Fatal Family Ties is Book 3 in S.C. Perkin’s Ancestry Detective mystery series, in which Texas genealogist Lucy Lancaster deals with murders in both the past and present.
Title: Fatal Family Ties
Author: S. C. Perkins
Series: Ancestry Detective Mysteries #3
First Published: July 20, 2021
Publisher: Minotaur Books
Genres: Mystery,
Acquired: from the publisher via Netgalley
*** Thank you to Minotaur Books, for providing me with an advanced e-copy of this book in exchange for an unbiased review. ***
Lucy is just about to tuck into a plate of tacos at her favourite Austin joint, Big Flaco’s, when she gets an unexpected visit from her former – and least-favorite – co-worker. Camilla Braithwaite hasn’t gotten much friendlier since the last time Lucy saw her, but that doesn’t stop her from asking Lucy for a favour. In her hand is a magazine article on an ancestor, a civil war corporal – and a liar, according to the article. Corporal Charles Edward Braithwaite is depicted as a phony and a deserter, and Camilla wants Lucy’s help clearing his name.
Lucy would prefer to spend her free time with her new beau, special agent Ben Turner, but takes the case, making no promises that Camilla will like the outcome of her investigation. Camilla leads Lucy to the Texas History Museum, where their first clue is a triptych painting, passed down in the Braithwaite family for generations, one panel of which has disappeared. But before Lucy can get much further, a member of the Braithwaite family is murdered in his own bed, and another panel of the painting found missing.
There are no shortage of suspects among the Braithwaite clan, including Camilla herself. This case will take Lucy to Houston and back again as she works to find the truth, and catch an elusive killer.
A peek into Lucy and Camilla’s past
The Ancestry Detective series has consistently been one of my favourite cozy mystery series and part of its charm is the main character, Lucy Lancaster. Her intriguing job as a freelance genealogist makes for some really interesting reading, and has taught me a lot about family dynamics and positions (third cousin, once removed on my grandmother’s side? I now know what that actually means!)
It also makes it easier to believe that Lucy has the skills to be a a great amateur sleuth because she literally researches past “mysteries” for a living. Perkins makes Lucy’s forays into museums and libraries come alive and I’ve learned a lot about different ways that genealogists dig up old family trees.
In this third instalment we get a closer look at Lucy’s past position as genealogist at a university library. Unfortunately, she didn’t have a great time as her co-workers, Camilla, Roxie and Patrice totally “mean girl-ed” her. I liked that the three “mean girls” still had different personalities and weren’t just carbon copies of each other. They even seem to each have different motivations for being rude and bully-like to Lucy. And they weren’t drawn as over-the-top either – these ladies were completely believable and realistic. Honestly, I could almost feel Lucy’s anxiety in facing them again, even after not having had to deal with them for so long.
As for the murder mystery, the pacing really hummed along. From the start, we have the mystery of whether or not Charles Braithwaite was a civil war hero or a lying fraud. As if that wasn’t intriguing enough, family members are put in danger and a family heirloom, a very ugly painted triptych (you just KNOW there’s more to the paintings!) starts to go missing. Some heavier issues, including race relations, are also covered in this book, which isn’t surprising considering the history of the Civil War, but I think everything is handled very deftly. Personally, I don’t have any real interest in US history or the Civil War but Perkins made it very entertaining and easy to read. You can tell a lot of research went into this book as the details are just amazing.
Up until the very end, I actually couldn’t figure out if Camilla was a good guy or a bad guy. There were so many moving parts (in a good way) that the mystery was really unique and interesting. While I had guess some parts of it, there were others that completely eluded me, no matter how hard I tried to figure it out beforehand.
The dialogue between all the characters is very believable and fun to read and I especially enjoy the friendship between Lucy and her best friends/office mates, Josephine and Serena.
The gang’s all here
Speaking of Josephine (a Brit who works as a translator) and Serena (a personal shopper with a thick Texan drawl), the interaction between them and Lucy is still one of my favourite parts of the series. While we don’t see much of them in this book (they played a much larger part in the first book, Murder Once Removed), you get the feeling that they are always there for Lucy if she needs them, which is what friendship really is about. I do hope we get to see more of them in a future book though as they are a lot of fun and I love their distinct personalities. I also love that the three gals are all freelancers who have built successful businesses (I’m a freelancer myself so always admire that entrepreneurial spirit!)
We also get to see Lucy’s growing relationship with new boyfriend, Ben. Unlike so many other cozy mysteries, Ben totally supports Lucy’s sleuthing skills and while he’s part of law enforcement, he’s not part of the local police force, which gives this a different feel than a lot of other cozies where the main character is either dating or fighting with local officers.
As an aside, I totally fell in love with Lucy and Ben as a couple when Ben suggested Lucy and he team up to confront a suspect. His exact words were, “I was thinking more like a Tommy and Tuppence Beresford act.” A guy who suggests being an awesome fictional detecting couple? Yes please! (For those of you who are wondering who Tommy and Tuppence are, they’re an amateur sleuthing couple by Agatha Christie.
Of course, no Ancestry Detective series book would be complete without a visit from Lucy’s charming rogue of a grandfather making an appearance. It’s just for a small part of the book, but it’s still memorable and I love that he also helps Lucy with her sleuthing.
Oh, word of warning, if you do pick up any of the Ancestry Detective books, I highly recommend you read them on a full stomach. If not, you’ll find yourself absolutely CRAVING Mexican food. While this isn’t a culinary cozy, Perkins really knows how to describe Lucy’s favourite eatery, Flaco’s Tacos, and its menu!
Read Fatal Family Ties for yourself
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