Author: Sylvia A. Nash
Format: Paperback and Kindle
Published: 2014
Synopsis: (from Amazon) Benjamin Alexander dug into the past to uncover its secrets. His housekeeper guarded his secrets with her life. Now Enid Gilchrist must draw on her years of experience as a genealogist to duplicate that search and protect those secrets while she unravels the clues to crimes whose consequences have crossed the years to spawn a new criminal and threaten those she loves. Moreover, she must draw on her strength of will to prevent her feelings for Chief of Police Patrick Mulhaney from hindering their mutual efforts to solve the mystery, bring peace to the dead, and protect the living. Benjamin’s Ghosts is a cozy genealogy murder mystery set in West Tennessee. The sleuth is a sixty-five-year-old widow woman with no intention of retiring in the foreseeable future.
My Rating: 
** I am able to loan this book out on Kindle.
The first person to email me will be the lucky recipient of the 2-week loan. **
Several mysteries to solve, both in the present and the past (Civil War era); it’s like reading two mystery novels cleverly woven together in one cohesive book. This book is a great read for anyone who enjoys a good cozy mystery novel. Genealogists will find it particularly interesting as the main character, Enid Gilchrist, is a seasoned genealogist and the mysteries are genealogical in nature.
Conceptually, this is like many of the cozy mystery series out there, where the main character, usually a “regular Joe,” finds themselves right smack dab in the middle of a murder investigation. The main character then becomes the hero and solves the mystery, with a little help from their friends, of course.
I like a mystery that keeps me guessing until the very end, and this one certainly delivers in that respect. Having my suspicions throughout the book, I didn’t know exactly “who dunnit” until I was at about the 70% mark. I still wasn’t sure about the why or exactly how until I neared the end.
The book is well-written, flows nicely, and keeps you guessing (and for genealogists, you’ll have fun connecting the dots and learning the family stories involved—as a side note, it will inspire you to incorporate historical newspapers into your research if you haven’t already). My only complaint is the introduction of too many characters in the opening chapter; it made it difficult for me to keep them all straight. I prefer introducing one or two characters and then adding on as the story progresses.
Although I cannot find any confirmation of this, the premise of the main character and the book’s title suggest the start of a series. I do hope that the author continues as such and brings us more genealogical mysteries.
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