On New Year's Day, 1900, the brilliant violinist Sebastian
Cavendish is found dead. The last few days of his life are a
mystery, but in the final hours of 1899 he wrote a cryptic suicide
note mentioning a cursed inheritance', took poison, and died in agony.
Yet his friends and relations are utterly perplexed. The man they
knew and grieve for was vivacious, exuberant and extroverted. His
fellow musicians speak of his passion, his drive, and his love of
living. The socialites he met, all of whom lavished him with praise,
saw only a dazzling future ahead of him. So why, his loved ones ask,
would he change his plans at such short notice, disappear for days
on end, and take his own life?
Established detective Vanessa Weatherburn is engaged to investigate
the dead man's final movements. It is a journey which will reveal to
her the science of genetics, the history of Sebastian's equally
brilliant grandfather and the long-kept secrets of the Cavendish
family. She must cross continents and trace every lead if she is to
uncover the mystery of Sebastian's inheritance, and why it meant his death.
