Liam Taggart is a PI, after having spent 6 or so years in the CIA. Five of those years were undercover in Northern Ireland, spying on the Nationalists, including members of his own family. Needless to say, when they discovered his clandestine operation, he was bid a not so fond farewell. Now, 16 years later, his uncle is dead and he's invited back for the funeral. Turns out, his uncle was murdered and some of the family want his help finding the killer.

The uncle was expecting to be killed and has placed all his assets in a trust with Liam named as the trustee. This doesn't go over well with Liam or other family members. Balson nails the discord that can develop when a family member dies and inheritances are at stake.

Balson uses remembrances to provide you with the background of The Troubles and it works well. This is a gripping story and really held my interest. There’s no shortage of suspects here, from old family enemies to actual members of the family. There are lots of secrets and Liam struggles to unravel them. He seems a bit dense to me and I felt McLaughlin and Dooley had a much better grasp of the situation. I had a strong suspicion as to who was to blame, but that just kept me intrigued to see if I was correct.

I was not a huge fan of Karolina’s Twins, but this book worked for me.

My thanks to netgalley and St. Martin’s Press for an advance copy of this book.

I could easily give this 4 1/2 stars. I really enjoyed this book. It was different than the books I normally enjoy. It was about a big Irish family. The nephew that has migrated to America is called back to Ireland after his favorite uncle is killed. I won't give away any more of the storyline but it has kept me interested and entertained. I loved reading about this big family and all of their trials and tribulations. The characters are real and the story is captivating. I did solve the mystery before the end but continued to read to find out why and what happened to everyone. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for allowing me to read an advance copy for my honest review.

Great novel.
Intriguing,interesting,suspense,mystery with twists..
set in Ireland.
Held my interest through out the book

This book is available for pre-order now and will be released in a few weeks.  This was one of our upcoming new releases we couldn't wait to read and it did not disappoint.  Liam Taggart returns to Northern Ireland after the death of his Uncle with whom he had not spoken in 16 years.  His Uncle Fergus has been shot and he has left Liam as the trustee to his will.  One of the stipulations of this secret trust is that none of the beneficiaries can receive anything until the killer has been found.  

Liam finds himself drawn back into a family that he had all but left behind. There is deep history with the family and the IRA and it seems that nobody is safe.  Was this a murder for money or for revenge?   As the investigation reopens old wounds, Liam is forced to confront family issues that he had locked away years before.  And despite his best efforts, the investigation begins to effect his his wife and son back in the United States.

This book did not disappoint and is exactly what I hoped from Mr. Balson.  Thank you to Netgalley for the ARC of this book.

What a wonderful novel. I am going to find the 2 previous books to catch up on the characters. Even though this book was good to read as a stand alone. The characters are complicated and complex. The characters, Liam Taggert and his wife Catherine (PI and attorney respectively) are involved in this novel. Liam gets a phone call that his Uncle Fergus, whom he has had a falling out with 16 years prior, heads heads to Northern Ireland. He regrets the time that has passed. There are twists and turns in this story. The storytelling is intriguing and descriptive in which certain clues are given. There is adventure, and danger in which you don't know who to trust.

I enjoyed reading this novel and couldn't wait till the end to find out who the culprit was. This is truly a great mystery.

The question in this mystery is less who is the murderer than why the victim was murdered. Fergus was a wily one- and the fact that he set up a trust and got his nephew Liam Taggart back to Northern Ireland to sort things out makes for a good read. Balson revisits the violence of Northern Ireland in the 1970s. The anger continues to simmer among and around this family. Liam, as in Once We Were Brothers, is a smart, sometimes smart aleck investigator. Liam works methodically through the suspects in the murder and you might be surprised at the identity of the bad guy. There's less of his wife Catherine in this one; fans of the previous novel might question her choices here. You can read this as a standalone and enjoy it for the mystery and the atmosphere and hopefully that will lead you back to Once We Were Brother which was, I think a better more complex book. Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC.

This is a poignant and very suspenseful story about a Northern Ireland's family and their ties to the past "Troubles." The characters are well-drawn and believable. The plot is fast-paced with many surprises along the way. The past and its secrets are never far behind.

If you don't know much about 'the Troubles', in Ireland, this book will help you learn a LOT about the time period, even if it is a work of fiction. Every family has its secrets, facts and truths that get hidden behind mistruths and falsehoods. In this story, all those come out, thanks to a mysterious letter, and the death of his uncle. Liam returns from Chicago to Ireland to try to solve his uncle's death, and along the way he uncovers truths and lies, and has to discover which is which. When the bodies start piling up, Liam realizes the murderer may not be who he thinks it is, and the story really picks up the pace, leading to a page turner of a read that you just can't put down, until you discover who the real murderer is!

I received this advanced copy from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. I have read all Ronald Balson's novels, Once We Were Brothers was one of my favorites, so I was excited to start reading. The Trust takes a different direction than the author's previous novels, it is not a Holocaust novel. It takes place in Northern Ireland and basically it is a murder mystery. Liam Taggart, the private investigator we met in the author's other novels returns to his native Ireland for his uncle's funeral. He has been estranged from his Irish family for the past 16 years after a fall out with the family. Upon his return he finds out that not only his uncle was murdered but that he anticipated his own murder and left a will naming Liam as the trustee who should carry out his instructions to find his murderer before anyone named in his will gets anything. Let me preface my review that I am not a fan of murder mysteries and had this novel not been written by Ronald Balson, I probably would have skipped it. I found this novel literally boring, every single family member at times was a suspect in Liam's eye as well as old enemies of the families. There was a lot of repetitious guessing games by both Liam and the police. The action does pick up towards the end, but overall this was a disappointing novel for me and can't give it more than three stars.
Thanks NetGalley, St Martin's Press and he author Ronald Balson for this advanced copy.

Nicely written, historically relevant, and very hard to put down. I read it straight through, crying at the appropriate times, rooting along for the outcome.

If you ask my opinion, this novel could easily have been at least one hundred pages shorter. Of all the characters trying to solve the mystery and catch the killer going on a killing spree, none have the ability to think rationally. Maybe Catherine could be a better PI than Liam who is lost and whiny for more than half the novel. The premise of the novel is great; too bad the characters ruined it.

For starters, Liam, allegedly the great PI, has missed it grandly with his instincts. Although he hasn't seen his Irish family in 16 years, he's so sure that Aunt Deirdre, his cousin Janice and her boyfriend Charles are innocent, despite Inspector McLaughlin's suspicions about each family member, and of course he thinks the cousin with a bad temper must be the killer. For most of the novel Liam wastes time and makes excuses, rarely acting like a PI. And even when he goes into action mode he's reckless and acts like an amateur. His wife Catherine has a better grip on things than he does. However, what I have to say against her is that if there are to be future books in the series, she seriously needs to drop the heroic attitude: when someone prank calls your house, throws rocks through your window, your husband's tires are slashed, his hotel room is ransacked - lady, you need to leave your place and go somewhere safe. Despite all the threats, she claims she's fine and oh, so busy; too busy to think about your life and your kid's? Seriously.

The reader is offered different options for who the killer might be, but they obviously turn out to be the wrong ones. If proper investigation and background check would have been done earlier in the case instead of drinking all that tea and eating so much of Aunt Deirdre's (quote) "yummy food", maybe we wouldn't be so shocked that in the last 60 or so pages every character suddenly becomes good, and only the overlooked character turns out to be the killer. The great Liam looks only into the suspects he fancies, is not at all objective, and he is unprofessional. Makes no sense to me, and I'm not a PI.

I think the novel would have been better written in third person. The main character's actions would gain less criticism, in my opinion. Can I mention that he refers to his Aunt Deirdre's house as Fortress Deirdre? The first time I understand - it's a joke, but the second and third time it's not. Also, I would like to focus on Annie, who thinks it's a good time to keep a promise she made Fergus. Sure, dear, never-mind that there's a killer out there. Unsurprisingly, the big secret turned out to have no relevance to the case. Shocker.

I felt cheated by this novel. It took me more than two weeks to finish it. A mystery novel should make you hold your breath and make you want to read it faster and eagerly. It would have been more appealing if it had been shorter, with characters with a better ability to deal with everything going on.

"The Trust" by Ronald H. Balson takes place in Northern Ireland and Chicago. Former CIA operative turned private investigator Liam Taggert and his attorney wife Catherine team up to figure out who is killing off Liam's Irish family one by one and why.

"The Trust" is another well-written page-turner by Balson that will keep you guessing up until the very end.

I was given a complimentary copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I was delighted to have the opportunity to read an advance copy of The Trust by Ronald Balson. I had read and thoroughly enjoyed all of his previous books, and this one did not disappoint. I was very happy that The Trust had nothing to do with The Holocaust, which had dominated his other books. It still has the main characters of private investigator Liam Taggart and his attorney wife Catherine who were in his other books, but this book is mostly based in Northern Ireland. I learned a lot about its history, particularly The Troubles. I enjoyed learning more of Liam’s backstory. I like books about contested inheritances, and this one was quite suspenseful and had great characters.

There were many ethical issues which arose in the story which would make good book discussion topics. This book could definitely be read as a stand-alone, but the others are well worth reading. I highly recommend this book to all readers, I believe it would appeal to both men and women, and I think it would make a great choice for book discussion groups.

I am not a religious person so I do not care to read this book, nor can I review it properly. It was added to my shelf without my permission. Good Luck.

Having read and thoroughly enjoyed Karolina's Twins and Once We Were Brothers, I was excited to see another book featuring Liam and Catherine. This one was centered around Northern Ireland’s sectarian wars, which I admit I really knew very little about other than remembering the violence of the period. In previous books, Liam and Catherine were active in investigating secrets for other families. This time the mystery revolves around Liam's family and subsequently putting everyone in the Taggart family in danger.
Once again, Ronald Balson has written an intriguing story centered around family secrets and a mystery that will keep readers guessing until the end. Even once I figured out who the culprit was (before Liam), I was still surprised at both the motive and the ultimate ending. Great read for fans of historical fiction.

I voluntarily reviewed an ARC of this novel.

(Thank you Netgalley for an early reader copy in exchange for an unbiased review)

I loved Ronald Balston's previous book, Karolina's Twins, and I love this book too! This book has everything: a murder mystery, politics, old flames coming back to haunt, The Trust has it all!

Out of the blue, Liam Taggert receives a call from his cousin in Ireland; his uncle Fergus has died and his family desperately needs him to come back to Ireland. Now married and with a small child, Liam left Ireland years ago, after falling out with his uncle Fergus, and never tried to contact him afterward. But his cousin is persuasive, and his guilt over not healing the rift with the man who had raised him sends him over the pond and a family reunion that is anything but friendly.

It turns out that Fergus was murdered and that he has made Liam the executor and trustee of his estate. This doesn't endear Liam to his cousins and extended family, especially when they find out that the cousin who they feel betrayed them is not only in charge of the estate, but that they can't even find out the terms of the will until Fergus's murderer is found. Seems that Fergus has premonitions that he would be murdered, and that the likely murderer could be one of his heirs. He made Liam trustee because Liam is an investigator and not one of the heirs.

As Liam digs further into his uncle's death, his cousins offer up varying reasons for wanting Fergus dead. But then the heirs start to be murdered, and Liam's wife in Chicago starts to get threats...who could it be, and where will it all end?

The Trust is a fast paced, whodunnit that brings up old loves and enemies, and has its roots in the past. I couldn't put the book down, because each page took me in a new direction. Now I'm off to read Ronald Balson's previous books, can't wait!

Excellent read the storyline keeps you in suspence throughout the book.
Characters are well developed as the story progresses and reference is made to the "troubles" through flashbavks so the reader iunderstsnds why revenge in some places can take a whole lifetime snd a brief desctiption is given so people who did not know history will understznf.
Recommend this book to sll my students,fsmily and friends.
Well donr.

What better way is there to spend a Saturday then spending it with Liam and Catherine in Ron Balson's newest mystery! He did it again. It's another page turner and even when you think it's over - just wait a few pages - there's more. If you are a Ron Balson fan you will enjoy reading Liam and Catherine's latest adventure which is set mostly in Ireland, while learning a bit about Ireland's history and The Troubles - their civil war that lasted for thirty years and just ended in the late 90s. If you haven't yet read one of Ron's books and you like David Baldacci, Vince Flynn, Brian Meltzer, Michael Connelly or others like them, try this one. I highly recommend it.

Thank you to NetGalley for providing me with an early release of this book in exchange for an honest review.