The Steady Running of the Hour

By: Justin Go

Narrated by: Steve West

In 1924, the English mountaineer Ashley Walsingham dies attempting to summit Mount Everest, leaving his fortune to his former lover, Imogen Soames-Andersson - whom he has not seen in seven years. Ashley’s solicitors search in vain for Imogen, but the estate remains unclaimed.

Nearly 80 years later, new information leads the same law firm to Tristan Campbell, a young American who could be the estate’s rightful heir. If Tristan can prove he is Imogen’s descendant, the inheritance will be his. But with only weeks before Ashley’s trust expires, Tristan must hurry to find the evidence he needs.

From London archives to Somme battlefields to the Eastfjords of Iceland, Tristan races to piece together the story behind the unclaimed riches: a reckless love affair pursued only days before Ashley’s deployment to the Western Front; a desperate trench battle fought by soldiers whose hope is survival rather than victory; an expedition to the uncharted heights of the world’s tallest mountain.

Following a trail of evidence that stretches to the far edge of Europe, Tristan becomes consumed by Ashley and Imogen’s story. But as he draws close to the truth, Tristan realises he may be seeking something more than an unclaimed fortune.

©2014 Copyright © 2014 by Twyning and Hooper Inc (P)2014 Bolinda Publishing Pty Ltd

Intriguing, two stories in one

Although the romance on which this mystery is based is rather improbable, the story is totally gripping from the first. The book follows the story of a young man searching, with powerful motivation, for the truth about what became of two young people he believed to be his great grandparents, winding their real stories between his unearthing of clues. All three of the stories we follow are fascinating and the descriptions of his forebears' experiences at the time of the Great War are vivid and moving. The final revelation is tantalisingly treated and the end of the book, while perhaps a little predictable, feels very right. I loved this book and would choose more by this author and this narrator.