Distraction comes in the form a wealthy young American who wants to trace his Shropshire family. One question leads to another and the final revelations shock and almost overwhelm him. Meanwhile, Anna faces tragedy in her own family and struggles to come to terms with the chaos of her emotions, plunging deeper and deeper into flight and denial. In the process she almost loses the people she loves most. This is a tale of the deep story of the heart told with humour and compassion and relentless honesty. This is the last novel in the trilogy of Anna Ames books.

    Can a 19th century curse still wield its formidable power? What connects Anna with the 24 year-old mystery concerning the whereabouts of the charismatic Ellen Tucker?​Esme must uncover the truth to save Anna from becoming a 21st century victim, in a cruel repetition of her ancestor’s merciless fate.

    In fact, it is two inter-related stories in one novel set in different timeframes, namely the past and the present. An Irish genealogist called Jed is commissioned by Tim, an American client, who needs to understand more about his mysterious maternal ancestry. Fate had dictated that Tim never got the chance to meet his grandparents, and he didn't even know the name of his mother's father. She refused to tell Tim, even on her death bed. Why? That was a question which troubled Tim as he witnessed his mother's melancholy throughout his adult life, and after her death he resolved to find some answers - and some peace of mind.It was also a question which intrigued Jed after he learned that Tim's grandfather simply "disappeared". No death record, no burial - nothing. Jed identifies the "missing" grandfather to be Merrill Harrison. Within weeks, Jed becomes obsessed with Merrill's life, as he embarks on a personal crusade to find Merrill's resting place on Tim's behalf. More fundamentally, Jed needs to fully understand the complex twists and turns linked to Merrill's existence and eventual disappearance which take the Irish researcher on a fascinating trail stretching back to the pioneering immigrants of Midwest America all the way to the White House during WWII.A web of worrying deceit woven by Tim's ancestors is gradually unraveled. Once hidden family secrets are exposed. Jed turns from genealogist into cold case detective as he comes to the conclusion that multiple criminal misdeeds have been covered up ... but where is Merrill?

    Maggie returns to Catalonia, to a story heard on her first trip three years before which now has a significance she didn’t understand or appreciate at the time and further revelations lead back to Glasgow and a long hidden crime. Back in Wales, the final confrontation with the Quinn and McCarthy Miller families is looming. There has to be a winner. Can anyone emerge unscathed?

    But instead of finding answers she starts finding more questions. Who is trying to stop her from finding answers? What has become of the lost family fortune that she didn't know existed until she got here? And are they willing to kill to prevent her from finding her answers? My mother, Janet, was a wonderful storyteller. As children, we spend days in the car driving to vacation destinations listening to her tell us stories of her own making. For years she contemplated trying to publish her writing but never followed through. Later in life, she wrote this and shopped it to an agent that took her on for a short period. They did some editing and formatting, but never got the book ready to publish. And so it ended up just sitting there. I told her over and over that if she didn't get it published that I would do it after she died. She passed away in 2011. So the time has come. I've done a bunch of editing, formatting, and some fixing of word choices and smoothing out a scene or two. But the story is hers.

    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.

    What he discovers is shocking and tragic. He starts to feel a connection for their paths had crossed – literally – albeit with a gap of about 150 years but crossed they had. Combining his interest in genealogy and metal-detecting, Peter forms a theory about a link between a scandal in the antiquities world of Victorian London and what may have occurred on the farm. Follow the story as modern-day events play their part.

    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.

    She does not know that her search will uncover secrets that will both shock and thrill her. Nor can she imagine the emotions and events which await her. Some comments from readers: We have just returned from holiday where I read this book. I must say that I really enjoyed it, and in parts I could not put it down. Lynne, Ilford, Essex I find Tainted Tree very interesting and readable. The way the plot is developed is very good, the reader can't put it down. Barbara, Haslemere, Surrey Great read - I really enjoyed it - genuinely interesting, compulsive reading and so relevant to what is happening today. Susan, Pirbright, Surrey I couldn’t put it down - it was a really interesting saga, beautifully written (a real ‘tear-jerker’ at times!) and I loved the characters, especially Addie. Joyce, Clacton-on-Sea, Essex I finished Tainted Tree and LOVED IT! Elizabeth, Illinois, USA Thoroughly enjoyed the book - I couldn't put it down and loved the ending. Celia, Pirbright, Surrey I have read Tainted Tree, despite meaning to save it for my holiday in August. I couldn't resist and read it straight away in great big chunks and really enjoyed it and the twists and turns and highs and lows of Addie's search. Maggie, Bisley, Surrey I’m just coming to the end of this book and I love it. Natasha, Zurich, Switzerland I’ve got to say - beautifully written - absolutely superb - I thoroughly enjoyed it. Mike, Pirbright, Surrey I thought the book was splendid. I thoroughly enjoyed it. Beryl, Hindringham, Norfolk I really loved it. I was absolutely riveted. Maggie, Woking, Surrey The book was excellent; made me cry near the end. Would have liked another chapter or two. Didn’t want to put it down. Theresa, Woking, Surrey I thoroughly enjoyed it. Sonia, Coulsdon, Surrey I’ve just come back from my holiday and I have been reading this book. It was very interesting and it made my holiday very enjoyable. Gillian, North London As to Tainted Tree I would absolutely recommend it. I found it a really interesting read, and after a few chapters couldn't put it down. It is an excellent study in human relationships in all their many forms, with a great feel for history, time and place. Barbara, Thames Ditton, Surrey Having just been on holiday, I took this book with me to read and I really enjoyed it. It was very good - a page turner. Beverley, Godalming, Surrey an excellent plot line … the author has spaced out her revelations to keep the interest going and the mystery developing. I wanted to know what would happen next - the pace was good, the writer’s ear for dialogue, excellent. Colin, Guildford, Surrey

    

    She combines the trip with a girls' weekend away with her best friend, Nina. The day they arrive, the news spreads through town of a young woman who was murdered in a little-used cemetery. With no apparent motive for the murder, Sarah Vines, the newly promoted local detective, enlists Perri's help to uncover the identity of the killer. A killer who proves that one murder may not be enough to keep the secret hidden.

     A body entombed in a London tube station. DCI Grant Foster is called in to investigate, but within days a second corpse is discovered in the bowels of a disused underground ‘ghost’ station. With the possibility of the murders being linked, Foster enlists the help of his friend, genealogist Nigel Barnes. Between them, they try to untangle the twisted secrets of the past, buried deep beneath London’s streets – where no one can hear you scream, and the murderer is closing in on his next victim . Includes an extract from The Blood Detective, the first book in the Blood Detective series.

    He has just one thing with which to begin his investigation: the three women’s DNA, one of whom is his half-aunt. With just six days of research time available to him, his investigation uncovers some shocking revelations and troubling links to his own grandfather; and Morton finds that, for the first time in his career, he is advising his clients not to read his concluding report.

    A 14-year-old boy disappears from his home without a trace. Ninety years later, a series of chance DNA matches reveals what became of him. John had to grow up quickly — changing his identity, earning a living the hard way, and navigating love, friendship and death during some of the toughest times in American history.With nothing more than an 8th grade education, his journey takes us across America - through Prohibition, the Great Depression, the Dust Bowl, the gold mines of Colorado and the Second World War to eventually become a success in his own right. A semi-fictional account based on a true story.

    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.