Genealogical & Historical Mysteries

There are so many books out there with a genealogical and/or historical twist that genealogists and mystery-lovers can enjoy. I decided to create a page to keep track of the books I have come across. This page is divided into three sections:  “Series,” “Stand-Alone Novels,” and “Nonfiction Reads.” This page will be updated as I find new books.

Note:  For some books, you may have to purchase a used copy or borrow from the library as they are out of print.

Note: This page uses Amazon affiliate links. See Disclaimer for more information.

This page was last updated November 13, 2024.

** denotes recently added to list

Series

Mystery of the American Revolution, by Suzanne Adair

1. Paper Woman (My Rating: )
2. The Blacksmith’s Daughter (My Rating: )
3. Camp Follower (My Rating: )

Michael Stoddard American Revolution Mystery Series, by Suzanne Adair

1. Deadly Occupation (technically Book 3, but it’s a prequel and is now being referred to as Book 1) (My Rating: )
2. Regulated for Murder (My Rating: )
3. A Hostage to Heritage (My Rating: )
4. Killer Debt (My Rating: )

Jude and Audie West Mysteries, by Laurie Alberswerth

1. Bones & Bloodlines
2. Grain & Gravestones
3. **Kin & Curses

A Rosalind Schmidt Genealogical Mystery, by Anna Dalhaimer Bartkowski

1. Dead Reckoning

Family History Mystery, by Brynn Bonner

1. Paging the Dead
2. Death in Reel Time
3. Picture Them Dead
4. Dead in a Flash

Home to Beulah Mystery, by Claudia Breland

1. **Home to Beulah
2. **North to Naubinway

Genetic Genealogy Cozy Mystery, by Christine Burke

1. Concrete Clues
2. Off The Rails
3. Fabric Of Deceit
4. Ancient History

Michael Flint Series, by Diane Capri

1. Blood Trails
2. Trace Evidence
3. **Ground Truth
4. **Hard Money
5. **Dead Lock (coming July 2025, available for pre-order)

Jean Fairbairn/Alasdair Cameron Mystery, by Lillian Stewart Carl

1. The Secret Portrait
2. The Murder Hole
3. The Burning Glass
4. The Charm Stone
5. The Blue Hackle
6. The Mortsafe
7. The Avalon Chanter

The Aunt Edwina Series, by Lynne Christensen

1. Aunt Edwina’s Fabulous Wishes
2. Aunt Edwina’s Wonderful Legacy
3. An Aunt Edwina Christmas
4. **Aunt Edwina Would Be Shocked

A Genealogy Mystery, by ML Condike

1. The Desk from Hoboken
2. **The Doll from Dunedin

Museum Mystery, by Sheila Connolly

1. Fundraising the Dead (My Rating: )
2. Let’s Play Dead (My Rating: )
3. Fire Engine Dead (My Rating: )
4. Monument to the Dead (My Rating: )
5. Razing the Dead (My Rating: )
6. Privy to the Dead (My Rating: )
7. Dead End Street (My Rating: )
8. Digging Up History (My Rating: )

Relatively Dead Mystery, by Sheila Connolly

1. Relatively Dead (My Rating: ; My Review)
2. Seeing the Dead (My Rating: )
3. Defending the Dead (My Rating: )
4. Watch for the Dead (My Rating: )
5. Search for the Dead (My Rating: )
6. Revealing the Dead (My Rating: )

Relatively Seeking, by Julie B. Cosgrove

1. One Leaf Too Many
2. Fallen Leaf
3. Leaf Me Alone

Identity Detective, by Sandra Danby

1. Ignoring Gravity
2. Connectedness

Chloe Ellefson Mystery, by Kathleen Ernst

1. Old World Murder (My Rating: )
2. The Heirloom Murders (My Rating: )
3. The Light Keeper’s Legacy (My Rating: )
4. Heritage of Darkness (My Rating: )
5. Tradition of Deceit (My Rating: )
6. Death on the Prairie (My Rating: )
7. A Memory of Muskets (My Rating: )
8. Mining for Justice (My Rating: )
9. The Lacemaker’s Secret (My Rating: )
10. Fiddling with Fate (My Rating: )
11. The Weaver’s Revenge

Ellie McLellan Genealogy Mystery, by Beth Farrar

1. Family Secrets (My Rating: )
2. Family Mistakes (My Rating: )
3. Family Promises (My Rating: )
4. Family Crimes
5. Family Christmas
6. Family Gathering (novella) (My Rating: )
7. Family Links

Tangled Roots Historical Mystery, by Susan Finlay

1. Breadcrumbs and Bombs
2. Bloodlines and Barbed Wire
3. Berlin and Betrayal
4. Bohemia and Broken Hearts

Tangled Roots II, by Susan Finlay

1. Gold and Gunslingers

Nick Herald Genealogical Mystery, by Jimmy Fox

1. Deadly Pedigree (My Rating: )
2. Lineages and Lies (My Rating: )
3. Jackpot Blood (My Rating: )

Forensic Genealogist, by Nathan Dylan Goodwin

1. Hiding the Past (My Rating: )
2. The Lost Ancestor (My Rating: )
3. The Orange Lilies: A Morton Farrier Novella (My Rating: )
4. The American Ground (My Rating: )
5. The Spyglass File (My Rating: )
6. The Missing Man: A Morton Farrier Novella (My Rating: )
7. The Suffragette’s Secret: A Morton Farrier Short Story (My Rating: )
8. The Wicked Trade (My Rating: )
9. The Asylum (prequel) (My Rating: )
10. The Sterling Affair (My Rating: )
11. The Foundlings (My Rating: )
12. The Deserter’s Tale (My Rating: )

Mrs. McDougall Investigates, by Nathan Dylan Goodwin

1. Ghost Swifts, Blue Poppies and the Red Star

Venator Cold Case, by Nathan Dylan Goodwin

1. The Chester Creek Murders (My Rating: )
2. The Sawtooth Slayer (My Rating: )
3. **The Hollywood Strangler

Isabella Forsyth Genealogical Mystery, by Lindy Haigh

1. Margate: A Tainted Bloodline

Jane Madden Genealogical Mystery, by Peter Hey

1. When Beggars Dye
2. Cowards Die Many Times
3. That We Shall Die

Lottie Albright Mystery, by Charlotte Hinger

1. Deadly Descent
2. Lethal Lineage
3. Hidden Heritage
4. Fractured Families

Ben Bones Genealogical Misadventure, by Michael Havelin

1. Ben Bones and the Deadly Descendants (My Rating: )
2. Ben Bones and the Search for Paneta’s Crown (My Rating: )
3. Ben Bones and the Galleon of Gold (My Rating: )
4. Ben Bones and the Conventional Murder (My Rating: )
5. Ben Bones and the Twin Pistols
6. Ben Bones and the Uncivil War

Maze Investigations–The Genealogy Detectives, by M. K. Jones

1. Three Times Removed (My Rating: )
2. Line of Descent (My Rating: )
3. The Julia Legacy
4. The Politician
5. The Policeman
6. The Soldier
7. The Reluctant Chartist
8. The Maze Investigations Genealogy Case Files
9. Clamhunger Row

Anna Denning Mystery, by Karin Kaufman

1. The Witch Tree (My Rating: )
2. Sparrow House (My Rating: )
3. The Sacrifice (My Rating: )
4. The Club (My Rating: )
5. Bitter Roots (My Rating: )

Demary Jones Mystery, by E. L. Larkin

1. Hear My Cry
2. Hear Me Die
3. Dead Men Die
4. Die and Die
5. The Swallow Murders
6. Die In Texas 

Hibiscus Bay Genealogy Cozy Mystery, by Steph LaVigne 

1. Headlines, Deadlines, and Lies

Jayne Sinclair Genealogical Mystery, by M. J. Lee

1. The Irish Inheritance (My Rating: )
2. The Somme Legacy (My Rating: )
3. The American Candidate (My Rating: )
4. The Vanished Child (My Rating: )
5. The Silent Christmas (Novella) (My Rating: )
6. The Sinclair Betrayal (My Rating: )
7. The Merchant’s Daughter (My Rating: )
8. The Christmas Carol (My Rating: )
9. The Missing Father (My Rating: )
10. The Irish Convict (My Rating: )

Torie O’Shea Mysteries, by Rett MacPherson

1. Family Skeleton (My Rating: )
2. A Veiled Antiquity (My Rating: )
3. A Comedy of Heirs (My Rating: )
4. A Misty Mourning (My Rating: )
5. Killing Cousins (My Rating: )
6. Blood Relations (My Rating: )
7. In Sheep’s Clothing (My Rating: )
8. Thicker Than Water (My Rating: )
9. Dead Man Running (My Rating: )
10. Died in the Wool (My Rating: )
11. The Blood Ballad (My Rating: )

Bloodlines, by Thomas McKerley and Ingrid Schippers

1. Touch Not the Cat
2. Traces

Natasha Blake Ancestor Detective, by Fiona Mountain

1. Pale as the Dead
2. Bloodline 

Enid Gilchrist Mysteries, by Sylvia A. Nash

1. Benjamin’s Ghosts (My Rating: ; My Review)
2. Mama’s Secret (My Rating: )
3. Martha’s Gift (My Rating: )
4. William’s Cry (My Rating: )
5. Jacob’s Hope (My Rating: )

Madeleine Porter Mystery, by John Nixon

1. Family Shadows (My Rating: )
2. The Cuckoo Clock (My Rating: )
3. Stolen Futures (My Rating: )
4. Another Summer (My Rating: )
5. The Cost of Silence (My Rating: )
6. Unearthed (My Rating: )
7. The Dancer (My Rating: )
8. Reputations (My Rating: )
9. Hammer Blow

White Pine Trilogy, by Jane O’Brien

1. The Tangled Roots of Bent Pine Lodge (My Rating: )
2. The Dunes and Don’ts Antiques Emporium (My Rating: )
3. The Kindred Spirit Bed & Breakfast (My Rating: )

Family History Mystery, by Elaine Orr

1. Least Trodden Ground
2. Unscheduled Murder Trip
3. Mountain Rails of Old
4. Gilded Path to Nowhere
5. Long Held Lake Secrets

Detective Hodgins Victorian Mystery, by Nanci Pattenden

1. Body in the Harbor
2. Death on Duchess Street
3. Corpses for Christmas
4. Homicide on the Homestead
5. United in Holy Deadlock
6. Abduction of Life

Esme Quentin Mystery, by Wendy Percival

1. Blood-Tied (My Rating: )
2. The Indelible Stain (My Rating: )
3. Death of a Cuckoo (Short Story)
4. The Malice of Angels (My Rating: )
5. The Fear of Ravens (My Rating: )
6. The Scourge of the Skua

Ancestry Detective, by S. C. Perkins

1. Murder Once Removed (My Rating: )
2. Lineage Most Lethal
3. Fatal Family Ties

Family Skeleton Mystery, by Leigh Perry

1. A Skeleton in the Family
2. The Skeleton Takes a Bow
3. The Skeleton Haunts a House
4. The Skeleton Paints a Picture
5. The Skeleton Makes a Friend
6. The Skeleton Stuffs a Stocking

Wayfaring Sisters, by Katie Andrews Potter

1. Going Over Home (My Rating: ; My Review)
2. Going Over Jordan

Perri Seamore, by Cynthia Raleigh

1. Poison Branches
2. Buries Roots
3. Drawing on the Past

In Time, by Susan Reiss

1. Letters in Time
2. Diaries in Time
3. Messages in Time
4. Portraits in Time
5. Devoted in Time

Jefferson Tate Genealogical Mystery, by Steve Robinson (My Review of Series through Book 4)

1. In the Blood (My Rating: )
2. To the Grave (My Rating: )
3. The Last Queen of England (My Rating: )
4. The Lost Empress (My Rating: )
5. Kindred (My Rating: )
6. Dying Games (My Rating: )
7. Letters from the Dead (My Rating: )
8. The Girl In the Painting (My Rating: )

Suzie Fewings Genealogical Mystery, by Fay Sampson

1. In the Blood
2. A Malignant House
3. Those in Peril
4. Father Unknown
5. The Overlooker
6. Beneath the Soil

Professor Simon Shaw Mystery, by Sarah Shaber

1. Simon Said (My Rating: )
2. Snipe Hunt (My Rating: )
3. The Fugitive King (My Rating: )
4. The Bug Funeral (My Rating: )
5. Shell Game (My Rating: )

Family Tree Mysteries, by Patricia Sprinkle

1. Death on the Family Tree (My Rating: )
2. Sins of the Fathers
3. Daughter’s of Deceit

Ella Graepenteck Genealogy Mysteries, by Erika Maren Steiger

1. The Moving Pictures
2. The Leading Ladies
3. The Executive Producers

The Family Tree Mysteries, by Allison Thorpe

1. When the Bough Breaks
2. **Out on a Limb

Alex & Briggie Mysteries, by G. G. Vandagriff

1. Cankered Roots (My Rating: )
2. Of Deadly Descent (My Rating: )
3. Tangled Roots (My Rating: )
4. Poisoned Pedigree (My Rating: )
5. The Hidden Branch (My Rating: )

The Blood Detective, by Dan Waddell

1. The Blood Detective (My Rating: )
2. Blood Atonement (My Rating: )
3. Blood Reckoning (My Rating: )
4. Blood Underground (Short Story) (My Rating: )

Anna Ames Mystery, by Geraldine Wall

1. File Under Family
2. File Under Fear
3. File Under Fidelity
4. File Under Fathers
5. File Under Fortune

Mags and Biddy Genealogy Mystery, Eliza Watson

1. How to Fake an Irish Wake
2. How to Snare a Dodgy Heir
3. How to Handle an Ancestry Scandal
4. How to Spot a Murder Plot
5. How to Trace a Cold Case
6. How to Pursue a DNA Clue

Kindred Spirits, Julie Wilson

1. Family Ties (My Rating: ; My Review)
2. Given (My Rating: )
3. Hidden Roots (My Rating: )

Foley Family Mysteries, by Suzanne Winterly

1. The Family Shadow
2. The Whispering River

Dangerous Journeys, by Virginia Winters

1. Murderous Roots
2. The Facepainter Murders
3. No Motive for Murder
4. The Child on the Terrace
5. The Jewelled Egg Murders
6. A Superior Crime and Other Stories
7. The Ice Storm Murders

Stand-Alone Novels

• Dunaway’s Crossing, by Nancy Brandon (My Rating: )
• Home to Beulah:A Genealogy Mystery, by Claudia C. Breland
• Blackness Tower, by Lillian Stewart Carl
• Irregular Descent, by Robert Casselberry
• Silent Legacy: Discovering Family Secrets, by Diana Church
• Murders and Genealogy in Hennepin County: A Detective Anna Fitzgerald Mystery, by Patrick Day
• Finding Eliza, by Stephanie Pitcher Fishman (My Rating: )
• The Lie: When DNA Reveals the Family Secret, by Heather Dawn Gray
• Where Truth Lies: Sequel to The Lie, by Heather Dawn Gray
• Consequences: DNA Doesn’t Lie…or Does It?, by Heather Dawn Gray
• The House Book, by Susan Greenwood (My Rating: )
• The Death of Cousin Rose, by Jonathan Harrington
• Family History, by Hazel Hart (My Rating: )
• Family Secrets, by Janet Hayward
• The Physick Book of Deliverance Dane, by Katherine Howe (My Rating: )
• The Daughters of Temperance Hobbs, by Katherine Howe
• House of Lost Secrets, L. J. Hutton
• The Appearance of Truth, by Rosemary J. Kind
• Orphan Train, by Christina Baker Kline (My Rating: )
• The Famous DAR Murder Mystery, by Graham Landrum
• The Heir Hunter, by Chris Larsgaard
• The Foundling: A Novel, by Ann Leary
• Tainted Tree, by Jacquelynn Luben
• Strangers We Know, by Elle Marr (My Rating: )
• The Girl in the Picture, by Terry Marsh
• The Fourth Descendant, by Allison Maruska  [This one is more like a fantasy mystery with a genealogical twist.] (My Rating: )
• Mayflower Murders, by Carolyn McCray and Ben Hopkin (My Rating: )
• Say Her Name, Dreda Say Mitchell & Ryan Carter (My Rating: )
• The Marriage Certificate, by Stephen Molyneux (My Rating: )
• The Death Certificate, by Stephen Molyneux (My Rating: )
• Stolen Legacy, by Diane and David Munson
• Where’s Merrill? A Genealogical Thriller, by Gearoid O’Neary  (My Rating: ; My Review)
• Package from the Past: A Genealogical Trail Leads to a Mystery, Romance and a Fortune, by Jacqueline Opresnik
• In Search of Jeremy Griffin: A Genealogical Mystery, by Jacqueline Opresnik
• Murder in the Asylum: A Genealogical Mystery, by Jacqueline Opresnik
• It’s In the Genes, by Norma E. Rawlings (My Rating: ; My Review)
• Sleeping Dogs, by Norma E. Rawlings
• Sleeping Dogs II, by Norma E. Rawlings
• The Penmaker’s Wife, by Steve Robinson (My Rating: )
• The Secret Wife, by Steve Robinson (My Rating: )
• Lost and Found, Richard Rodman
• Call Me John: A Genealogical Mystery Based on a True Story, by Michael Schoenholtz (My Rating: )
• Death Finds a Way, by Lorine McGinnis Schulze
• The Genealogist’s Guests, by Ann Simpson (My Rating: ; My Review)
• In the Territory of Lies, by Lois Stickell and Peg Robarchek (My Rating: ; My Review)
• The Brighter the Light, by Mary Ellen Taylor (My Rating: )
• The Ancestor, by Danielle Trussoni
• The Murder Tree, by Alan Veale
• Family Tree, by Susan Wiggs (My Rating: )
• An Ancestor’s Inheritance, by Gabrielle Young

Nonfiction Reads

• Genealogy of a Murder: Four Generations, Three Families, One Fateful Night, by Lisa Belkin
• Madame Restell: The True Story of New York City’s Most Notorious Abortionist. Her Early Life, Family, and Murder, by Sharon DeBartolo Carmack
• Only A Few Bones: A True Account of the Rolling Fork Tragedy & Its Aftermath, by John Philip Colletta
• Elsie’s Story: Chasing a Family Mystery, by Doris Green (My Rating: )In the Pines: A Lynching, A Lie, A Reckoning, by Grace Elizabeth Hale
• Buried Secrets: Looking for Frank and Ida, by Anne Hanson
• Finding Family: My Search for Roots and the Secrets in My DNA, by Richard Hill (My Rating: )
• The Forever Witness: How Genetic Genealogy Solved a Cold Case Double Murder, by Edward Humes
• My Family Tree: Taken to the Grave, by Shari Klosterman
• Annie’s Ghosts: A Journey Into a Family Secret, by Steve Luxenberg (My Rating: )
• Finding Dolores: An Adoptee’s Mid-Life Search for the Beginning, by Thomas Muldary (My Rating: )
• Marcel’s Letters: A Font and the Search for One Man’s Fate, by Carolyn Porter (My Rating: )
• Inheritance: A Memoir of Genealogy, Paternity, and Love, by Dani Shapiro (My Rating: )

If you know of other genealogical or historical mysteries, please leave a comment below.

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