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.

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We all have more time to read these days…well at least I hope you do. Reading is the ultimate escape. I’m always on the look-out for a new mystery. The talented Kate Young has a new cozy mystery out TODAY, and I think you’ll enjoy it as much as I did. But first, a brief description straight from  amazon:

On Georgia’s picturesque Peach Cove Island, a killer is serving up a two-for-one special . . .

After their mama’s passing, Marygene Brown returned to Peach Cove Island to help her sister Jena Lynn run the family diner, renowned for its homemade peach desserts. But Mama is never too far away—her sassy spirit haunts the island, and more specifically Marygene. Lately Mama has been warning her that the dead will seek her out to solve their murders, an idea Marygene is far from peachy keen on.

But that prophecy appears to be coming true when she goes skinny-dipping off the island and swims right into a woman’s charred corpse floating in the waves. And when Marygene and her brother Sam come upon a second burned body in a wine cellar at an event they’re catering, it appears they have a double homicide on their hands. It soon turns out the victims have more in common than their charred remains, and Marygene will need to double down to find a killer who has no aversion to playing with fire. Good thing Mama has her back . . .

Includes Seven Recipes from Marygene’s Kitchen!

I loved this book. I never had a chance to get bored and do what I am often compelled to, skip ahead. Many a book I haven’t finished because there was a lull in the story, and I jumped ahead…and once you know who the killer is, what’s the point?

While reading this book, my workday suffered; because I committed to a limited reading time during the day, but when it came to Southern Sass and a Crispy Copse I found myself cheating. “One more page” I promised, which quickly turned into five, ten, fifty…

Marygene is a character you’ll love and root for. Young’s characters are interesting, believable and her description makes you want to visit Peach Cove Island, if not move there all together. Don’t miss this read. Links are below if you’d like to check it out from your favorite bookseller.

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Below, the beautiful Kate Young.