Next of Kin

Absolutely absorbing and thrilling. Full of rich details and fascinating characters. A well-crafted murder mystery. And in the end, a book you'll never be able to put down.

The book is filled with anachronisms ("media", "drama queen") and dangling phrases. There are even Americanisms, and a misunderstanding of How Things Were that I thought was peculiar to us Americans. Boyne allows a climactic courtroom scene with a mine of dramatic potential to fall flat for lack of emphasis in the right places. Yet I still have to give it five stars for the great plotting and the subtle parallels between the characters. There is even a "character" who never makes an appearance and whose destiny we can only speculate about. That's cool. It's like life...you never know who is going to come along and skew your plans...most novels wrap everything up neatly. This one is neat in the very ambiguity of its ending. Some readers may think this ambiguity is carelessness on the author's part, but it's not; it was foreshadowed. I must search out Boyne's other books.

I am editor and publisher of The Duke & Duchess of Windsor Society Quarterly. I wrote this review for our most recent journal issue (1-2009): NEXT OF KIN by John Boyne is a literary thriller set in London in 1936 amidst the unfolding crisis over King Edward VIII and Mrs. Simpson. This is a first rate novel that kept me in suspense every single moment and had me enthralled with its use of the abdication as its central story. Society members who enjoy reading fiction will love this book which is a very clever story within several stories, with the abdication crisis at the center of a fascinating drama with very interesting and fully developed cast of characters. The Windsors themselves appear only once in a very brief cameo appearance. The book's wrapper notes gives us a hint: It is 1936, and London is abuzz with gossip about the affair between King Edward VIII and Mrs. Simpson. Owen Montignac, the handsome and charismatic scion of a wealthy family, is anxiously awaiting the reading of his late uncle's will. He must pay £50,000 worth of gambling debts by Christmas or he'll soon find himself six feet under. In his desperation, he discovers that the royal scandal could provide the means for profit...and for murder. What Boyne accomplishes, and quite impressively I might add, is to interweave various thematic messages or allegories among the various plotlines throughout the novel. What Boyne also does quite effectively, and Society Members will be pleasantly surprised, is portray the abdication crisis and all of the various facets of public and private opinion of all classes of British Society. Mr. Boyne has obviously read some informative books about King Edward VIII. Even though this is a work of fiction, I think that Mr. Boyne has accurately reflected the history of the abdication in a balanced and thoughtful way. Unlike other recent thrillers which featured a leather-wearing, whip-snapping Mrs. Simpson as a dominatrix, NEXT OF KIN portrays both the King and Mrs. Simpson, and a few of the key government officials in an historically accurate way. The novel involves a committee of select expert lawyers who are brought together to develop recommendations for Prime Minister Stanley Baldwin regarding handling of the abdication. Through this committee, as well as various characters in the book, we see a full spectrum of what people thought at the time about the King's affair with Mrs. Simpson. This is historical fiction, I remind you. That genre (and several non-fiction books, in my opinion, that were written as biographies of the Windsors should be classified as historical fiction) is a very difficult category to work in and not many writers effectively manage to find the right balance of historical fact within their artistic license with fiction. Fortunately, John Boyne gives an excellent example of historical fiction at its very best. Many of the main characters, who are in their twenties, and the conflicts they endure re

John Boyne's "Next of Kin" is a unique form of mystery - neither a whodunit nor a how-did-he-do-it, but a will-he-get-away-with-it. And Boyne is just the writer to carry off such an imaginative approach. He has a good sense of place and a well-crafted style and is able to sustain an intricate and labyrinthine plot. Despite its slow start, my only complaint, I highly recommend "Next of Kin." Part of the appeal of the book is the setting. Boyne recreates an aristocratic England of the mid-1930s of country estates, London townhouses, private clubs, and luxurious gambling dens. The people found in these venues are surrounded by impending change, although they steadfastly plod along as if nothing at all is different. Yet, Hitler is rising in Europe, and at home London is abuzz with rumors of the king's affair with an American divorcee. Society itself is permeated with ruthless people who are looking for opportunities to seize wealth and power, while the unwary refuse to admit anything is different. Into this seething cauldron come two young men: Owen Montignac is a disinherited amoral aristocrat who would do anything to pay his monumental gambling debts, and Gareth Bentley, a hapless man-about-town who would do anything to avoid work. The two form a partnership that eventually involves an art theft, a murder (with two more to be revealed), a conspiracy to force the king to abdicate, and a sensational trial with a framed defendant. With the exception of the murder victim and Gareth's parents - especially his mother, a vapid society lady who transforms herself into a formidable lioness at the end - the characters in this book range from mildly unpleasant to truly repellent. It is to Boyne's credit that he makes them so fascinating and this novel so compelling.

In 1936, Hitler is becoming the rage on the continent; in England, the public affair between King Edward VIII and the commoner widow Mrs. Simpson holds the public's attention, but not Owen Montignac. Instead he believes his prayers have been answered with the timely death of his wealthy Uncle Peter. Owen owes £50,000 to casino boss Nicholas Delfy that must be paid in full by Christmas or he will spend the New Year and beyond with his deceased relative. However, to his dismay Owen learns his prayers went unanswered as dear Uncle Peter left him out of the will as deserving cousin Stella got everything. Desperation calls for desperate measures. Gareth Bentley's responsible father a judge is outraged at the irresponsibility of his son as he only pursues pleasure ever since Stella imitated him when she was sixteen and he fifteen. Dad, a lawyer, considers cutting off funds to his son. However, before his parents consider leaving him without a pound to his name, the police suspect Gareth killed Stella's beloved Raymond. Stunned he pleads with his father to help him; insisting he is a victim of a clever frame from someone who knows him intimately and took advantage of his escapades. Desperation calls for desperate measures, but who would go that far. This is an interesting historical mystery that uses King Edward's final days on the throne as a backdrop to a fascinating murder mystery that has its roots back a decade ago. However, Owen and Gareth are despicable individuals with no redeeming qualities. It is Gareth's parents who struggle with their conscience as they go out of their way to save their son; Judge Roderick especially hurts thinking back to those he condemned for hanging without an ounce of pity as he must choose between his values and his son. Readers will enjoy NEXT OF KIN as the past haunts their present. Harriet Klausner