Well, she’s done it again! SC Perkins has written a new blockbuster, sure to please cozy fans and classic mystery readers alike. Lineage Most Lethal is out July 21, 2020, and I was lucky enough to acquire this delightful read as an Advanced Reader Copy. I shouldn’t confess, but I finished Linage Most Lethal in one sitting (don’t tell my family that’s the reason I didn’t get their laundry done or that we had frozen pizza for dinner). It’s the second in the “Ancestry Detective Series”, the first being Murder Once Removed,
Perkins does a fantastic job of bringing her characters to life, especially Lucy, our heroine. She’s smart, likable and creative, much like Perkins herself.
Here’s a little blurb from Amazon about Lineage Most Lethal:
It’s the week before New Year’s Eve and genealogist Lucy Lancaster is ready to mix work and play at the beautiful Hotel Sutton, enjoying herself while finalizing the presentation for her latest client, hotel heiress Pippa Sutton.
Freshly arrived at the hotel―and determined not to think about Special Agent Ben Turner, who went radio silent on her after one date―Lucy is stopped in her tracks when a strange man comes staggering toward her. She barely has time to notice his weak, sweaty appearance before he presses a classic Montblanc pen onto her hand, gasps, “Keep them safe,” and collapses at her feet, dead.
When Lucy shows the fountain pen to her grandfather, an avid collector and World War II veteran, she’s in for another shock. Not only does Grandpa recognize the Montblanc, he also reveals a secret: he was an Allied spy during the war and the pen is both a message regarding one of his wartime missions and the key to reading a microdot left by the dead man.
On the microdot is a series of ciphers, some decrypted to form names. Could they be the descendants of Grandpa’s fellow spies? When two from the list end up murdered―including the chef at the Hotel Sutton―and Grandpa’s life is put in jeopardy, Lucy’s sure she’s right. And with Lucy’s and Pippa’s names possibly on the list, too, she’s got to uncover the past to protect those in the present.
With a secret Allied mission, old grievances, and traitors hiding behind every corner, Lucy must use her research skills to trace the list’s World War II ancestors and connect the dots to find a killer in their midst―a killer who’s determined to make sure some lineages end once and for all.
I love the cover, don’t you?
Below, the beautiful SC Perkins. Don’t miss the short bio below about this talented new star in the mystery world.
Would you like to acquire your own copy of Linage Most Lethal? Just click on any of the pink links in this blog post.
Amazon
Barnes and Noble
S.C. Perkins is a fifth-generation Texan who grew up hearing fascinating stories of her ancestry and
eating lots of great Tex-Mex. Her first book, Murder Once Removed, was the winner of the 2017 Malice
Domestic Best First Traditional Mystery competition, and an Agatha Award Nominee. She resides in
Houston and, when she’s not writing, she’s likely outside in the sun or on the beach. You can find her at
scperkins.com or on Twitter, Instagram, Goodreads, and Facebook at @SCPerkinsWriter.
