When the police found Thomas Porteous tied to a chair in
his home by the English seaside, teenager Diana Quigly was
standing beside him with a knife in her hand; she was
arrested and sent to jail for 2 ½ years. Ten years later,
Thomas Porteous is dead at 70, and 27 year-old Di Quigly is
the sole inheritor of his estate.
While she was in jail, Di read a lot and got an education.
When she got out, she went to see Thomas, who surprisingly
offered her a position as housekeeper. Thomas Porteous was
an art collector and inventor, and had quite a bit of money.
Thomas noticed Diana had the eye of an art collector, and
took her under his wing. She had a rough childhood; her
mother is dead and her mostly absent father is violent,
abusive, and decidedly not the most honest of men. Thomas, a
widower, has been estranged from his daughters since his
first wife divorced him. She never forgave him for getting
rich afterwards. Christina Porteous made sure their
daughters thought the worst of their father, even spreading
rumours that he was not so innocent in his love of children.
To everybody's bewilderment--and his daughters' ire--Thomas
asked Di to marry him, and they were truly, blissfully
happy.
Then Thomas became ill with cancer. Di cared for him
at home as he requested, but still his daughters shunned
him. Only his young grandson, Patrick, came to visit in
secret. Di wants to pursue Thomas's wish of turning the
grand house into a museum, but her late husband's children
care only about the money and revenge. Suspected of foul
play, Di is arrested but quickly released, though all eyes
remain on her. Along the years with Thomas, Di has acquired
a small motley crew of devoted friends whose time has come
to help her.
GOLD DIGGER is a truly British psychological mystery, with a
tightly woven plot, a somewhat gothic atmosphere, and
colourful characters with wonderfully distinctive voices.
Everyone has skeletons in their closets, things are never
quite as they appear, and the ending holds a few surprises.
Ms. Fyfield is a splendid writer and I highly recommend this
fine suspense.
From the British Gillian Flynn, a tense, twisting thriller
about a young wife, a dying husband—and the family that
comes between them . . .
In a vast house by the sea, a wealthy man lies dying. His
young wife, Di, soon to be his sole heir, awaits the arrival
of her in-laws, all of them bent on claiming an inheritance.
A pair of poisonous daughters, a merciless husband, a
beguiling grandson—each has a scheme, each keeps a secret.
And each has underestimated the widow Di, who is far more
resourceful, and far more merciless, than the family could
possibly suspect . . .
Humming with psychological suspense, packed with surprising
twists, this high-voltage thriller is a mesmerizing game of
cat and mouse.
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