Murder Once Removed

by Kathleen Kunz

Terry Girard, an expert in genealogies and family histories, must prove that her own aunt, Cecile Girard, did not commit suicide, as was previously believed.

Genres: Mystery

Hardcover

First published January 1, 1993

Reviews

[Elizabeth · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was the first book by the author and was intended to be the first in a series. It was published in 1993 but when I looked for the others in the series I couldn't find any. The author died in 2002 of Parkinson's Disease so perhaps the disease interfered and kept her from writing the series as she intended.

Terry Girard and her aunt own and operate a genealogy research business, producing genealogies and publishing family history books. When the aunt is found at the bottom of a ravine along the Mississippi in their native St. Louis it is thought by the police to be a suicide. Terry is insistent it couldn't be a suicide and sets out to prove it. Meanwhile the police detective assigned to the case also is questioning whether it is a suicide. The police sergeant, Dan Kevlehan, and Terry are both head strong and butt heads as they each try to prove the aunt was murdered. A religious sister, a lifelong friend of the aunt's, also turns up dead and while it is ruled a stroke she too was murdered. Dan is slowly falling in love with Terry while assigned to protect her and to solving the murders.

I thought the book could have done without the romance. The book did give some insights into what genealogists do as they research a family but it was pretty simplistic. It was good escape reading for a cold winter day. I was looking forward to more books in the series and am sorry the author wasn't able to write more as she wanted to do.

[Jane Irish Nelson · Rating 3 out of 5]

Although advertised as a genealogical mystery, very little research occurs in the course of the book, which was quite disappointing. Terry Girard returns home to St. Louis from a weekend away to the news that her aunt and business partner, CeCe is dead, an apparent suicide. But Terry is positive that CeCe would never kill herself, and is determined to prove it, much to the consternation of Dan Kevlehan, the police detective, to who she is unwillingly attracted.