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Set in wartime London and based on a true story, Everest Macdonald investigates the murder of her uncle, the actor William Terriss. A riveting, dark historical mystery from Sunday Times bestselling author A.J. West.
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.
Publisher: Orenda Books
Format: Ebook | Audiobook | Hardback (8 October 2026)
Source: Ecopy to review
MY THOUGHTS
Firstly my apologies to Anne and the publisher, my tour spot was yesterday but as so often happens life got in the way.
Four words describe this book for me. Eccentric. Entertaining. Engrossing and Mysterious.
Having read and loved A J West’s The Betrayal of Thomas True I had no doubts about the quality of West’s writing but in creating the character of Everest Macdonald, he has blended fact and fiction around true events and real people. There is a very interesting section at the back of the book giving further details.
The story focuses on the 1897 real life murder of actor William Terris at the stage door of the Adelphi Theatre in London. Everest becomes involved some 20 years later at the request of her dying father, Col Lewin, a former deputy commissioner in the days of the British Raj. He wants Everest to find out the truth of his brother’s murder and whether a fellow actor, Richard Archer Prince (the accused and detained in Broadmoor Asylum) was in fact the murderer.
There are memoir and diary extracts, brutal tribal murders, blackmail and curses, all of which make for an engrossing and entertaining read. Everest was a no nonsense but kindly woman with a family of her own back in Scotland. She was perhaps a little too trusting but had a dogged determination to find the truth for her father. There is a large cast of characters comprising family members and fellow actors and I did find that concentration was needed here.
With its theatrical setting, this is a flamboyant atmospheric mystery featuring human ill intent with a touch of the supernatural. I was getting Agatha Christie vibes for sure and Everest Macdonald could definitely give Miss Marple a run for her money. A recommended read.
My thanks to Anne of Random Things Tours for the invite and to the publisher for the ecopy to review.
A.J. West’s bestselling debut novel The Spirit Engineer won the Historical Writers’ Association Debut Crown Award, gaining international praise for its telling of a long-forgotten true story. His second novel, The Betrayal of Thomas True, debuted at number two on the Sunday Times bestseller list, and won the CWA Historical Dagger. A.J. was also shortlisted for the Booksellers Association Author the Year. An award-winning BBC newsreader and reporter, he has written for national newspapers and regularly appears on network television discussing his writing and the historical context of contemporary events. A passionate historical researcher, he writes at The London Library and museum archives around the world.
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