Lineage Most Lethal is the second book in SC Perkin’s Ancestry Detective Mysteries, a unique cozy mystery series set in Texas and featuring genealogist Lucy Lancaster.
I discovered SC Perkins late last year when I won a copy of the first book in the series, Murder Once Removed. Unfortunately, I never got around to finishing it (I was halfway done) as the holidays got super busy and then this year has been… well, you know how this year has been! Anyhow, when I got approved to read Lineage Most Lethal on Netgalley, I decided to read Murder Once Removed again as well. I binged through the two books in less than four days – they were so enjoyable!
Title: Lineage Most Lethal
Author: SC Perkins
Series: Ancestry Detective #2
First Published: July 21, 2020
Publisher: St. Martin’s Press & Minotaur Books
Genres: Mystery
Acquired: from the publisher via NetGalley
*** Thank you to the publisher, St. Martin’s Press/Minotaur Books, for providing me with an advanced e-copy of this book in exchange for an unbiased review. ***
Lucy is spending the holidays the holidays at the Sutton Hotel in Austin, Texas, where she is researching the family tree of hotel heiress Pippa Sutton, her latest client.
One evening at the hotel a strange man staggers towards Lucy. He presses a classic Montblanc pen into her hand, whispers, “keep them safe,” and collapses at her feet, dead.
Lucy only knows one person who might be able to explain the significance of the pen: her grandpa, who is a collector. But Grandpa has an odd reaction to the sight of the pen, and Lucy can’t help but feel that it might have something to do with his experiences during World War II.
Soon, Lucy is convinced there’s more to the pen—and her grandpa—than meets the eye, she begins to draw connections from the present-day deaths and suspicious behaviours to a group of spies in World War II.
A unique premise for a cozy mystery
One of the things that really captured my interest was the premise of this series. The main character, Lucy Lancaster, is unlike any other cozy mystery MC I’ve read before. Not that I mind similar books (I do love me some bakers, bookshop owners and librarians!) but it was such a refreshing change to read something new and totally different to me.
I loved the background info on researching family trees and also the handy-dandy family relationship chart (I now know what cousin “once-removed” means!). The book doesn’t spend too much time in the nitty-gritty of genealogical research, which is fine by me – it’s an interesting part of the story but it doesn’t bog the mystery-solving down.
New characters in Lineage Most Lethal
I’ll be writing a separate review for Murder Once Removed when I have some time, but one thing that I missed from the first book was Lucy’s two best friends and office mates, Serena and Josephine. The gals were fun and quirky and I really enjoyed their interaction. They did pop up once or twice in this story but didn’t add much to the mystery investigation. I missed them and found it odd that they weren’t around – I hope they make it back into the story in the next book.
Another character that didn’t show up much was FBI Special Agent Agent Ben Turner – someone I hoped Lucy would be getting closer to after their love-hate relationship in the first book.
There were several new characters added though, including two memorable ones – Pippa Sutton and Lucy’s grandpa, George. Pippa is a great addition to Lucy’s group of friends and she makes a great mystery-solving-partner for Lucy. But it’s Lucy’s grandpa that makes this story special. He is mysterious, caring, cunning and has such an interesting backstory that I’m really hoping he makes appearances in future books.
What has stayed the same, of course, is the main character, Lucy. It’s so easy to believe that a genealogist would be good at solving mysteries – they are born researchers and search out clues and old leads for a living. And Lucy is a very likeable character – she’s relatable, interesting and more than capable. Nothing she does seems out of character or even that unrealistic.
Secret codes, old grievances, and traitors behind every corner
As the book synopsis alludes to – there are a lot of mysteries in this one – both in the past and in the present. I loved the spy-story interwoven into this cozy mystery – it was such an intriguing new angle and was part of the reason that I just had to finish the book. It was fast-paced and moved along quite quickly, which is not easy feat considering all the new characters and names that were introduced during the story.
One of the things I like most about cozy mystery series is that you start to get familiar with the recurring characters, so that it feels like going “home”. Unfortunately, pretty much all the characters in this second book are new, as Lucy’s friends from the first book make only the briefest of appearances. It felt like the start of a new series, to be honest, so it will be interesting to see which characters are involved in Book 3 (assuming there is a Book 3).
I was pleasantly surprised though that I loved this book even more than I enjoyed the first one and I think it was the addition of the spy story that really made this story interesting. I couldn’t put it down and I’m really looking forward to the next instalment!
Oh, and PS. If you do decide to read this series, be prepared for a serious craving for Tex Mex food. Don’t say I didn’t warn you!
Read Lineage Most Lethal for yourself
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Well, that’s another book for my #AtoZCozy2020 Reading Challenge!
I’m so happy to add SC Perkins as the letter “P” to my year-long alphabet challenge – only 16 more letters to go! I guess I’d better speed up the pace since we’re already past the halfway mark of the year! I love finding a new cozy mystery writer that I really enjoyed reading as it’s another series that I can look forward to.
If you’d like to learn more about the challenge, have some suggestions or want to join in, check out my blog post about it here.
