Killing Cousins

February 25, 2002
In her fifth cozy featuring Missouri genealogist Torie O'Shea (after 2000's A Misty Mourning), MacPherson paints a vivid portrait of a town and a family with a secret. Given her history of conflict with New Kassel sheriff Colin Brooke, Torie is dismayed when Colin marries her wheelchair-bound mom. Still, Torie agrees to inventory the contents of famous jazz singer Catherine Finch's estate, purchased by Colin, who intends to make a mint in his antique business. Enter Sylvia Pershing, the town matriarch, historical society head and Torie's employer. What better way to kill two birds with one stone than to do biographical research on Finch while already sorting through her things on Colin's behalf? The sheriff's honeymoon is barely started when a dead man turns up in the old Yates house, scheduled for razing. Later, a demolition crew finds an infant's skeleton hidden inside a wall. Were the two deaths related? And were both victims somehow connected to Finch and the 60-year-old tragedy that changed the singer's life forever? Torie believes six cousins, including one who's now the governor, knew the answers all along. But how many of them would be willing to kill to keep things quiet? Thanks to an amazingly compliant if shadowy husband, Torie manages to balance sleuthing with the demands of a newborn baby and two other youngsters. With her characteristic blend of wit and sarcasm, MacPherson has delivered another winning whodunit. Agent, Michele Rubin.

March 1, 2002
Missouri genealogist Torie O'Shea researches the "line" of a local jazz singer popular in the 1930s. Much to her dismay, she discovers that the woman's baby was kidnapped and never found. Oddly enough, the skeleton of a baby soon turns up in town. Fifth (after A Misty Mourning) in a fine series.

Copyright 2001 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

April 1, 2002
Torie O'Shea, an amateur genealogist with a knack for historical detection, reaches back in time to investigate the kidnapping and possible murder of an infant. Assigned to write brief biographical sketches of the most famous residents of Granite County, Missouri, Torie begins researching the life of jazz-era chanteuse Catherine Finch. Horrified to learn that Catherine's newborn son had mysteriously vanished one stormy night in 1938, she begins unraveling a decades-old crime with modern-day implications for some of the most respectable citizens of Torie's close-knit community. Solving the heartbreaking whodunit, she is faced with an unenviable quandary: What to do with explosive information that could ruin lives and reputations? Another superbly crafted entry in a series noted for the charm and eccentricity of its tenacious sleuth and the vintage veneer of its timeless plots.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2002, American Library Association.)