance while delaying Guy Lester’s family from signing papers to sell the villa. And all the time, Eve wonders what Clifford is doing at home, knowing he disapproves of her being there, knowing he worries about the cost.
An entertaining novel in a beautiful, flawed setting – neatly mirroring the flawed people - not quite suspense, not quite a romance in the conventional sense. Rhys writes about women particularly well, not just Eve but the housekeeper Mrs Finch, actress Gloria Hayes, and fellow tourist Ruth Collett. I liked Eve, disliked her husband, and chuckled when the ‘love interest’ switched between surly to over-attentive. If I have one query, it is the solution to the mystery which comes rather out of left-field and left me feeling a little cheated. The ending, though, is unbelievably poignant. A great beach read.
Read more of my book reviews at http://www.sandradanby.com/book-reviews-a-z/ ( )

Married in haste, Eve lives a stultifying life in Sutton with her stiff and unemotional husband Clifford. Then a letter arrives in the post saying that Eve has inherited something from someone she doesn't know and must travel to the French Riviera to claim this. Post-War Riviera life is very different to post-War Britain and when Eve discovers she has been left a share in a villa she realises that her life could be so much more.
I enjoyed Rhys' first novel and again I enjoyed this one, but with a few more reservations. The writing about Eve's life in Britain and the contrast with the light of the South of France was terrific. I also quite enjoyed the plot about why Eve had been led the inheritance and the secrets hidden in her life. However I didn't really care for the plot about the stolen Nazi art. It seemed to take quite an enjoyable novel about life changes and emotional trauma and try to make it into a thriller. This plot line wasn't really developed too far and rushed to an ending which spoiled the more psychological / romance for me. ( )