Esme is troubled by the woman’s final words and curious about the old photograph clutched in her hand. The police, however, dismiss Bella Shaw’s death as accidental. But Bella’s daughter, Neave, has her own questions and approaches Esme for help. The subsequent trail leads Esme back to the brutal penal history of 19th century England and the mystery of a Devon convict girl transported to Australia for her crime. As evidence of betrayal and duplicity are revealed, Esme discovers Bella’s link to events in the past – a link which now endangers Neave and, by association, Esme. A legacy of hatred which has festered for generations in the 'land beyond the seas' now threatens to spill over on to Devon soil with devastating consequences.

    1948: an unknown woman at the wedding of a miner’s daughter to a decorated war hero. 1943: a pale US airman, behind him Mary Mine, a drab-painted warplane destined to crash in flames. 1936: a handsome teenager, arm thrust in fascist salute as his black-uniformed idol struts through the East End of London. What is the link between these people? And what are their legacies? Introducing Jane Madden, an ex-police detective trying to build a new life after illness and divorce. She is commissioned not to solve an ancestral mystery, but to find one. Together with a reclusive but brilliant friend, she discovers murder, treachery and corruption as she unearths family ties that have been deliberately broken and buried. Torn between truth and justice, and haunted by an image from her own childhood, she tries to make good the lies of yesterday. A story of abandonment, obsession, one-sided love and the nature of inheritance.

    After finding the old man murdered, Nick realizes that this is no ordinary case of innocent genealogical curiosity. He unravels a tangled tale of betrayal, bigotry, lust, shame, and love spanning two centuries of Louisiana s history, back to the Civil War and slavery days and beyond. Nick stumbles upon murderous mysteries with roots in Jewish and African American triumphs and tribulations. His investigation delves deeply into the unique history and complex ethnic gumbo of Louisiana. Ultimately, Nick makes courageous decisions to right old wrongs and expose the guilty while doing his best to save his own neck.

    The murderer is caught quickly, confesses and is convicted. He dies in prison shortly afterwards, having never disclosed the reasons behind his actions. Twenty-three years later, a recently retired crime reporter decides to write a book about the murder, hoping to uncover the motive. He establishes that the murdered man was a genealogist researching parish records held in the church, and he suspects that therein lies the answer. Being unfamiliar with the ins and outs of family history research, he calls on the expertise of local genealogists Madeleine Porter and her husband Ian Clay. However, their investigations are soon thrown off track when Ian receives a surprising letter.

    His housekeeper guarded his secrets with her life. Now Enid Gilchrist must draw on her experience as a genealogist to replicate that search and protect those secrets while she unravels the clues that have crossed the years to spawn a new criminal and threaten those she loves. She also must draw on her strength of will to prevent her feelings for Chief of Police Patrick Mulhaney from hindering their mutual efforts to solve the mystery, bring peace to the dead, and protect the living.

    the issue is a mystery. What prompts amateur family historian Peter Sefton to buy the marriage certificate he sees on display in an antiques arcade? Is it because he thinks it should be private and he wants to remove it from public view? Is it the prospect of researching the individuals named upon it? Or is it something else, happenstance perhaps, which leads him towards a potentially lucrative discovery and a long forgotten family secret? When John and Louisa marry in January 1900, who could foretell how their lives and those of ambitious Rose, the bridesmaid, and confident Frank, the best man, would be changed that day? Follow their story, through Peter’s research and find out how, with investigative skill and a certain amount of luck, Peter finds himself pulled along to uncover a series of sad and tragic events … events, which connect the marriage certificate to a modern day mystery. But … there’s a complication. In his quest to complete the family tree he learns that he has competition. It’s not just a matter of pride; there’s money at stake too. Should he the amateur give up, or can he really beat the professionals at their own game?

    American genealogist Jefferson Tayte is hired to find out what happened, but it soon becomes apparent that a calculated killer is out to stop him.In the Blood combines a centuries-old mystery with a present-day thriller that brings two people from opposite sides of the Atlantic together to uncover a series of carefully hidden crimes. Tayte's research centres around the tragic life of a young Cornish girl, a writing box, and the discovery of a dark secret that he believes will lead him to the family he is looking for. Trouble is, someone else is looking for the same answers and will stop at nothing to find them.In the Blood is the first in the Jefferson Tayte mystery series.

    In a time of war, they discovered peace. When David Roberts finds a label, a silver button and a lump of old leather in a chest in the attic, it opens up a window onto the true of joy of Christmas.  Jayne Sinclair, genealogical investigator, has just a few days to unravel the mystery and discover the truth of what happened on December 25, 1914. Why did her client’s great grandfather keep these objects hidden for so long? What did they mean to him? And will they help bring the joy of Christmas to a young boy stuck in hospital? This is the fifth Jayne Sinclair Genealogical Mystery but it can be read and enjoyed as a stand alone novel.

    Then he employed the services of one Morton Farrier, Forensic Genealogist – a stubborn, determined man who uses whatever means necessary to uncover the past. With the Coldrick Case, Morton faces his toughest and most dangerous assignment yet, where all of his investigative and genealogical skills are put to the test. But others are also interested in the Coldrick family, people who will stop at nothing, including murder, to hide the past. As Morton begins to unearth his client’s mysterious past, he is forced to confront his own family’s dark history, a history which he knows little about.

    As a gift for her husband, Alyssa Bradford approaches Eric Shaw to make a documentary about her father-in-law, Campbell Bradford, a 95-year-old billionaire whose past is wrapped in mystery. Eric grabs the job even though there are few clues to the man's past -- just the name of his hometown and an antique water bottle he's kept his entire life. In Bradford's hometown, Eric discovers an extraordinary history -- a glorious domed hotel where movie stars, presidents, athletes, and mobsters once mingled, and hot springs whose miraculous mineral water cured everything from insomnia to malaria. Neglected for years, the resort has been restored to its former grandeur just in time for Eric's stay. Just hours after his arrival, Eric experiences a frighteningly vivid vision. As the days pass, the frequency and intensity of his hallucinations increase and draw Eric deeper into the town's dark history. He discovers that something besides the hotel has been restored -- a long-forgotten evil that will stop at nothing to regain its lost glory. Brilliantly imagined and terrifyingly real, So Cold the River is a tale of irresistible suspense with a racing, unstoppable current.

     Twenty-eight year old Lucas Landry, a Sacramento, California native, is a counseling psychologist specializing in drug abuse treatment, yet couldn’t save his own opioid-addicted father. His feelings about his father and his death get complicated when he discovers his father hid many secrets about their ancestry from Lucas and his brother. Lucas embarks on a journey to find answers: What secrets had his father hidden, who are the Landrys, and where did they come from? Are Lucas and his estranged brother destined to repeat their ancestors’ mistakes? A hidden attic in Lucas’s father’s old Victorian house is a goldmine of memorabilia and clues from the past, clues which seem to lead to Nazi Germany and the former Sudetenland, breadcrumbs to other lives. Ten year old Christa Nagel is an ethnic German living in the Sudetenland near the Polish border in 1943 with her parents and five younger siblings. When her father is conscripted into the Wehrmacht, leaving Christa and family alone to fend for themselves, she is horrified and worried for him. After a while, though, she’s not sure which is worse, fighting in the war or trying to keep their family together and safe. When the war ends, she and her family, as well as millions of other ethnic Germans face expulsion from their home, marched away into the unknown. Fifteen year old Ilse Seidel, a German girl living in a small Bavarian city, knows more about danger than anyone her age should know. She’s survived bombings, lost loved ones, and witnessed Jewish friends being carted away from their homes. She wants nothing to do with the war or with soldiers. Her life takes a dramatic turn when she finds a wounded soldier in need of help. Lucas is determined to assemble these breadcrumbs, find out how their stories intertwine, and reveal his ancestry. Will what he learns make him feel better about himself and his family, or worse? Breadcrumbs and Bombs is about war, secrets, lies, prejudice, betrayal, guilt, love, genealogy, and what it means to be a family. Praise for Breadcrumbs and Bombs: Another great book from Susan Finlay. It was particularly interesting to hear some of the untold perspectives from such an important and controversial time in history. Really interesting to hear how normal civilians in different parts of Europe were affected. The book also touches on some really hot topics like race, tolerance, identity, and the effect of stress on the human psyche. 5 Star Review Breadcrumbs and Bombs is a compelling story about a subject lesser known to many Americans. It is well done by Susan as she takes a family from California to the Sudetenland and finally to Germany. Tracing family roots opens ones eyes to the possibilities of their own family. This is one of thousands of stories following WWII that could have happened as written. Especially pertinent for history buffs and for those curious about the unsettling situation in Europe at war's end. Complex and interesting throughout with side stories highlighting racial, ethnic, and religious problems that still exist today, Highly recommended. 5 Star Review I love family history and this is excellently written. The story fascinating as I had little knowledge of this part of the war. I felt I knew the characters and suffered their pain with them. What a lovely end to the story.

    Not wanting to surrender the package to the Post Office Kate opens it with the good intention of finding its owner. Through her search she elicits the help of a young British visitor and together they embark on a search for a missing heir and a family fortune. Kate’s personal loss of her fiancé Evan and feelings of guilt for having survived prevents her from forming any attachment to the young man helping her. Through the letters in the package Kate and her co-conspirator discover the life of a Boer War Lieutenant and a WWII Captain. Together the lives of these two men lead Kate to their descendant, heir and fortune.

    All she has to do is find a century-old key. Three others – a guitarist, an engineer, and a retiree – receive similar calls. Each family possesses a key to a four-lock safe found buried in a Virginia courthouse, though their connection is as mysterious as the safe itself. Their ancestors should not have interacted, had no apparent reason to bury the safe, and should not have disappeared thereafter. Bearing their keys, Michelle and the other descendants converge in the courthouse basement and open the safe, revealing the truth about their ancestors - a truth stranger, more deadly, and potentially more world-changing than any of them could have imagined. Now it’s up to them to keep their discovery out of the wrong hands. “I rarely read a story that I can’t wait to get back to, and this was one. It’s full of drama and suspense. It’s fresh and new, something very much needed, and it’s totally unpredictable." - John Darryl Winston, author of IA: Initiate

    For Addison, it seems like she’s finally found the house of her dreams…until the spirit of Roxanne “Roxy” Rafferty comes to call. Who is Roxanne, why is she haunting Grayson Manor, and how will Addison’s connection reveal a key to her own past that she thought no longer existed?

    Tucked in the folds of the woman’s curiously vintage gown is an infant, as cold and at peace as its mother. No one can identify the woman. Except for Kate. She’s seen her before. In her dreams…One hundred years ago, a love story ended in tragedy, its mysteries left unsolved. It’s time for the lake to give up its secrets. As each mystery unravels, it pulls Kate deeper into the eddy of a haunting folktale that has been handed down in whispers over generations. Now, it’s Kate’s turn to listen.As the drowned woman reaches out from the grave, Kate reaches back. They must come together, if only in dreams, to right the sinister wrongs of the past.