It's initial appeal was the fact that the main character, Torie O'Shea, is also a genealogist and local historian.
Go figure that that would appeal to me! ;-)
The series is set in Missouri in the US, with this particular episode taking Torie to her Aunt Sissy and Uncle Joe in Minnesota.
These stories are simple, follow-the-leads, mysteries. You can guess a bit as you go, but Rett MacPherson manages to keep the 'I really want to know what the outcome of this is' feeling going. The characters and the storytelling is very comfortable, even though Torie is prone to bad-tempers and being blunt (read: rude, brusque, pointed, etc.).
The basic storyline here is:
Aunt Sissy finds and reads a manuscript that was stored in the attic of her house. She asks Torie and her husband Rudy to come visit, with the intention of convincing Torie to find out who wrote the manuscript. Once Torie begins to read the manuscript she gets hooked up in the story of the young Swedish girl who's diary it turns out to be. So she starts the process of finding out who the mystery girl is, using the local historical records. Her research turns up two unresolved historical murders from the late 1850s, and in short-order a modern murder joins in too. The story revolves around the young Swedish girl, her family and that of the murdered men, and how that traces down to the modern town of Olin where her Aunt Sissy lives. The story is reasonably compelling, especially if you have an interest in family history. I began this book in the bath early Sunday evening and was done by just after 10pm. It is only a little over 250 pages, so not a massive read, and I am not the fastest reader on the planet either. I just couldn't quite bring myself to leave the last 50 or so pages for another day.
If you are interested in finding out a little more, you can read the first chapter here at Rett MacPherson's website.
On my rating scale, a 2 out of 5.
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