Comedy of Heirs: A Novel

Genealogist Torie O'Shea gets more than she had bargained for when she researches her own family tree, unearthing information about the murder of her great-grandfather, a crime in which her great-uncle was the prime suspect, and discovers that long-buried secrets can have deadly implications for the present.

-Torie O'Shea takes the first week of December off from her job as genealogist with the local historical society to organize the family's reunion and get a head start on the upcoming holiday season. Amid a house full of relatives, she receives a letter pointing out the fact that her great-grandfather was murdered, and not accidentally killed in a hunting accident. Why has the family done nothing to clear up the murder in all that time? Torie begins to search for the truth through the gathered family members, through research in old newspaper articles, and through notes left from her great-grandmother. An uncle's death adds to her burdens and acts as a red herring, drawing the focus away from the great-grandfather's murder. A drugged cup of tea eventually leads to the killer. MacPherson provides Torie with a large family full of some wacky characters and dreary perfectionists. Her relationships with the myriad family members add background to both the main plot line and details about the other relatives. Memories are everywhere, effortlessly and quickly adding familiarity with the major players. The setting, a Missouri river town, shows that small towns can be blessings as well as irritations to those who live in them. The logical plot and real-to-life characters result in a compelling skeleton-in-the-closet story. Teens interested in their own family's history will appreciate Tori's mystery, and those who are unfamiliar with genealogy may find themselves looking more closely at their own kin.
Pam Johnson, Fairfax County Public Library, VA
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.

As a genealogist for a historical society in New Kassel, Mo., Torie O'Shea must examine her own family's history in this third entry in MacPherson's cozy series (A Veiled Antiquity, etc.). As she prepares to host her family's annual Christmas reunion, Torie is sent an anonymous packet of newspaper clippings. They reveal that her great-grandfather Nathaniel Ulysses Keith was shot to death in 1948 on his front porch while his family was inside the house. Because she had been told as a child that Keith died in a hunting accident, Torie now wants to know which story is true. Like a bloodhound on the scent, she scans library microfilm records to prove the veracity of the articles, then visits the county sheriff for further information. What she learns isn't pleasant: her ancestor was a brute to his children and publicly unfaithful to his wife. The list of people who wanted to kill him is as long as it is convincing. Torie's best sources of information, however, are the relatives about to descend on her home. When an aunt tells her that Keith's wife and children sat listening to his groans until he died, Torie is horrified. Could her great-grandmother have sanctioned the murder? Not according to another aunt who was inside the house that day. But since that aunt didn't see the killer, it's up to Torie to ferret out the culprit and clarify her family history. Torie's large, eccentric family provides plenty of entertaining characters, and MacPherson skillfully connects the family's many subplots (pregnancies, sibling rivalries, new romances) while keeping the murder at the center of the intrigue. Although the title promises comedy, there's much more than humor at stake in this heartrending tale of family pride and the coverups to keep it intact. (Aug.)
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Torie (Victory) OShea, an ardent researcher of genealogy, lives with husband Rudy and two children in New Kassel, Missouri, where she works as a guide at historic Gaheimer House (A Veiled Antiquity, 1998, etc.). Right now, shes taking a week off to host her familys annual Christmas get-together, an event somewhat shadowed by the arrival of a packageno return addresscontaining copies of newspaper accounts of the murder, in 1948, of Tories great-grandfather, Nathaniel Keith, who was shot to death on his front porch; his wife Della Ruth and family members inside; his killer never found. Suddenly feeling betrayed, since shed always been told that Nate died in a hunting accident, Torie talks to Sheriff Colin Brooke, her mothers suitor, who agrees to try to find the detective on the case, Hubert McCarthy. Relatives are pouring inaunts, great-aunts, cousins, alcoholic Uncle Jed, and Tories fatherall looking forward to the annual big dinner (at the KC hall) where Torie plans to announce her just discovered pregnancy. Her dogged research has turned up several motives for nasty Nates murder: a string of clandestine affairs; at least one unacknowledged child; a soured business deal; an accidental (or was it?) drowning. Along with all that, enough ancient history surfaces to enable Torie to put a name to the unconvincing killer. A mix of tedium and confusion. Only straight-talking, feisty Torie saves the day. -- Copyright ©1999, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

New Kassel (Missouri) genealogist and part-time sleuth Torie O'Shea finds that her own great-grandfather was murdered, probably by her great-uncle. To her surprise, old history creates new problems at family reunion time. A pleasant return to a charming series.
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.