The Green Rust

On his death‑bed, the formidable ship‑builder John Millinborn summons his longtime friend, solicitor James Kitson, with a final request that will thrust the lawyer into a tangled web of family secrets. Millinborn’s fortune—over a million pounds—has been earmarked for a woman he barely knows, the elusive Oliva Prédeaux, whose life has been marred by a disastrous marriage and a vanished child. He urges Kitson to safeguard her inheritance and uncover the truth before it’s too late.

Kitson, accustomed to the orderly world of briefs and courtrooms, now faces the rolling Sussex countryside, cryptic clues, and a doctor who arrived by chance on a train. The task forces him to trace a girl who disappeared into obscurity, track down a swindler already wanted by the police, and watch the shadows that trail her every step. With a massive legacy at stake and unscrupulous suitors looming, the solicitor must decide how far he’ll go to honor his dying friend’s last wish.