The Overlooker

February 25, 2013
Sampson’s intelligent if somewhat plodding fifth Suzie Fewings genealogical mystery (after 2011’s Father Unknown) takes Suzie, husband Nick, and 14-year-old daughter Millie to an old Lancashire mill town to see Nick’s oldest living relative, great-uncle Martin, who’s in his 90s. On arrival at Martin’s house, they learn from his daughter that he suffered a stroke earlier that day. Dismayed that this potential source of family lore may soon be lost to them, Suzie, Nick, and Millie take a tour of the town, visiting the dilapidated mills in which Nick’s family once worked and finding one shop that’s, curiously, still operating. They later come across an old family home occupied by a cagey man who refuses them entrance. Subsequent threatening text messages and phone calls make the Fewings wary of digging into more of the mill town’s ghosts—and dampen anxiety-ridden Nick’s interest in his family’s history. The plot takes a number of twists and turns before the less-than-satisfying conclusion.

February 15, 2013
A father's newfound interest in genealogy poses a danger to his family. Nick Fewings' wife, Suzie, takes a break from her genealogical research to join him and their teenage daughter, Millie, on a trip to Lancashire to visit Martin, Nick's oldest living relative. Martin's daughter Thelma is pleased to have them stay even though Martin is in hospital with a stroke. And a conversation with Martin makes Nick regret that he's waited so long to come see him. While exploring the former mill town, the Fewings meet a weeping woman whom they see again when they're turned away from the old family home. The house, slated for demolition, should have been empty, as a suspicious Nick reports to the authorities. Although he can't imagine how anyone knows about his visit to the police, Nick begins to get threatening phone calls and texts. As they continue to explore mill museums, rural chapels and a deserted mill, the threats keep coming. Soon after the Fewings' university-age son joins them for a quick visit, Millie, whom they have not told about the threats, sneaks off on yet another shopping expedition, and Suzie is kidnapped while trying to find her. The police search in earnest, but it's up to Nick to figure out who took her and where she is being held. Suzie, who usually stars in Sampson's Genealogical Mystery series (Father Unknown, 2011, etc.), yields the limelight to Nick in this weak mystery whose main selling point is its information about Lancashire history.

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April 1, 2013

Susie Fewings's visit to her husband's elderly relative turns deadly in the fifth outing for the British genealogist (after Father Unknown). Genealogy tips and links included.

Copyright 2013 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

March 1, 2013
The fifth book in the Suzie Fewings series of genealogical mysteries features the family of Suzie's husband, Nick. When the couple travels to the north of England with their 14-year-old daughter, Millie, to visit Nick's great-uncle, they find the elderly man in the hospital, near death from a stroke. Other surprises await. At Nick's grandmother's old house, they find a shady business operating, and when they report it to the police, they begin to receive threats. Solving the mystery requires, as it always does in this series, plenty of rummaging about in family history. This time it's Nick's ancestors, who worked in the town's textile mills as children, who provide the key. This smart series, full of fascinating material on genealogical research, should be recommended to members of library genealogy clubs.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2013, American Library Association.)