New Book: Sins of the Fathers
ISBN 978-0-06-081968-7
Released October 2007
Patricia (Houck) Sprinkle is a very popular mystery novelist. She is one of my personal favorites. A few years ago, I researched to find authors who either wrote “Christian” fiction or authors who wrote fiction that is secular, but free of the usual “sex sells-so I might as well write about it” philosophy. Patricia Sprinkle is an author whose fiction falls into the latter category.
Her latest book, published by Harper Collins in October of this year, is entitled Sins of the Fathers. It is the second in her Family Tree series, which is described on her website as “mysteries with a twist of genealogy, a dab of history, and a full measure of southern charm”. The first book of the series was published in January 2007. It is entitled Death on the Family Tree. According to the Independent Mystery Bookseller Association website, the paperback version was the # 6 bestseller in January 2007. I have not yet read the new sequel Sins of the Fathers, but intend to do so just as soon as I can get a copy. I enjoyed the first one in this new series, Death on the Family Tree, and expect Sins of the Fathers to be of the same quality I have found in all of this author’s fiction. The protagonist of the first two Family Tree books is Katharine Murray. In Death on the Family Tree, Katharine discovers a priceless Celtic necklace and a diary written in German among the other items in her late Aunt Lucy’s belongings. When the German diary is translated, secrets are revealed, unknown relatives are discovered and the fact of a murder on the family tree comes to light. It is definitely a page-turner and accomplishes another one of my requirements, which is that the main character be one that I can come to know and care about. In the second novel of the series, Sins of the Fathers, Katharine Murray becomes more involved with Dr. Flo Gladney, a friend from the Death on the Family Tree novel. The two travel to a Georgia barrier island to investigate a grave thought to be that of Dr. Flo’s grandfather. While there, they encounter bullets, family skeletons and a lot of good old southern in-hospitality. In the “Works in Progress” section of Sprinkle’s website, the author states that she is now working on the third in this series, which will be titled Daughter of Deceit. The plan is for this novel to be released in time for a good Thanksgiving holiday read.
This author has been writing for a long time and has many mystery novels to her credit. One of my favorite series is the MacLaren Yarbrough Series. The first mystery in this series (When Did We Lose Harriet) was published by Zondervan in 1997. The “star” of this series is an adorable, spunky middle-aged woman named MacLaren. She is a devoted wife, mother, grandmother, mother-in-law, and co-owner of a “feed, seed and nursery store” in a mythical small town called Hopemore, Georgia. As the series begins, her husband is an appointed magistrate in the county seat of Hopemore. But it is MacLaren who is always the one who stumbles upon and solves the latest murder. By the end of the second book, her husband has been shot and MacLaren is appointed as magistrate. This series is built around the actual fact that magistrates in Georgia do not have to be lawyers. All but the chief magistrate are appointed and after a period of training, they perform many judicial tasks that judges in other states perform. The tenth and final book of this series, What Are You Wearing To Die? is schedued to be released in January 2008. This series has many devoted fans, who like myself, are sad to see it end. I sincerely hope that my friend, MacLaren isn’t the one to die. Information on the American Crime Writer’s League website says that the plot is about “two young mothers who are murdered wearing clothes they normally wouldn’t be caught dead in”, so hopefully, MacLaren is safe. As you can tell, this series is one that has definitely met the requirement I mentioned previously. That is, for the countless number of fans this series has made, the characters are certainly ones that we have come to know and care about. The author has made MacLaren and her family and friends seem just like the lovely neighbors down the road. You’ve known them for years and become steadfast friends and now they are moving and you are bereft. I should also say that the plots in this series are always as mysterious as a mystery should be and the writing is also as good as I’ve read.
Patricia Sprinkle has also written two novels that are not considered mysteries, but each have an element of mystery in the plot. They are The Remember Box and Carley’s Song, which the author states she based on “growing up in North Carolina during the tumultuous years of 1949-1951. Carley’s Song was a finalist for the Christie Award for the Best Contemporary Christian Novel of 2002. I have read both books and consider them to be two of my favorites. They will both be re-issued in 2008 by Bella Rosa Press.
I have also read and highly recommend the Sheila Travis mysteries. Some are out of print, but I have found them at my local library. Some have been re-issued. You can find them listed on the author’s website.
Patricia Sprinkle has written several non-fiction books. A complete listing of her books and the places they are available for sale can be found on her website. If you are a mystery book lover, please also look for this just released book, Sisters On the Case: Celebrating Twenty Years of Sisters in Crime by Sara Paretsky (Editor). I spoke with Patricia Sprinkle by email and she told me that her mystery story in this book is entitled For the Common Good and that the book is “an anthology by former presidents of Sisters in Crime. The ISBN is: 978-0-451-22239-8.
I enthusiastically recommend Patrica (Houck) Sprinkle to you and wish you happy reading as you enjoy her work throughout the coming fall and winter months.
