British author Sampson (Daughters of Tintagel
) introduces Suzie Loosemore Fewings, a keen family genealogist, in the engaging first in a new series. Suzie, a married mother of two, visits local parishes and libraries to discover her ancestors. When she uncovers a link with a 17th-century Southcombe churchwarden, Thomas Loosemore, which also happens to be the name of her 17-year-old son, Suzie is ecstatic. Her happiness is tempered, however, by learning Thomas Loosemore was involved in a clergyman's death just as her own son, Tom, is questioned by the police about a missing 16-year-old girl, Julie Samuel, whom Tom had briefly gone out with. Suzie soon becomes immersed in murder mysteries past and present with devastating consequences for her family. Sampson deftly weaves historic and modern-day crimes in a cerebral yet exciting tale of guilt, innocence and circumstance. (Sept.)
