Where There’s a Will: A Rowland Sinclair WWII Mystery

Gentill’s witty, rip-roaring 10th mystery featuring Australian portrait painter Rowland Sinclair (after 2021’s Shanghai Secrets) takes Rowland to Boston, Mass., with his ever-faithful entourage. His flamboyant university friend, Daniel Cartwright, has been murdered, and Rowland has been appointed the sole executor of the man’s considerable estate. Rowland winds up not only investigating his friend’s death but also dealing with Daniel’s angry siblings, who have been left with what they consider to be the paltry sum of $10,000 each. The bulk of the estate is to go to the mysterious Otis Norcross, whose whereabouts are unknown. The search for Norcross takes Rowland and his crew in some unusual directions, leading to encounters with William Randolph Hearst, Orson Welles, Joseph Kennedy, and Zelda and Scott Fitzgerald. Each chapter begins with an edifying quote from a period publication, and, as ever, Gentill elegantly infuses historically accurate details on the rise of fascism into the text, providing insight that’s relevant to today’s readers. This is historical mystery fiction at its finest. Agent: Jill Marr, Sandra Dijkstra Literary Agency. (Jan.)