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Genealogy Mysteries

genmysparchMysteries featuring specific themes have proven to be very popular in recent years. One recurring theme which has been a fan favorite is mysteries featuring a genealogical theme…either with a genealogist as the sleuth, or with the mystery story focusing on a tale involving genealogy, heirs and/or family history. The following list of titles is made up of mysteries featuring either a setting or plot with a genealogy theme, or a genealogist as the primary protagonist.

All books owned by Lincoln City Libraries are hotlinked to their entries in our library catalog, so that you may check on their current availability. If you see a title on this list that is not hotlinked to our collection, please consider ordering it through our Interlibrary Loan department.

Nancy Atherton

Aunt Dimity and the Village Witch (2012)

Robert Barnard

At Death’s Door (1988)
Graveyard Position (2004)

Brynn Bonner

Family History Mystery series
Paging the Dead (2013)
Death in Reel Time (2014)
Picture Them Dead (2015)
Dead in a Flash (2016)

Rita Mae Brown

Murder at Montecello, or, Old Sins (1994)
Riding Shotgun (1996)

Jan Burke

Bloodlines (2005)

Diane Capri

Michael Flint series
Blood Trails (2016)
Trace Evidence (2017)
Ground Truth (2023)

Jill Churchill

From Here to Paternity (1995)

Sheila Connolly

Relatively Dead Mystery series
Relatively Dead (2013)
Seeing the Dead (2014)
Defending the Dead (2015)
Watch for the Dead (2015)
Search for the Dead (2016)
Revealing the Dead (2018)

Mary Daheim

Major Vices (1995)
The Apline Escape (1995)

Sandra Dallas

New Mercies (2005)

Jo Dereske

Miss Zukas and the Raven’s Dance (1996)

K.J. Erickson

Dead Survivors (2002)

Anne George

Murder Runs in the Family (1997)

Martha Grimes

The Horse You Came In On (1993)

Parnell Hall

Last Puzzle and Testament (2000)

Jonathan Harrington

The Death of Cousin Rose (1996)
The Second Sorrowful Mystery (1999)
A Great day for Dying (2001)

Janis Harrison

Murder Sets Seed (2000)

Carolyn G. Hart

Southern Ghost (1992)

Joan Hess

Death By the Light of the Moon (1992)
Holly Jolly Murder (1997)

Charlotte Hinger

Lottie Albright Mystery series
Deadly Descent (2009)
Lethal Lineage (2011)
Hidden Heritage (2013)
Fractured Families (2017)

Jane Aiken Hodge

A Death in Two Parts (2000)

P.D. James

Innocent Blood (2001)

Brenda Joyce

The Third Heiress (1999)

Alanna Knight

Blood Line (1989)

Kathleen Kunz

Murder Once Removed (1993)

Graham Landrum

The Famous DAR Murder Mystery (1992)
The Rotary Club Murder Mystery (1993)
The Sensational Music Club Mystery (1994)
The Historical Society Murder Mystery (1996)
The Garden Club Mystery (1998) (with Robert Landrum)

E.L. Larkin

Demary Jones Mystery series
Hear My Cry (1997)
Die and Die (1998)
Hear Me Die (1998)
Dead Men Die (1998)
The Swallow Murders (1999)
Die in Texas (2000)

Chris Larsgaard

The Heir Hunter (2005)

Elizabeth Lowell

Always Time to Die (2005)

Rett MacPherson

Torie O’Shea Mysteries
Family Skeletons (1997)
A Veiled Antiquity (1998)
A Comedy of Heirs (1999)
A Misty Mourning (2000)
Killing Cousins (2002)
Blood Relations (2003)
In Sheep’s Clothing (2004)
Thicker Than Water (2005)
Dead Man Running (2006)
Died in the Wool (2007)
The Blood Ballad (2008)
Bad to the Bones (2018)

Lee Martin

Inherited Murder (1994)
Genealogy of Murder (1996)

Sharyn McCrumb

Sick of Shadows (1984)
Highland Laddie Gone (1986)
Paying the Piper (1988)
The Windsor Knot (1990)
Missing Susan (1991)
MacPherson’s Lament (1992)
If I’d Killed Him When I Met Him (1995)
The PMS Outlaws (2000)

Ralph McInerny

Heirs and Parents (2000)
Blood Ties (2005)

Fiona Mountain

Natasha Blake Ancester Detective
Pale as the Dead (2002)
Bloodline (2006)

Elisabeth Ogilvie

The Silent Ones (1981)

Charles Palliser

The Quincunx (1989)

S.C. Perkins

Ancestry Detective
Murder Once Removed (2019)
Lineage Most Lethal (2020)
Fatal Family Ties (2021)

Leigh Perry (a.k.a. Toni L.P. Kelner)

Family Skeleton Mystery
A Skeleton in the Family (2013)
The Skeleton Takes a Bow (2014)
The Skeleton Haunts a House (2015)
The Skeleton Paints a Picture (2017)
The Skeleton Makes a Friend (2018)
The Skeleton Stuffs a Stocking (2019)

Deanna Raybourn

Silent in the Grave (2007)

Steve Robinson

Jefferson Tayte Genealogical Mystery series
In the Blood (2011)
To the Grave (2012)
The Last Queen of England (2013)
The Lost Empress (2014)
Kindred (2016)
Dying Games (2017)
Letters From the Dead (2018)
The Girl in the Painting (2021)

Fay Sampson

Suzie Fewings Genealogical Mystery series
In the Blood (2009)
A Malignant House (2009)
Those in Peril (2010)
Father Unknown (2011)
The Overlooker (2012)
Beneath the Soil (2014)

Jose Saramago

All the Names (2000)

Dorothy Sayers

Unnatural Death (a.k.a. The Dawson Pedigree) (1955)

Sarah R. Shaber

Professor Simon Shaw Mystery series
Simon Said (1997)
Snipe Hunt (2000)
The Fugitive King (2002)
The Bug Funeral (2004)
Shell Game (2007)

Patricia Sprinkle

Family Tree Mysteries
Death on the Family Tree (2006)
Sins of the Father (2007)
Daughter of Deceit (2008)

Sarah Stewart Taylor

O’ Artful Death (2003)
Mansions of the Dead (2004)
Judgment of the Grave (2006)

Josephine Tey

Brat Farrar (1950)

Charles Todd

The Murder Stone (2003)

Judith Van Gieson

The Stolen Blue (2000)

Dan Waddell

Nigel Barnes, The Blood Detective series
The Blood Detective (2007)
Blood Atonement (2009)
Blood Underground (2017) novella
Blood Reckoning (2018)

Patricia Tichenor Westfall

Mother of the Bride (1998)

Eric Wright

Death on the Rocks (1999)

Laurali Wright

Mother Love (1995)

Fans of genealogical mysteries may also find titles of interest to them in our Forensic Fiction booklist, which includes sections dealing with archaeologists and other historians digging into the past to solve mysteries.

Printed List is forthcoming – compiled Mar 2005 by rs
Adapted for the Web Mar 2005 sdc | Last updated: October 2022 sdc