The Legacy of Eugene Ingres

Inspector Fenton and Sergeant Wilkins have been called out to investigate the murder of a young woman found in a storage unit owned by C Reynolds.
Eight weeks prior to this discovery, Charley Reynolds graduated from university and was given the key to her great, great grandmothers house as a gift from her grandmother, Marnie. Luke and Sam Davies were employed to renovate and decorate the house with some help from their sister, Beth.

One of the bedrooms was used as a storage room and contains newspapers with articles about Eugene Ingres, Mathilde Dumas and Matilda Dawn, who Charley later discovers is Mathilde’s name when she became a film actress. Some of her dresses are hanging on a rail, all silk, all expensive; they are put away in storage boxes. The wall is damaged from the weight of the dresses. Behind it, the access to the attic is found, where Charley discovers paintings by Eugene Ingres, in a crate.
Both Charley and Marnie receive invitations through the post to a country house weekend party to meet long-lost relatives. Unknown to Charley and Marnie, the other guests have been invited to a murder mystery weekend.

The host is Lottie Rayner who introduces the guests as Dick and Maria Rayner, her parents; Monsieur and Madame Marchand, Gabriel and Chloe; Monsieur and Madame Fournier, Lucas and Juliette; Lisa Thomas, and Bernard Travers.

Chloe Marchand falls ill during the first evening dinner, having swopped her soup with Charley. Two peacocks are found dead the morning after Charley throws caviar out of her window, that has gone off.

Charley finds paintings in the house that are exact copies of the ones she has recently discovered in her attic. Tension builds as the host explains how they are all related, to the assembled guests. It is part truth, and part fiction. Disgusted with the revelations, Charlie and Marnie leave. Returning home, Charley finds that the paintings from her attic have been stolen. Inspector Fenton asks Charley and Marnie to meet him at the country house where they find that everyone, apart from the staff, have left.

The investigations into the murder take Inspector Fenton and Sergeant Wilkins to an art gallery in London where the owner’s personal assistant, Henry Appleby, confirms that the dead woman is Carlota Reynolds. He gives the Inspector a booklet about the gallery. In it there is mention of an artist, Eugene Ingres.
Charley Reynolds is interviewed by the police, who are unable to detain her for the murder of Carlota Reynolds, as the only evidence they have is a partial finger-print they presume belongs to Charley.

Through the enquiries of Charley’s solicitor, and DCI Fenton, the guests who attended the country house weekend, with Charley and Marnie, are questioned.
Lottie Rayner is found to be Henry Appleby’s sister, Laura Spencer, while Lisa Thomas is the sister of the men who carried out the renovation work for Charley, Beth Davies. She is revealed as Henry Appleby’s wife. Henry’s full name is Henry Appleby-Thomas. Maria Rayner is Maria Black, the mother of Henry and Laura, and the master mind behind the thefts and murders.

Carlota is Charley’s twin sister, rescued by their father Richard, and taken by boat to San Sebastian, Spain, whilst Charley and her mother were rescued by a boat from Biarritz, France. Richard lost his memory, and in later life suffered from Dementia. Carlota was investigating her family tree which Henry discovered. He mistakenly thought he was the great, great nephew of Sabine, Eugene Ingres wife.

The legacy of Eugene Ingres is two-fold. It is the discovery of his paintings and it is the talent passed down to his great, great grand-daughter, Charley, as an accomplished artist in her own right.

This novel is full of twists and turns. Do the paintings at the country house belong to Charley or are they copies? Who are the long-lost relatives? What is the legacy of Eugene Ingres?