Published 8th October 2026 by Orenda Books.
From the cover of the book:
Some inherit a fortune.
She inherited murder…
1917. As the Great War rages on the continent, Everest Macdonald is summoned to her father's deathbed and entrusted with a final urgent request: she must uncover the truth behind the murder of her uncle, the celebrated Victorian actor William Terriss, a crime that has haunted her family for twenty years.
In 1897, Terriss was stabbed to death outside London’s Adelphi Theatre, a killing that shocked Victorian society. The murderer was swiftly arrested and confined to Broadmoor, the case declared closed. Yet, years later, a sealed package of evidence is passed to Everest by her dying father, which casts doubt on the official verdict and the haste with which it was reached.
Drawn back to wartime London, with her husband and children left behind, Everest begins her investigation, following a trail that leads her into the world of late-Victorian theatre, where fame and fortune mask obsession, envy and cruelty. With time running out and her father’s strength failing, Everest must uncover what really happened on the night Terriss died, and shed light on the unsettling legacy he left behind.
Based on an extraordinary true story, The Deadly Inheritance of Everest Macdonald is a dark, atmospheric historical mystery and a compelling adventure, as an unlikely investigator risks everything to pursue one of the most notorious killings of the Victorian stage.
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1917. Everest Macdonald is called to her father's deathbed, where he entrusts her with a sacred charge - to discover the truth behind the infamous murder of his younger brother, William, twenty years ago. Everest is surprised by his request, as everyone knows Richard Arthur Prince (aka 'Mad Archie') confessed to, and was found guilty of, the crime after being caught red-handed at the scene.
However, Everest's father believes there was something fishy about the hastily delivered verdict that condemned Prince to incarceration at Broadmoor Asylum, and he needs to see justice done before he can accept his fate. So, armed with the bulging file of papers her father entrusts to her care, she takes up the challenge...
Set against the backdrop of the Great War, West weaves a delicious mix of fact and fiction to produce an absorbing historical murder mystery, with an enchanting protagonist at the helm. The very real murder of William Terriss shocked Victorian theatre-land, and West takes the scandal surrounding the crime to give plucky Everest a treacherous path to navigate through her family's history.
The story alternates between a crime-caper-esque present in which Everest follows a trail of clues, and unearths revelatory secrets about the past, that send her off in all directions as she puts pieces of the puzzle together - garnered from her father's shocking journal about his adventures in India in 1867; her aunt's heart-rending diary about the trials and tribulations of her marriage to William; an abundance of informative letters; scurrilous newspaper cuttings; and a series of interviews with persons of interest, including one with 'Mad Archie' inside the walls of Broadmoor.
Everest is a dream in a stylish Swiss hat, with a capacious carpet bag (which she keeps losing), a desire to take a break from her ordinary life, and a lack of patience with people's nonsense driven by a very relatable ennui of middle life (and more than a few hot flushes). There is a nice double-act with some-time assistant Clare (who has her own part to play in the story), and lots of other vibrant characters to get the measure of, such as a potentially fitted-up 'Mad Arthur', a gaggle of family members mired in complex relationship dynamics, and a bevy of luvvies from the Victorian stage.
Creepy curses, exotic mysticism, ghostly happenings, good old-fashioned sleuthing, and theatrical melodrama keep things interesting, as skeletons leap from cupboards and twists and turns lead to a truly original untangling of threads. The atmospheric settings ooze lovely vibes of time and place, as I've come to expect from Mr West, but my favourite thing is West's female cast, in all their shades of stoicism, ingenuity, complicity and innocence - they really made this story for me.
An absolute delight from start to finish, that will send you down rabbit holes about some fascinating history.
The Deadly Inheritance of Everest Macdonald is available to buy now in hardcover, ebook and audio formats. You can support indie publishing by buying direct from Orenda Books HERE.
Thank you to Orenda Books for sending me a review copy of this book, and to Random Things Tours for inviting me to be part of this blog tour.
About the author:
A.J. West grew up reading books to escape his shyness at school and discovered an early talent for writing fiction which led to an award-winning career as a BBC television newsreader and reporter. He has also written for national newspapers and magazines and has appeared on television programmes including BBC Breakfast, Good Morning Britain, This Morning and the legendary reality television show, Big Brother, where he became an instant household name... though the specific household has yet to be identified. Today, A.J. lives in South London.
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