by William Reston Hunt
PERSONAL
TRU$T
Synopsis of Book
The body of Margaret Brewster is found outside her home the day after a blizzard that had been predicted for three days. A suspicious death to some, it sets in motion the administration of her estate by Steven Mott, an experienced but imperfect bank trust officer and attorney, who sees the Brewster estate as simply another mundane account to administer.
Eleanor Chandler is a charming and attractive younger woman who befriended Mrs. Brewster for only a few months before her death. When Eleanor ends up with most of the estate assets, questions arise and Steven is torn between his duties as a fiduciary and his growing fondness for Eleanor.
Challenged in ways foreign to the staid world of trusts and estates, and beset by painful memories of his disgraced father, Steven avoids a workplace tragedy that changes the course of both his troubled marriage and his career.
PERSONAL TRU$T brings the reader into the fiduciary world where law and banking can be anything but dull, and where executors and trustees must always act in their clients’ best interests, even when the fiduciary’s personal interests stand in the way.
“An accurate portrayal inside the lives of a bank trust department and its employees is skillfully weaved by Mr. Hunt in his debut novel. As a former bank trust officer, I could relate to the main characters and their complicated personal lives and relationships. His story has murder, mystery, intrigue, and infidelity all spiked with dry humor and surprises. You’ll love the unexpected ending that leaves one hanging, wanting to know what the future holds for the main characters.”
DAVID B. LANTZ, retired Executive Vice President, First Horizon Bank
“Mr. Hunt has written a tale of wills, trusts and trysts which are never far apart and whose ironic ending I did not see coming. A snow storm, an unexplained corpse and a kind new friend set in motion a tempest of quiet intrigue: disappearing valuables, lingering questions and the sort of doubt which erodes trust at every level. Enjoy PERSONAL TRU$T, fiction where the men and women in the business and legal worlds sound just like your coworkers and live on your street.
You, too, will find yourself wondering just who is worthy of your trust.”
DR. WYETH BURGESS, Belmont University English Department