I had high hopes for this book because it combines my favorite reading genre, mystery, with another interest, genealogy, but it disappointed on both counts. It was actually more romance than mystery, and the resolution turned out to be something that should have been caught early on by the police, let alone a professional (or amateur) genealogist.

One other thing that threw me offstride as I was reading, was the occasional scene where the story basically came to a dead stop so the characters would discuss their religious beliefs (Latter Day Saints). Having done a lot of genealogical work myself, I could understand bringing in how helpful the Mormon Church has been in expanding the base of knowledge available to researchers everywhere. But oddly, there was nothing said of that in this book at all.

That said, the book was intermittently interesting, and I read to the end. However, I would not compare it favorably to the efforts of Agatha Christie or Dorothy L. Sayers (two favorites of mine), as was done on the back cover, and I don't expect to read any other books in this series. ( )

Tightly woven plot with many twists and turns, this book has a lot of research woven into its pages. Alex and Brighamina are off on a search involving Alex's own family roots in Oxford, England. The mystery revolves around a World War I soldier who was in France and the heirs to her family fortune, her unknown relatives in Europe.