Genealogical Mystery Writers for Family History Buffs

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I recently found a list of mystery books on the internet that have a genealogy theme. To narrow it down, I chose authors whose books were written since the year 2000. That’s not to say that older books aren’t as compelling. It just means that these newer books will be easier to find if it piques your interest.

It’s always helpful to have a list of authors to choose from that cover a particular topic of interest. Dana Stabenow’s series on Alaska was my motivation. His 2011 book, thought not dead, marks the second time she’s delved into her characters’ genealogical backgrounds in an effort to give readers a clearer understanding of Alaskan history. I loved the book and highly recommend her Kate Shugak series.

A series of mysteries came to light in 1997. The main character is a historian and genealogist from a small town on the Mississippi River in Missouri. She is married and has two children. The first book in this series by Rett MacPherson is family skeletons, and has Victory (Torie) O’Shea researching a client’s World War II ancestors. These books are cozy with a family history theme.

Sarah Stewart Taylor began her Sweeney St. George mysteries in 2003. Her character is a single college professor, focusing on cemeteries and tombstones and the mysteries they evoke. In her first book, Death O’Artful, Sweeney finds an intriguing statute in a gravity and decides to investigate his background. The stories take place in Vermont.

Fiona Mountain began her two-book series in 2002. Its main character is thirty-year-old Natasha Blake, an ancestor detective and genealogist in England. Her curiosity naturally arises, as she was abandoned shortly after her birth and she knows little about her own family history. In pale as the dead a man, whose lover has disappeared and is somehow linked to an artist/poet from the 1860s, hires Natasha to find her.

Dan Waddell writes more nonfiction than fiction. Your book Who do you think you are? It should be familiar to anyone who has seen the PBS series of the same name. The show traces the family history of celebrities. However, in his 2008 book the blood detective, features Nigel Barnes, a genealogist, who helps the police crack a 100-year-old murder mystery. The current killer, who carves a file number into the bodies of his victims, leads them to a killer from the past. Nigel’s job is to find the link between the past and present murders. Waddell’s second book has Nigel delving into the Mormon Church.

For those who can’t get enough, I recommend looking into three other authors who might be of interest to you. Chris Larsgaard wrote only one book in 2000 called the heir hunter. In real life, the author’s business in San Francisco was to track down the heirs to money held by the State of California. The 10% commission reminded me of Travis McGee’s character from John D. McDonald. Veteran mystery writer Patricia Sprinkle has a series based in Atlanta, beginning with death on the family tree. And KJ Erickson has his police characters delve into mysteries related to Gettysburg and the Japanese internment during World War II.

For those of us who are addicted to genealogy, it’s nice to sit back and let someone else solve all the mysteries. Who knows, fictional research might prompt you to think of new sources for your own family tree.

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