Amateur genealogist Suzie Fewings is disturbed when she finds out that a potential ancestor who shares the same name as her son had killed a man during the Commonwealth era in the 17th century. When her 17-year-old son becomes a suspect in the murder of a teenage girl in their community, Suzie's fears become irrational. Then danger threatens her 13-year-old daughter. Suzie sets out to find the alleged killer while coming to terms with the unpleasant details of her ancestors' lives.

I really wanted to like this book since it combines genealogy with a murder mystery. Unfortunately, it didn't work for me. Not only did the author try unsuccessfully to tie together a 17th century murder and a 21st century murder, she also added a second crime involving Suzie's daughter. It's just too much coincidence to be credible. To top it off, the author throws in a paranormal experience from out of left field. Readers will need a lot of stamina to follow Suzie as she jumps from one conclusion to another. She makes unwarranted assumptions about her ancestry, and she makes unwarranted assumptions about the criminal(s) at loose in her community. Suzie isn't a likeable protagonist for a mystery. She reacts to circumstances and acts impulsively without planning or purpose. If I was her friend, I'd be encouraging her to see a therapist. This is one series I won't be continuing. ( )

I love reading mysteries about people working in genealogy. This one has the researcher in London, England and shows a whole different way of looking at that family history. Suzie is able to drive to small villages to see where her ancestors lived, worked and died.

The mystery was pretty tight and while I thought about the killer as a possibility I dismissed it because it seemed so far-fetched. It made perfect sense the way it was explained but until that explanation I didn't think it plausible.

My only problem with the book was the way the Suzie reacted to some of the situations. She transferred some information she learned about someone in the 1600's to her own family, creating some tense moments in the family.

I'm going to read the next in the series because I did enjoy most of the book but I hope we avoid some of the internal family drama. ( )

Suzie Fewings's son Thomas Loosemore Fewings appears to be a suspect in the murder of his recent girlfriend. In the meantime, Suzie has uncovered a possible ancestor named Thomas Loosemore from the 17th century who murdered a clergyman. While the investigation is ongoing, Suzie's daughter Millie and her friend are stalked by a sexual predator. It is Millie's quick thinking that gets them out of the situation, but they must exercise caution knowing that he has not been captured. The threads of this story did not work well together. It stretched the reader's imagination to believe that Suzie would even entertain the thought that her son was guilty of the murder of his girlfriend just because some man with the same name who was a potential ancestor was a murderer. While I haven't given up on this author's genealogical mysteries yet, I certainly hope that the next one is more plausible and that the story's threads work better together. I did appreciate the author's listing of genealogical resources for that portion of her novel. ( )