Oh, Money! Money!

Stanley Fulton has neither wife nor child, and is concerned about the inheritance of his wealth on his death. He decides to test his closest relatives, his cousins, to see how they would handle a relatively small inheritance, with the hope that one of them will show themselves fit to inherit the lot.
Accordingly, he makes arrangements for each of them to receive £100,000. In the meantime, under the guise of a genealogist researching the family history, he to the town where the cousins live. There he finds that there is another ‘cousin’, from the mother’s second marriage, whom everyone refers to as ‘poor Maggie’. As she’s not really his cousin, he doesn’t feel justified in including her in the gift, even though it’s obvious she’s the most in need of it.
The characters of the cousins and their families are very well drawn, and it’s pretty clear how they’re likely to deal with the money when it arrives. Sure enough, it brings out the best in some, the worst in others, but despite some being flawed, all the characters are likeable, and there’s a definite sense that they’ll all win through in the end.
It’s one of those books that ends just as it should. Excellent read.