The Desperate People — Francis Durbridge

Rex Holt - a nice lad, carefree, brimming with over-confidence, is found dead in a hotel room out in the country. It appears to have been suicide but Philip Holt is convinced that his brother has been murdered; and his conviction brings him up against those who cheat, who rob, who go to the utmost lengths to achieve their aim - the desperate people to whom murder is one of the norms of life..