Review: Murder Once Removed

Title: Murder Once Removed
Series: Ancestry Detective #1
Author: S. C. Perkins
Release Date: March 19th, 2019
Rating: 5/5 Stars
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Synopsis from Goodreads: Except for a good taco, genealogist Lucy Lancaster loves nothing more than tracking down her clients’ long-dead ancestors, and her job has never been so exciting as when she discovers a daguerreotype photograph and a journal proving Austin, Texas, billionaire Gus Halloran’s great-great-grandfather was murdered back in 1849. What’s more, Lucy is able to tell Gus who was responsible for his ancestor’s death. Partly, at least. Using clues from the journal, Lucy narrows the suspects down to two nineteenth-century Texans, one of whom is the ancestor of present-day U.S. senator Daniel Applewhite. But when Gus publicly outs the senator as the descendant of a murderer—with the accidental help of Lucy herself—and her former co-worker is murdered protecting the daguerreotype, Lucy will find that shaking the branches of some family trees proves them to be more twisted and dangerous than she ever thought possible.
My Review: I adored this fresh take on the cozy mystery genre! I haven’t read any other mysteries where the main character is a genealogist and weaves the history of a client into a modern day mystery. In this case it was done superbly and I was hooked right from the start. I loved the weaving of an old family secret, a modern day mystery, and the clues hidden in pieces of history that brought this story together. I also thoroughly enjoyed all of the characters, main and supporting, as well as the writing style and flow of the story. Overall I thought it was fabulous and I am looking forward to book 2 immensely.
*I received this book from Netgally and Minotaur Books in exchange for an honest review*