Mystery / Women Sleuths / Forensic Genealogy

Publisher: Harbor Lane Books, LLC

Date of Publication: March 5, 2024

Number of Pages: 446 pages

After a personal loss, forensic genealogist RaeJean Hunter accepts what she believes is a straightforward case to ease back into the game: a student at Connecticut College has found human remains on the school campus. The College hires RaeJean to confirm their tentative identification that it’s a woman named Mary Rogers, whose cause of death has never been determined.

Unfortunately, it becomes downright dangerous. Someone thwarts her investigation of the same case that inspired Edgar Allan Poe’s “The Mystery of Marie Rogêt.” Still, she meets relatives, some helpful and others not, amid escalating threats. Using her skills, including DNA analysis, historical records research, genealogy mapping, and guidance from a mystical antique desk, she follows every clue.

Being a Jersey girl at heart, the author had me at the title. Add in the main character taking multiple trips between New York City, Philadelphia, and bordering states, and I felt right at home. RaeJean may be a petite main character, but she makes up for it with her incredible brain. Taking tiny clues and linking them together, she takes the reading on a wiggling web of details as she works on what she believes will be easy to identify a 180-year-old body. But while the surface is calm, there is a whirlpool of action underneath.

The author skillfully weaves together clues, taking readers on a gripping ride. RaeJean encounters allies and adversaries, each adding layers of complexity to the case; not everyone is as they appear to be.

What sets this novel apart is the ingenious blend of historical data, modern techniques, and a touch of the supernatural. From DNA analysis to mystical guidance from an antique desk, RaeJean employs every tool at her disposal to uncover the truth.

As stakes escalate and lives hang in the balance, RaeJean faces increasingly dangerous obstacles. What lengths will someone go to keep the truth buried?

This book kept me on the edge of my seat until the very end. With clever plot twists and engaging characters, I’d say this is a must-read for mystery lovers everywhere.

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