Inherit the Dead

Inherit the Dead is a 2013 collaborative crime novel written by twenty different mystery writers, with each chapter handed off to a new author and the entire book benefiting the literacy charity Safe Horizon. The roster includes some of the biggest names in contemporary American crime fiction. Lee Child contributes one of the chapters, alongside Mark Billingham, C.J. Box, Stephen L. Carter, Marcia Clark, Lawrence Block, Heather Graham, Charlaine Harris, Mary Higgins Clark, John Connolly, Lisa Unger, S.J. Rozan, Sarah Weinman, and others. The project was edited by Jonathan Santlofer and the format echoes earlier collaborative projects like Naked Came the Manatee.

The plot follows Pericles Pete Christo, a private investigator hired by a wealthy New York socialite to find her missing teenage daughter Angel before the girl misses out on a significant inheritance. As Pete pursues the case across Manhattan, the Hamptons, and various corners of the New York wealthy world, the story reveals itself to be considerably more complicated than the missing person assignment had suggested. Each chapter introduces new wrinkles, and the rotating authorship gives the book a slightly fragmented quality that some readers find delightful and others find disorienting.

The pleasure of a multi author novel like this is partly in trying to spot the seams. Each writer brings their own voice, their own pacing, their own preoccupations, and the transitions between chapters are sometimes smooth and sometimes audibly different. Lee Child’s chapter, when you reach it, has the unmistakable Reacher style economy and the willingness to let action speak for itself. Mary Higgins Clark’s contribution will read like a Mary Higgins Clark chapter, with her characteristic suburban suspense flavor. Charlaine Harris brings her own warm voice. The cumulative effect is a kind of variety pack of contemporary crime fiction.

For readers interested in contemporary American crime writing, in collaborative novel projects, or in the work of any of the contributors, Inherit the Dead is a fun and slightly strange one off. The proceeds went to a worthy cause and the book reads as the literary equivalent of a benefit concert.