Read Chapter One of Family Skeletons now.
Synopsis:
As resident genealogist, historian, tour guide, and
occasional amateur snoop, Victory "Torie"
O'Shea can be found anywhere in the historic German town
of New Kassel, Missouri-mixing fudge, giving tours, tracing
family trees, and even investigating murder... When shopowner
Norah Zumwalt asks Torie for help in piecing together her
family lineage to find her missing father, Torie cheerfully
agrees. But before Torie delivers her results, Norah is
brutally murdered. Now Torie must use her formidable skills
at prying into the past-and the human heart-to solve a case
of passionate secrets and betrayal. But as the Mississippi
floods, she may be in deep trouble when evidence of another
killing surfaces-and Torie comes face to face with a family
skeleton that will chill her to the bone.
Booklist:
If there was ever an American cozy, MacPherson's first
book is it. Victory "Torie" O'Shea is a
thirtysomething wife, mother, amateur genealogist, and museum
docent living in Missouri. When local shopkeeper Norah
Zumwalt asks Torie to research her family tree and a short
time later ends up brutally murdered, Torie feels compelled
to investigate the crime, despite warnings from the local
sheriff to mind her own business. What she finds is a
decades-old murder, a mysterious case of mistaken identity,
and a bizarre love triangle. MacPherson's story has an
appealing down-home style and offbeat charm, and Torie, a
midwestern version of Kinsey Milhone, is smart, sassy, and
full of Missouri spunk. There are a few rough places where
MacPherson tries too hard to be funny or where the plot
doesn't quite hang together, but overall, this is an
entertaining effort from a promising new writer. Emily
Melton
