Former police detective Jayne Sinclair is now a genealogical investigator. She's been hired by an adopted American billionaire to discover the identity of his real father. She has only three clues to help her: a photocopied birth certificate, a stolen book, and an old photograph.
Once she begins investigating, it's obvious that someone else is looking for the same information-- someone who will stop at nothing to keep Jayne from finding it first.
The Irish Inheritance deals with two timelines. One during the time of the Easter Rising and the Irish War of Independence and the second in 2015 with Jayne's investigation. I'm always on the hunt for genealogical crime fiction since so many mysteries deal with long-buried secrets anyway. This first Jayne Sinclair mystery intrigued me for two reasons: one, that the genealogical investigator was a woman, and two, she is a former police detective. I thought this would make a change from the other similar series I've read where the main characters were all amateurs and male.
It did make a difference. Jayne may be saddled with a self-absorbed jerk of a husband, but her years on the police force certainly help her in knowing how to conduct investigations and interviews. Any attempts to intimidate her merely make her angry, and she also knows how to protect herself, which certainly comes in handy in this book.
One thing that amazed me (and shouldn't have) was when someone in the present-day timeline remarked, "There was fighting in Ireland?" Not everyone lived through all the IRA bombings in England, and few people seem interested in learning about their own history, which is why we keep repeating the same mistakes over and over. But to get back to The Irish Inheritance, although the identity of the person trying to hamper Jayne's investigation was rather obvious to me, I enjoyed the book a great deal. I liked Jayne, and her investigation was a fast-paced and intriguing one. I'll definitely be reading the next book in the series.
The Irish Inheritance by M.J. Lee
ASIN: B01FR5PP9S
Amazon Digital Services © 2016
eBook, 332 pages
Amateur Sleuth, #1 Jayne Sinclair Genealogical mystery
Rating: B+
Source: Purchased from Amazon.
This sounds really interesting, Cathy. I find genealogy interesting to begin with, and it sounds like a solid mystery. Glad you enjoyed it.
ReplyDeleteI really liked the female character-- probably because most of the genealogists I've ever met have been predominantly female, yet in the mysteries I've read, they are male!
DeleteI like those alternate time lines and even characters telling their stories alternately. Adds a lot of depth.
ReplyDeleteI agree, Mystica!
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