The Heirs

 

This one was on my TBR list and I found myself at work one day without a book for lunch, so I checked my list to see what might be on the shelf and grabbed it. The premise sounded intriguing: five child prodigies (well, four and one dud) are all suspects in their wealthy father's murder. 

Leontes Button adopted five kids when they were babies: Octavius, Fola, Bilal, Perdita, and Romeo. Each one was supposed to cultivate a gift through his unique "Button" method, which basically meant 18 hour days spent with tutors and specialists. Octavius became a music prodigy, Fola a chess and math wiz, Bilal an Olympic fencer, Perdita an artist, and Romeo was supposed to be a talented writer but no amount of tutoring could help him so he was known as "the failure". 

On the night of the Prodigy Ball, Mr. Button is murdered on a yacht full of people and the police get to work trying to track down the killer. The Button siblings decide to figure it out for themselves. 

I have to admit, it just wasn't great. I really wanted to like it but it fell flat. The solution to the mystery was very banal (and I saw it a mile away, which is really unusual for me). At least it was a quick read so I don't feel like I wasted too much time.