Fatal Family Ties by SC Perkins

Item: Fatal Family Ties
Rating: 4
Author: karenbaron

Posted May 16, 2021 by karenbaron in Mystery, Review, Series / 0 Comments

I voluntarily reviewed an Advance Reader Copy from . This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

Fatal Family Ties

by S.C. Perkins

Series: Ancestry Detective Mystery #3
Series Rating:

Published by Minotaur Books on July 20, 2021
Genres: Cozy Mystery
Pages: 336
Format: Kindle
Goodreads
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Get Your Copy at: Amazon
Also in this series: Murder Once Removed, Lineage Most Lethal

S.C. Perkins's Fatal Family Ties is the captivating third mystery in the Ancestry Detective series, in which Texas genealogist Lucy Lancaster deals with murders in both the past and present.

Lucy is just about to tuck into a plate of tacos at her favorite 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 a favor. In her hand is a newspaper feature on an ancestor, a civil war corporal—and a liar, according to the article. Charles 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.

Fatal Family Ties by SC Perkins is another fantastic book that made it so hard to put down.

Can Lucy prove a Civil War soldier didn’t desert his infantry?

Lucy Lancaster

Lucy Lancaster is our sleuth and who we follow throughout the story. I love Lucy as a character. In all three installments so far, she has definitely grown on me and reminds me of me. We are both nice and try to give people a lot of second chances. Lucy has a way of bringing history to life when she’s researching the different eras for the families that ask her to look into their ancestry.

The Mystery

The mystery in this one is for the ancestry detective side of seeing if the Braithwaite’s great great great great great grandfather actually did desert his infantry. Or if he didn’t. Lucy is on the case for that. She’s also on the case to figure out who would kill Charlie Braithwaite and why did they steal a painting that looks ghastly. Well, all of these things are answered in this book. It was fascinating to read all of this about the Civil War and how a big family, like the Braithwaites’, didn’t keep in touch with all of its lines, so they don’t know all the different stories about their family. I might have fallen for one of them, but it wasn’t making sense.

Four Stars

Fatal Family Ties by SC Perkins is a lovely book that I liked a lot. Ms. Perkins has done a brilliant job of creating this character that I love so much. Everything about the story is great. Lucy is a great character and detective in both ancestries and current live cases. I love this series as well. I am giving this book four stars and recommending it to anyone that enjoys a good mystery.

An Ancestry Detective Mystery

Thank you for dropping by! I hope you enjoyed this review of Fatal Family Ties by S. C. Perkins.

Until the next time,

Happy Reading!

About S.C. Perkins

S.C. Perkins is a fifth-generation Texan who grew up hearing fascinating stories of her ancestry and eating lots of great Tex-Mex, both of which inspired the plot of her debut mystery novel. Murder Once Removed was the winner of the 2017 Malice Domestic Best First Traditional Mystery competition. She resides in Houston and, when she’s not writing or working at her day job, she’s likely outside in the sun, on the beach, or riding horses.

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