His superb plotting, his embattled, idealistic heroes in a corrupt world, and his ability to surprise, delight, and enthrall his readers have earned Robert Goddard a reputation that grows with each book.With Hand in Glove, Goddard gives us not only an engaging hero, but a wonderfully winning heroine, both of whom leave complacent lives to solve a literary mystery whose roots weave back to the Spanish Civil War. Tristram Abberley was a renowned English poet of the 1930s who died fighting in Spain for the Republicans. Nearly fifty years later, his sister and literary executor, Beatrix, is murdered during what appears to be a robbery at her home. But robbery, it transpires, is only one of the complex motives that underlie her murder.When Charlotte Ladram inherits her godmother Beatrix's house, she begins to uncover the kinds of secrets that people are murdered for. Beatrix scattered clues among relatives and friends, and Charlotte begins to discover disturbing facts that force her to take a second look at people she has known and trusted all her life. Slowly, she awakens to her responsibility to the dead, as well as to the living.For antique dealer Colin Fairfax has been falsely accused of Beatrix's murder. Colin's brother Derek is as determined to save him as Charlotte is to get to the truth of her legacy. The two join forces, caught up in a dark and dramatic chain of events that lends not only to the discovery of a shocking literary sleight of hand, but also to the demands of romantic love.Moving between rural England and New York City, Paris and Wales, Tunbridge Wells and wartime Spain, Robert Goddard weaves a compelling tale, combining family mystery, dark conspiracy, literary chicanery, and the happy surprises of love.It is no surprise that Robert Goddard is British prime minister John Major's favorite author for, like politics, Robert Goddard's novels are full of devious happenings and unexpected twists - in both, things are seldom what they seem. Read Less