A common theme of Michael Innes's standalone novels, the conman conned, comes to a satisfactory, if rather abrupt conclusion. ( )

A Change of Heir by Michael Innes is a fun, twisting mystery that was originally published in 1966. George Gadberry is an out-of-work actor who is trying to avoid the tax man when he gets swept up into an elaborate scheme that could ensure he receives an enormous amount of money. His role is to impersonate Nicholas Comberford, and to ingratiate himself to Comberford’s great-aunt Prudence with the pay-off being named as the sole heir. Comberford is unable to do this himself because, he explains, he is a drunk with no desire to stop drinking, and great-aunt Prudence is a teetotaller. So with an agreement of receiving half the inheritance, Gadberry sets off to rural Yorkshire to play the role of his life.

Of course things are not quite what they seem and Gadberry is surprised at every turn, not least by the robust health of Aunt Prudence when he was told she was very frail. A cast of varied characters help to spice up the story and give this mystery a comedy-of-manners slant with humor and wit.

A Change of Heir was a clever story that pulled me in from the start as I wanted to see if the weak and gullible George would be able to play his role and deal with all the varied bumps in the road that were about to come his way. I did find the ending was a little abrupt but perhaps that was because I was in no hurry for this story to end. ( )