Book Review: More Genea-Fiction with Prof. Simon Shaw Mysteries

In the mood for more mystery after last week’s interview with genealogical crime author Steve Robinson? Jefferson Tayte’s next adventure is slated for spring 2013, and in the meantime you might enjoy browsing through an engaging mystery series by Sarah R. Shaber featuring Professor Simon Shaw, a young history professor at a small college in Raleigh, North Carolina.

In the debut title, Simon Said , a body is found on the archeological dig of a local historic home, but it’s not as old as it should be. The unidentified remains appear to be from the 1920s instead of three centuries earlier. Shaw is called in as an expert consultant for his skill has a historical researcher and finds himself reluctantly drawn in to a mystery he can’t resist.

Like any genealogist, Shaw knows he has to flesh out the family tree to discover the roots of the story, and therein lies the puzzle.

I enjoyed the well-developed characters in the novel, as much as the mystery. Simon and his faculty friends are interesting people who you grow to care about, and Simon’s difficulty coping with his new divorced status is realistic in it’s heartache. The mystery itself pulled me along through the pages and made it a quick, but enjoyable read.

I was glad to find that the next book in the series, Snipe Hunt, was also available in the Amazon Kindle Owner’s Lending Library to borrow for free for Prime members.

Snipe Hunt  is set on the North Carolina Outer Banks where Simon joins his friends for a beach house Thanksgiving holiday. When the body of a local man is found in the water with a cache of gold coins, local interest is revived in old tales of shipwrecks and booty. Simon is becoming more comfortable in his role as “forensic historian” with this experience, but he still manages to appear ready to go back to his quiet uneventful life at any time.

Happily (for the readers), people just keep turning up dead and Shaw’s adventures continue in three more mysteries. The series now numbers five books, and it’s anyone’s guess if Shraber will continue with more. Her latest publications have turned to historical fiction featuring Louise Pearlie, a young widow working in Washington, D.C. as a clerk in the OSS (to become the CIA). Louise’s War and Louise’s Gamble are in my list of Books to Read this Summer!

 

The Professor Simon Shaw Mystery Series (in order)

Available in Amazon Kindle, Barnes and Noble Nook, Paperback editions

Simon Said  (Book One) Amazon

Snipe Hunt (Book Two) Amazon

The Fugitive King  (Book Three) Amazon

The Bug Funeral  (Book Four) Amazon

Shell Game  (Book Five) Amazon

Sarah Shaber’s New Series

Louise’s War

Louise’s Gamble

 

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