Blog Tour: A Sneaky Peek from Alison Knight's The Legacy


Delighted to have been asked to join The Legacy Blog Tour and I'm delighted to offer a Sneaky Peek from Alison Knight's new release, The Legacy.

Huge thanks to Alison, Darkstroke Books and Rachel's Random Resources for the invite. But first, just to tantalize you a little, here's a little bit about the book...

The Legacy Blurb

Available here
An unexpected inheritance. A web of deceit. A desperate escape. 

London, 1969.

 

James has his dreams of an easy life shattered when his aunt disinherits him, leaving her fortune to her god-daughter, Charlotte. He turns to his friend, Percy, to help him reclaim his inheritance – and to pay off his creditors. But when their plans backfire, James becomes the pawn of Percy and his criminal associates.

 

Charlotte is stunned when she is told of her windfall. After an attempt at cheating her out of her inheritance fails, James tries to intimidate her. But she is stronger than he thinks, having secrets of her own to guard, and sends him away with a bloody nose and no choice but to retreat for now.

 

Resigned, James and his spoilt, pampered girlfriend, Fliss, Percy’s sister, travel across France on a mission that promises to free James from the criminals for good. But James isn’t convinced he can trust Fliss, so he makes his own plans to start a new life.

 

Will James be able to get away, or will his past catch up with him? Will Charlotte’s secrets turn the legacy into a curse? 

Sneaky Peek

 THE LEGACY by Alison Knight:

Background: London, 1969. James is expecting to inherit a fortune from his spinster aunt, but when the will is read, he is in for a nasty shock. 

“Is this some kind of a joke?”

“I’m afraid not.”

“But … she … I don’t believe you. My aunt assured my mother on her death bed that she would make me her heir.”

“And she has fulfilled that promise. A bequest of five thousand pounds is very generous.”

James Jarvis glared at the solicitor who had been reading out his aunt’s will. “It’s a pittance. She was worth a hell of a lot more than that and you know it.”

The solicitor – what was his name? Irving? No, Irwin. Gerald Irwin. The man regarded him, his expression cool. He’d been looking down his damned nose at him since he’d arrived. Now James knew why. He’d been fleeced – robbed of his rightful inheritance and this Irwin had allowed it to happen.

“Your aunt felt that this sum was more than adequate for a young man with a good degree. It’s sufficient to buy you a modest property and provide the security that your mother wanted for you.”

“I have a degree in Classics,” said James. He didn’t add that he only got a third. “Hardly a subject to open many doors.”

“Oh, I don’t know. The civil service is always looking for the right people.”

James narrowed his eyes. “Thank you for your careers advice. However, that doesn’t address the issue at hand. I know for a fact that my aunt intended to make me her primary heir and that her estate is worth far more than five thousand pounds.”

“Well, I’m afraid that your aunt had a change of heart,” said the solicitor, barely able to contain his glee.

“When?”

“A week or so before she died.”

“When she was in the nursing home?”

Irwin nodded.

“Well, there you are. She was pumped full of drugs and not in her right mind. This will must be set aside and her previous one brought back. That’s the right one.”

Irwin raised his eyebrows. James wanted to reach over the desk and throttle the damned man. He could do it, too. At twenty-seven, he was decades younger and fitter than the bloated, middle-aged buffoon sitting there, intent on ruining James’s life.

“I’m afraid there’s no question that your aunt was of sound mind when she executed this document,” he said, tapping the will in front of him. “The witnesses spent some time with her, going through the document, clause by clause, and your aunt explained her reasons for the changes she had requested.”

“Nonsense. She would have been doped up to the eyeballs. I refuse to believe she could have been lucid.”

“I can assure you–”

“And I can assure you, sir, that this is totally unacceptable.” James took a deep breath, trying to hold onto his temper. Didn’t this idiot realise what a disaster this was? He needed more than five thousand pounds. His debts were more than that, and were rising daily. And the kind of people he owed didn’t take kindly to waiting for payment.

“I’m very sorry you feel that way, Mr Jarvis. But this will is valid, and I would strongly advise you not to waste time and money trying to challenge it. Your aunt gave a statement to witnesses to explain her decision and I have checked with everyone who saw her in her final weeks …” He paused and his look pinned James to his seat. “All of them will confirm that your aunt was in charge of her faculties right up to the end – a fact that you would have been aware of, had you taken the trouble to visit her yourself.”

James felt his cheeks flush. He hadn’t felt this wretched since he’d been hauled before the headmaster at school after he gave another boy a bloody nose. He’d had a good reason for hitting the little shit, but because the boy’s father was rich and James’s had been dead, no one was interested in listening to his side of the story. He’d got a thrashing and had nearly been expelled. Now, years later, he was facing the same humiliation. Only this time, he was facing a punishment far more deadly than a caning.

“I telephoned regularly,” he said. He’d wanted to know how long the old girl had left. “No one suggested that she wanted me to visit. Is that what this is all about?”

Irwin shrugged. “I can only report what is in this document and the supporting statements.”

James sat back and looked at the ceiling, blinking hard. “I can’t believe she did this to me. I thought she liked me.”

“I believe my client was thinking of your best interests,” said Irwin, his tone a little gentler. “She said you had a good mind and could do well if you just applied yourself.”

James shook his head, letting out a guffaw. “My best interests? That’s rich. Leading me on all these years, then cutting me off like this … “

“Not cut off, Mr Jarvis. You have a generous lump sum to start with. I can give you a cheque for your bequest now.” He opened a drawer and brought out a cheque book.

“It’s not enough. This will isn’t right. I refuse to believe my aunt was in her right mind, no matter how many witnesses you parade before me.”

Irwin sighed and put the cheque book back into the drawer and closed it. James felt a moment of panic. He couldn’t go away empty-handed.

“What are you doing?” he asked, pointing towards the drawer.

“I’m afraid that if you’re intent on challenging the will I’m not at liberty to pay out any of the bequests. The estate will have to be kept intact until such time as this dispute is resolved.”

“You can’t do that!” He stood up and slammed his fists down on the desk. “For God’s sake, man. I need that money.”

 AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY

Alison has been a legal executive, a registered childminder, a professional fund-raiser and a teacher. She has travelled the world – from spending a year as an exchange student in the US in the 1970s and trekking the Great Wall of China to celebrate her fortieth year and lots of other interesting places in between.

In her mid-forties Alison went to university part-time and gained a first-class degree in Creative Writing at Bath Spa University and an MA in the same subject from Oxford Brookes University, both while still working full-time. She signed her first three-book publishing contract a year after she completed her master’s degree.

The Legacy is her fifth novel and the second book published by Darkstroke Books. It is a drama set in 1960s London and France, exploring how we don’t always get what we want, with themes of greed, intrigue and desperation. Her previous Darkstroke book, Mine, is a drama also set in 1960s London, based on real events in her family, exploring themes of class, ambition and sexual politics. Some of the characters from Mine also appear in The Legacy, although this is a standalone story.

Alison teaches creative and life-writing, runs workshops and retreats with Imagine Creative Writing Workshops (www.imaginecreativewriting.co.uk) as well as working as a freelance editor. She is a member of the Society of Authors and the Romantic Novelists’ Association.

She lives in Somerset, within sight of Glastonbury Tor. 

SOCIAL MEDIA LINKS – ALISON KNIGHT

www.facebook.com/alison.knight.942

www.alisonroseknight.com

@Alison_Knight59 on Twitter

www.imaginecreativewriting.co.uk

www.darkstroke.com/dark-stroke/alison-knight/

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