A Matter of Honour: by Jeffrey Archer.

This story mesmerised me for more than one good reason, every time I read it - there is the young innocent Englishman who has been left a letter by his father that he reads after the will is read and the bequests are finished with, which takes one to the history of the father as a jailer at Nuremberg who suffered subsequent to the suicide of his most ill famed jailbird; the son is innocent and moreover has complete faith, unlike the British authorities, in his father's innocence, and goes about opening the letter left him by the prisoner before he committed suicide. The letter is in German, and he gets help from a German au pair working her way in England in student days, after some mistrials (he knows enough to know he has to be careful about not letting anyone know the contents), and implusively invites her to fly with him to Switzerland to get the gift left in a Bank for his father that is now passed on to him.

And this is only the beginning of the practically jewel studded story with its jewels in Swiss banks and other treasures, art icons and Russian revolution, theft of art of private German owners by authorities in '30s, and more. There is the chase across Switzerland, the murders and the close escapes, the brilliant schoolmate who has been surprisingly a low level bank clerk and transforms into a crisp man of command and ability when the flatmate in trouble calls him for help with escape from the murderers chasing him in Switzerland, and then there is more - the murderers themselves.

The other side is about just as much glamour and history, what with history of the Russian revolution and prior era, bankers who know secrets of various past and present people of high up, young men and women of whom much is expected in future, discoveries of past and planning for future, ...

And there is more, much, much more! It involves Russia, Soviets, Tsar Nicholas during revolution, precious secrets, German aristocracy and principalities, accidents of airplanes, US interests and involvements, MI6 or is it another number?

And an icon precious for originality and more.