Sir Henry Maxted, Baronet was dead. He had been a member of the British delegation to the Paris Peace Conference in 1919. The French police declared his death an accident caused by his falling from a rooftop while spying on his mistress. His elder son Ashley, now Sir Ashley, was eager to accept this version along with his father’s estate and title. The younger son, James, a war hero and pilot, who had been shot down and spent the previous couple of years in a German prisoner of war camp, was not. The Ways of the World by Robert Goddard is a rapidly moving story that is hard to put down. Its only flaw, not uncommon in adventure books, is that the characters are somewhat flat. It may be hard to determine which of the characters are good or evil, but there is very little ambiguity or character development. I do recommend it though.