Dead in a Flash: A Family History Mystery by Brynn Bonner

                Once again, I have come to the end of a mystery series so far.  This time I’m talking about the series, The Family History Mysteries.  There may be another book coming out soon, I don’t know for sure.  Until that happens, though, I have to wait to see what other adventures genealogist Sophreena McClure and her business partner Esme Sabatier are going to get into.

                Researching the family history of Senator Stanton Sawyer is a lucrative deal for Sophreena and Esme.  It could easily take their genealogy business to new heights that previously they would have only dreamed.  This is why when Senator Stanton makes the unusual request of having them look into a decades old mystery involving a fire and the death of a child, Sophreena and Esme are quick to agree.  It is not without some sense of hesitation, however.  This is an important job they have been asked to do.  Both Sophreena and Esme know that if they are not successful with their task, their reputations, and those of the people they are investigating, will be at stake.   

                To add even more pressure and stress to their lives, Sophreena and Esme are then asked by Senator Stanton’s family friend to put together a family tree as a wedding gift for her brother.  Despite all that Sophreena and Esme are doing otherwise, they accept the job, never suspecting what it will uncover.

                While the projects themselves are enough to strain Sophreena’s and Esme’s nerves, a murder happens on top of it.  Lincoln Cooper, Senator Stanton’s ghostwriter is found dead.  Practically a member of Senator Stanton’s family now that they have worked together for so long, everyone is greatly upset at the news of his death.  They are confused too, as it seemed that everyone liked Lincoln.  It becomes very clear as Sophreena and Esme investigate that that is not necessarily the case.  While there were not many who flat out disliked Lincoln, there were those he did not get along with, making the suspect list much longer than anyone originally thought.            

                I was really glad to see in this book that Sophreena and Esme had gotten their relationship back on track and were working as a team again.  The rest of the group of Sophreena’s and Esme’s friends were hardly in the book, though, which I found disappointing.  There was also very little of Esme’s communication with the spirits.  I hope this is not a sign of that element of this character going away. 

                Despite those things, I thought the mystery was good. I did have a hard time keeping all the characters straight at times because there were so many and some were similar, but I usually figured it out in the end. Some of characters that were introduced I hope stick around. The two I especially liked were Chelsea, the assistant to Senator Stanton’s family friend, and the owner of the new hotel and spa in town, Cyrus. I think they would make really good additions to Sophreena’s and Esme’s group of friends. Since those friends seem to be flitting in an out anyways, adding some new members to the group might be just what everyone needs.