Artifacts, Relics, Effigies and Findings

Back in July my mother received a birthday package from my brother, Dallas', family. Part of the gift was a series of books written by Mary Anna Evans. Of course any books my mother gets eventually end up on my reading pile. Mom really didn't say much about them, other than that she had enjoyed them.

I like a well written mystery and these books deliver. What took me by surprise were all the references to genealogy!

In the first book in the series, Artifacts, we are introduced to the two central characters. Faye Longchamp, an archeologist, and her sidekick Joe Wolf Mantooth. They live on a Florida island, in a ramshackle old plantation house that Faye inherited. Faye is bi-racial and learns about her ancestors from an old diary. I hate to give away the story line but murders both old and new must be solved. This first book sucked me right in and the pages flew by.

The second book, Relics, finds Faye working on a project away from home, in Alabama. The team are studying an isolated population and must compile detailed genealogies. Genetic genealogy along with oral histories also come into play. There is another murder for Faye to help solve.



Book three, Effigies, did not highlight genealogical research as the first two books did but had a lot of Native American history that I never learned in school. This one is set in Mississippi. I didn't enjoy this story quite as much as the first two but I couldn't put it down either.




I haven't read Findings yet but Mom has finished it so I hope to pick it up next week and I'm looking forward to another page turner!