Death on the Family Tree

Family Tree #1

by Patricia Sprinkle

With grown-up kids and a husband always on the road, Katharine Murray's nest would be empty if it weren't for her Aunt Lucy—until the elderly woman dies. Now Katharine's saddled with her Aunt's worldly belongings—mostly knickknacks destined for the dumpster. But there's a priceless Celtic necklace among the dross—and a diary written in German, neither of which Katharine's ever seen before.

Determined to find out where these objects came from, Katharine unwittingly discovers a branch of her family tree she never knew existed—namely Aunt Lucy's brother Carter, murdered more than fifty years ago after a mysterious trip to Austria. And when Lucy's artifacts are stolen, and the main suspect turns up dead, Katharine realizes she must solve a burglary and two unsolved homicides separated by a half-century . . . before more than her family secrets end up dead and buried.

Genres: Mystery, Cozy Mystery, Fiction, Cozy, Mystery Thriller, Relationships, Contemporary

348 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2006

About the author

Aka Patricia Houck Sprinkle.

When I met and married Bob, he looked over our budget and demanded, "Why don’t you write a mystery to pay for all the ones you buy?" I immediately knew I wanted to put a body in a building where I’d once worked. However, being over-endowed with the Protestant ethic, I wrote "important" things first and only wrote the mystery in my spare time, so my first mystery, Murder at Markham (reissued by Silver Dagger in 2001), took thirteen years to complete. It took even longer for me to learn that any writing which gives me pleasure is important, whether fiction or non-fiction.

Since 1988 I have written twenty mysteries, four novels, and five non-fiction books. I am grateful to my readers and editors for letting me do what I enjoy most in the world. Bob has concluded that writing is not a profession, it's an obsession--my favorite vacation is to go to a place where somebody else fixes my meals and where I can write more than I do at home, without interruptions. Thanks, if you are one of the readers who keeps my fingers on the keys. I enjoy spending time with you at conferences, book clubs, and signing events.

Reviews

[James · Rating 2 out of 5]

2 stars to Patricia Sprinkle's Death on the Family Tree, the first in the "Family Tree" mystery series. A warning before you read my review... it may contain a small amount of anger, and the book might be anti-gay. I'm still trying to decide...

Story
Katherine receives some old boxes of her pseudo-aunt's after the woman dies. Katherine's husband works out of town and their grown children have moved away, so she's quite bored and decided to dive into the mystery of what's in the boxes: an old piece of jewelry and a German diary. As she researches the family tree, she learns about a long-lost branch with a cousin who was murdered. By the end, several secrets surface while she gets to know another family in town known for being basically white supremacists. It all collides and she stumbles upon a wealth of history that changes all their futures.

Strengths
1. It's simple drama. Lots of clues. Nothing adds up. No true murder mystery as there's no real dead body until 2/3 of the way thru. The mystery is about the items found in the old boxes and who was the missing relative. I liked this approach.

Suggestions
1. Besides fixing what felt like some strong anti-gay themes...

2. It's disjointed. Great mystery but poorly executed. Not even her own family. Too many weird characters that she should mistrust. Certain people disappear and we never know why there were included to begin with. I had such high hopes for a genealogical mystery.

Final Thoughts
I'm not generally one to jump to conclusions, but 3 characters either make disparaging remarks about gay men, or fail to even try to defend them when someone says something that could be taken in an off-color manner. It was written in 2006, not long enough for this to be something of the norm. It takes place in the South, so I'll cut it some slack, but... the author could have been a little more considerate if she was not trying to promote a message about the "depravity of homosexuals." I can tolerate characters being that way, but when there's not a single sense of balance in the book, and it's a cozy mystery meant to be fun and light-hearted, I think I arrive at the conclusion I won't choose to read anymore by a careless author. Now, if I mistook anything, I apologize for being judgmental, but for anyone else who has read it, I'd love to know your opinion on whether this author failed to provide fair justice in her writing of opinions on gay people.

About Me
For those new to me or my reviews... here's the scoop: I read A LOT. I write A LOT. And now I blog A LOT. First the book review goes on Goodreads, and then I send it on over to my WordPress blog at https://thisismytruthnow.com, where you'll also find TV & Film reviews, the revealing and introspective 365 Daily Challenge and lots of blogging about places I've visited all over the world. And you can find all my social media profiles to get the details on the who/what/when/where and my pictures. Leave a comment and let me know what you think. Vote in the poll and ratings. Thanks for stopping by. Note: All written content is my original creation and copyrighted to me, but the graphics and images were linked from other sites and belong to them. Many thanks to their original creators.

[Nikki · Rating 4 out of 5]

DEATH ON THE FAMILY TREE showed me that it's not necessarily the situation of the main character that makes me like or dislike a book. Just before I read it, I had given up on a work of domestic fiction Mad Dashin which the protagonist, a forty-ish woman in a large city, had recently lost her mother to death and her daughter to college. She reacted by separating from her husband and whining a lot. I couldn't stand it and gave up. In a way, Katherine Murray, the protagonist of Sprinkle's book, is in the same situation, although it's actually a sort of honorary aunt who's been the last of the elderly ladies in her family to go, and her two children are beginning their careers. Additionally, her husband, a lobbyist, spends most of each week in Washington, leaving her alone in Atlanta. As the book opens, Katherine is alone on her birthday, and she does give in to self-pity for a moment. But when the UPS man delivers a bunch of boxes of Aunt Lucy's things, the first box she opens presents her with a mystery, and from then on she rarely has time for self-pity, determined as she is to solve the mystery even when her investigations put her in danger.

Ms. Sprinkle's book is set in Buckhead, a very desirable upper-middle-class enclave of Atlanta. Apart from some mention of kudzu and the idea that one might reasonably expect to find a copperhead in one's back yard (EEK!), there's not much talk of flora and fauna to put the reader in Georgia. Instead, Sprinkle situates us there through the dialogue, the characters, and those characters' assumptions and prejudices. Even their names are distinctively Southern.
I'd bought this book a while back because of its focus on genealogy, my other pastime, and then realized it would "do" for Georgia as well. Ms. Sprinkle does well by both genealogy and Georgia. As a long-time genealogist, I couldn't find any fault with the methods Katherine's mentors show her. The touch of "woo-woo" is not excessive and the apparently supernatural is not an unknown occurrence for genealogists. I very much enjoyed "meeting" Katherine Murray, her friends and family, and the engaging diamond-in-the-rough genealogist, Lamar Franklin. Will he show up in the next book? It's on my TBR pile right now.The plot was reasonably believable. (I have to say that, given the sordid and stupid nature of most "real-life" murders, most mystery plots are "unbelievable," and to me, that's a good thing.) I highly recommend this book and will be reading more of the author's work.

[Slmstanley · Rating 1 out of 5]

Unpleasant protagonists, seriously sexist viewpoints, navel-gazing of the 'what will I do with my life, woe, I'm so invisible and have only my money to console me' variety, and tedious descriptions of how much money the protagonist's husband makes. And then there was the ridiculous series of bad decisions on the part of the protagonist (who is stalked by people intent on separating her from a valuable heirloom, but who proceeds to leave said heirloom lying about and actually shows it to many other people instead of hiding it and/or putting it in the bank, for example.)

The only redeeming feature - and the only reason I finished the novel - was that my alma mater (The University of the South at Sewanee) was mentioned a few times.

[Whitney · Rating 1 out of 5]

Horrible! I'm actually surprised that it got as many good reveiws as it did. I was so disappointed reading it that I thought about stopping several times. In fact, I'm not sure why I kept on reading. Possibly because I hate starting a book and not seeing how it ends, perhaps because I was eager to see if it got better.... sadly it didn't. It just kept getting worse and worse, almost like she didn't exactly know how she wanted to end it and was hoping if she kept writing it would some how resolve itself.

I started out really excited to read it. Just from the description it sounded like it would be right up my street. A dark family secret, a strange artifact amongst family heirlooms, a murder... all things that would seemingly make for a thrilling read. However this was not the case... the writing was done well and all of the components were there, but she just kept missing the mark. At times things seemed like they were added just to tangle our heads... they didn't make sense, they certainly weren't needed and yet we kept getting scene after scene of non-sense. I assume the writer was purposely trying to mislead us to keep us guessing... but in the end it just made the events ridiculous.
For example, was anyone else extremely frustrated that several times the main character suspected her highschool flame to be capable of horrible things... murder even... and yet the next sentence would be about how cute he was or how she could easily see herself with him.

And although the strange vision/dream she had about the necklaces past was a neat trick... once again it seemed forced and was unnecessary. In the end it just left me confused... was the necklace magic? Why on earth would she have had this vision? I still don't understand the point of it.

I recommend all steer clear! You will regret it if you don't.

[Linda · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read book #3 in this series about a year ago and liked it so when I found a hardcover copy of book #1 in a used bookstore, I bought it. This book sets the stage for a genealogy series and I love genealogy. After Kathryn's honorary Aunt Lucy dies, her belongings are shipped to Kate. Among them she finds a diary written in German, an ancient bronze necklace, and some photos. That's when she discovers that Aunt Lucy and her brother, Uncle Walter, married to her blood aunt Sara Claire, had a brother Carter, who was murdered in 1950. As Kate slowly uncovers information about a group of friends traveling in Europe in the late 1930s, so does things begin to happen in her life: first a break-in when her always absent husband has his valuable jade collection stolen- and the diary is also taken. Then a more serious break-in when her house is trashed and then people start to die. What is the terrible 70 year-old secret that someone is trying so hard to keep hidden? I was surprised at the secret and the villain!

[BookAddict]

There were a lot of things I liked about this. I really liked the genealogy tie-in and the mystery was well thought out and I was almost kept guessing at the whodunnit until the reveal. But, for a 21st century character, Katherine behaves more like a Victorian housewife which made the whole characterization seem very, very dated. It was hard to believe that she was only 46 and not 86. This was a good story but Katherine's character was just too much of an anachronism for me to want to continue the series.

[Valerie · Rating 2 out of 5]

I don't know where to begin concerning what I didn't like about this book...the ineffectual repeating plot element of a shadowy face appearing in a bequeathed armoire, the unsatisfactory resolution of a problematic marital relationship or the blithe accpetance of the death of a falsely accused African-American by the main character. I was definitely not enarmored of this book.

[Marilyn · Rating 2 out of 5]

Headed out of town for my first ever genealogy class, and decided to take a related read. It started out promising, and then descended into a woman-finds-herself-drawn-into-mystery-and-solves-it cliche. Yes, fiction is supposed to have some surprising elements, but it helps if at least some of them are believable. And, no, there actually isn't much genealogy in it.

[Kel · Rating 4 out of 5]

Old flames, an empty nest, family secrets and murder--Southern Style. I figured out the ending, but the writing held my interest for the entire story.

[Amberly · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm not sure how to rate this one. I made the mistake of skimming a few reviews when I added it to my "currently reading" shelf. One stated that the book might be "anti-gay" and that the reviewer was still trying to decide. That comment likely made me hypersensitive to any references to sexual orientation and sexuality in general. Had I not read the review first, I don't know how much of that element I would have noticed before the end of the book. That said, the big reveal seemed glaringly obvious to me from well before I should have started to suspect whodunnit and why.

But for some reason... I still liked the rather flawed main character who despite seeming happily married at the beginning managed to have a week-long confusion of the heart with her only previous long-term relationship. One minute she suspected him of horrible things and then it took almost nothing for her to brush it aside and forgive him. She was way too open with everyone she interacted with. She basically gave them instructions on how to hurt her to get what they wanted. She was suspicious of all the wrong people. But the old flame showed actual aggression and she allowed him back in her home and life repeatedly as she tried to solve her mystery.

I really don't know why this was such a page-turner for me, but it was. The writing at the beginning struck me as pretty bad, but the story seemed interesting so I kept going. The writing improved somewhat. I was surprised at the number of typos and inconsistencies that made it through the copy-editing stage.

If you are interested in this book because of the genealogy connection, don't get too excited about that. This is definitely more of a murder mystery, why-are-there-bad-guys-chasing-me/trying-to-get-something-from-me kind of a book. That said, I did love watching the main character try to figure out how to get information that today could be found following a few keystrokes. She was delving into the history of people she knew and loved without knowing anything about genealogy. I don't recall for sure what genealogy resources were online at the time of the publication of this book, but it seems the book was pretty far behind what was accurate.

[Tamie Z · Rating 3 out of 5]

I couldn’t believe how Katherine let her old friend Hasty treat her. He was rude, controlling, and easily the most unlikeable character in the book, though honestly, that’s saying something because there wasn’t a single likable character in this story. Katherine herself was frustratingly passive, especially toward someone (Hasty) she repeatedly suspected of criminal behavior.

Her husband wasn’t any better. He was completely dismissive and absent, ignoring her multiple pleas for support while conducting business in another city for nearly the entire book. That dynamic never got addressed, which made the ending feel especially unsatisfying.

On top of all that, there were too many characters to keep track of—trying to remember who did what and when took away from the mystery entirely.

The only reason I kept reading was to get the mystery solved, but even that mystery was unsatisfactory. This entire story was just blah.

[Leslie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Genealogy and mystery go hand in hand with this first of a series. Empty nester Katharine delves into a mystery when she finds a diary written in German and an old hand-forged necklace. The genealogy bug only begins to nibble on her as she works out the mystery surrounding unknown family members, honorary family members, an old murder, Austria, racism, and secrets that others want kept silent. As she struggles with her empty house Katherine's resentment of her absentee husband grows. A few parts of the book went a bit deeper into hatred politics, which does not appeal, but otherwise it was a good story, interesting unfolding of mystery, and a look at a woman questioning her life.

[Linda · Rating 2 out of 5]

A friend loaned this novel to me because of the locale - Atlanta. The fact that this story takes place there may explain some of the attitudes the characters exhibited toward each other. There was plenty of hostility toward anyone considered different including gays and young adults with purple hair. In the end, everything was wrapped up neatly - except the death of an innocent black man. This had the makings of a good mystery but that was lost in too many subplots and too much purposeless introspection by the protagonist.

[Martha Burke-Hennessy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Quite a Tale

Katherine is on her own again in home in Atlanta while her husband Tom works in Washington on important busy. From that quiet beginning Katherine discovers a diary written in German as she empties the contents of boxes leave to her by her aunt. The diary written in 1936 in Austria tells of a passionate person in love with two men. Sprinkle builds up the suspense as she explores families and their relations to a compelling and satisfying ending where compassion and faith win over violence and deceit. I cannot wait to read the next in the series

[Cheryl · Rating 3 out of 5]

It started out slow, maintained the slow pace with an added sprinkle of a woman who spoke to dead relatives just as if she was having a conversation and then picked up with the death of Lucy. Was rather interesting in the convoluted loops the plot took us all in the genealogy of maybe a family member and maybe not.

[Alice · Rating 5 out of 5]

I think a mystery should have its murder at the beginning, instead of near the end. However this book is such an engaging story of a woman deciding that she has to live for herself instead of others that more than makes up for the end-of-the-book murders. The posh life in Atlanta turns ugly with break-ins and unwanted male attention.

[Nancy McLaughlin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wow!! Change after change.

The book started one way, flirted with a second approach, then went with the second approach for a few minutes, then stolidly back to the first approach. Read it, you'll find out what I'm talking about.

[Judith A. · Rating 2 out of 5]

Her editor or agent must have told her to "add more words" because she reiterated the same incidents several or three times in dialogue. The only engaging part was when Katherine was hiding in the "safe room" in the closet of her grown son. Even the final showdown was hard to believe.

[Tegan · Rating 1 out of 5]

"the room glowed like a foster child that has finally been adopted." Yuck. No more for me, thanks. This and and a hundred other little barbs or condescension from the author make this book really unpalatable.

[JoAnn Coffey Rakes · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved all three books in this series. The 1st time I have read any books by Patricia Sprinkle. Our library doesn't have any of her books.

[Kyla Bayang · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was a fairly good book, but I did want to see more family history research in it.

[Liz · Rating 4 out of 5]

fluff but good

[Tracey S Choat · Rating 4 out of 5]

History can be murder

I like history and mystery and this book didn't disappoint. I also enjoy genealogy and there's a small amount of that thrown in.

[Sera Morgan · Rating 2 out of 5]

See the review by "James" here in Goodreads. I agree with his review entirely!

[Jeanne Modisett · Rating 3 out of 5]

So, I’ve enjoyed her books in the past but this one just didn’t cut it. It was difficult keeping all the names straight and as one of the characters weren’t defined well.

[Linda · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was my first book to read by this author and I was not disappointed. A good mystery and well written. Characters were well developed. I will definitely read more of her books.

[Kim Sasso · Rating 2 out of 5]

I liked the idea of bringing a genealogical slant to things, but not enough to compensate for the things I didn't like, so I won't be finishing this series.

I don't see much benefit to spelling out all my objections, since most of them stem from my personal experience as a southerner, a liberal and a genealogist. The writing is perfectly fine for light reading, and most of her facts are correct so far as I know, i just didn't particularly like the reliance on stereotypes and misleading generalizatons.

[#ReadAllTheBooks · Rating 3 out of 5]

Jonesing for a good mystery, I picked this book up out of sheer curiousity. It sounded interesting, with it mixing genealogy & murder. I figured that it would at least be good for a lark. It stumbled for a bit in the beginning, but after a while I was hooked.

The story follows Katherine, the wife of a wealthy mover & shaker in D.C. who is only home on rare weekends. Following the death of a beloved aunt, Katherine discovers a mysterious journal & a strange green necklace amidst old photo books & souvenirs. What Katherine doesn't know is that despite having been in a musty box for years, these items will spark off a chain of secrets,murder & deceit that will leave her reeling.

While I liked this book, it did have a few flaws. First off, the book seemed to stumble about as the author went about setting up the real meat of the book. The flow just didn't seem to settle down until Katherine discovered the items & got started on her research. The other flaw of the book is that Katherine just seemed a little whiny at times. She complains about her husband spending all his time in D.C., yet never does she think about flying down to see him or moving to where he is. (With how inattentive her husband is & with him spending 95% of his time away from her, I kept expecting Katherine to call & find her husband cheating on her.) Perhaps that's why I didn't really get into the first part of the book- it's hard to emphasize with a well to do lady who refuses to do anything to fix her own personal situation. During the course of the study Katherine does start to get a little of her own back, but I can't help but think that one of the next steps should be Katherine trying to fix her marriage & moving to D.C. (Especially since obviously they have enough money to afford her flying down & staying in their second home in D.C.) The other thing about this book that seemed a bit out of whack is the slight supernatural twist the book took at times. It's a very minor plot point, but it just didn't fit in with the rest of the plotline. Maybe it'll be picked up on more in a future book?

The mystery is nicely done, although parts of it were a bit obvious at times. Still, it's a nice book to while away a few hours if you are bored. This isn't exactly the type of book you rush out & right away, but it's something you should keep your eyes out for if you want a nice vacation read.

[Avid Series Reader · Rating 2 out of 5]

Death on the Family Tree by Patricia Sprinkle is the first book of the Family Tree mystery series, set in contemporary Atlanta. Katharine Murray lives mostly alone in a beautifully decorated house. Her husband Tom travels extensively, always putting the job and its crises ahead of family. Her children are adults, living on their own; so Katharine finds herself alone on her 46th birthday, wondering a bit about her life's purpose. She receives an unexpected delivery - 10 boxes full of a deceased relative's possessions. Mostly junk (the old woman was a packrat) but one box marked "Carter" holds a curious brass necklace and a diary. Katharine unexpectedly runs into an old friend she hasn't seen since high school, now a university history professor. When she shows him the necklace and diary, he recognizes them as historical artifacts and wants to take possession for a museum. Katharine first wants to understand who is "Carter" and why her relative saved the items. She asks a good friend who is a genealogy buff how to do some family research. Turns out, she really enjoys digging through records. She gets surprising results - Carter was a relative in her family, never mentioned in her presence. So she digs further into family records, while enlisting her history prof friend's help to translate the diary (written in German).

Someone else is interested in the artifacts - dangerously so. Katharine experiences a break-in one night, resulting in the theft of the diary, then a few days later her house is completely trashed. She had the necklace hidden away, so it's safe, and she had made copies of the diary, so she continues with the translation and family research. Meanwhile Tom makes excuses and stays longer on his business trip, even though she is shaken and needs his support. Katharine is not quite sure who to trust, but after the murder of her genealogy pal, she has only the history prof to help her.

[Suzanne · Rating 5 out of 5]

Katherine Murray is an empty-nester with a son in China, a daughter in New York, and a husband who works full-time in Washington, DC. Living in the posh Atlanta suburb of Buckhead, Katherine has all the time and money she needs, but wakes up on her 46th birthday feeling as if she is not needed or wanted by anyone. Then a package arrives from an aunt who passed away, containing a diary and a necklace. Katherine immediately goes on the hunt to find out more about these items, placing her life in danger when her house is broken into. Someone clearly wants the necklace and diary, but who? It all has to do with family secrets that have been buried far too long. Will Katherine survive long enough to find the clues to this puzzle? This story is full of intrigue, scandal and a hint of romance when Katherine's ex-boyfriend shows up to help her solve the mystery.

This is a great first installment to a strong cozy mystery series. As a lover of both mystery novels and genealogy, I was so excited to uncover this series by Patricia Sprinkle, who was already one of my favorite mystery writers. This book did not disappoint, and kept me thoroughly entertained! I quickly proceeded to pick up the other two family tree mysteries and devoured them quickly! I'm so sorry that she has stopped writing this series, and hope that she might consider picking it up again. I have enjoyed Katherine's adventures, and would love to read more!