Fractured Families by Charlotte Hinger

First Line: I blinked my icy lashes but it didn't ease the brittleness of my contacts.

When her husband's Aunt Dorothy comes for a visit and wants to do some research, Lottie discovers that you just don't deny a bestselling author such a request. Freezing western Kansas weather isn't the worst that the two women will encounter on this particular trip. Neither is finding the dead body of a young man inside the mausoleum of a Civil War veteran. No, the worst thing they encounter is discovering the tiny frozen body of an infant in the arms of a statue in the park.

Lottie quickly has to transition from being a local historian to the lead investigator as head of the yet-to-be-built regional crime center. The team consists of so many members of Lottie's family that the man in charge at the Kansas Bureau of Investigation insists forensic psychologist Dr. Evan Ferguson join the group. Tension becomes almost unbearable as more bodies are found and as Ferguson seems to fight every decision the group makes. In order to take a tiny break from the mounting frustration, Lottie begins reading a commonplace book that was left with the historical society. Written by a desperate, shunned child, this handwritten book is going to have a profound bearing on Lottie's investigation.

It's been too long since Charlotte Hinger's last Lottie Albright mystery. She is so adept at combining fascinating Kansas history with her mysteries that I never want to miss reading a single one. Only one thing prevented Fractured Families from being one of my best reads of the year: the killer was so obvious and over-the-top to me. Fortunately, there is much more to the book than whodunit-- and I loved the rest.

Carleton County-- dubbed by one character as "the Bermuda Triangle for crime"-- can be counted as a character in Hinger's books. The weather usually makes its presence felt, this time as a ground blizzard that will have you reaching for extra blankets and thinking about the thermostat as you turn the pages. 

Two characters (besides Kansas) were stand-outs for me: Franklin Slocum, the young boy who wrote the commonplace book, and Aunt Dorothy "That's why I'm on the bestseller list" Mercer. The life that Franklin had to endure broke my heart, and Dorothy's skills and personality made me laugh while I admired her.

If you're like me and enjoy crime fiction with a strong dose of history, you simply cannot go wrong with Charlotte Hinger's Lottie Albright mysteries. I hope to be reading them for a good long time.
    

Fractured Families by Charlotte Hinger

ASIN: B01MY5158C

Poisoned Pen Press © 2017

eBook, 261 pages

Police Procedural, #4 Lottie Albright mystery

Rating: A

Source: Net Galley

 

Hidden Heritage by Charlotte Hinger

First Line: The call came at two.

The Kansas Bureau of Investigation is calling for a regional crime center for the western part of the state. Although their resources are stretched to the breaking point, Sheriff Sam Abbott, Undersheriff Lottie Albright, and her ranching husband deputy want no part of it. Neither do any of the other small towns in the area. When there's a gruesome murder at a livestock feedyard in Carleton County, the KBI agents think it may not be just a local affair. Lottie disagrees and calls upon her own skills as an historian to prove them wrong. If Sheriff Sam Abbott and his team can solve this murder, they can tell the bureaucrats to build their regional crime center elsewhere.  But can Lottie deliver the goods?

Once again, Kansas history is what brings this book to life. Lottie learns that the murder victim is the great-grandson of Dona Francisca Diaz, the elderly head of one of the first groups to colonize the state. Dona Francisca insists that she knows why Victor was killed, and that the key to the murder can be found in ancient documents. A famed curandera with horribly crippled hands, Dona Francisca invites Lottie to their lush property and insists that she wants to train Lottie as the heir to her legendary cures. Although Lottie is extremely reluctant to do so, she sees this as a once-in-a-lifetime chance for incredible knowledge... and for the chance to solve a murder.

Solving crimes through old documents, ephemera, and stories has always fascinated me, and that's why Charlotte Hinger's Lottie Albright books have become one of my favorite series. Sure enough, the history and legends surrounding the Diaz family and their property grabbed hold of my interest and didn't turn it loose, but two other components were a bit lacking in this third book. The mystery was very slow-paced, almost plodding in places, and Lottie's family dynamics which have set off so many sparks in the first two books are a bit lackluster here.

Despite that, I still found the book to be very enjoyable. I have a button here at my desk that proclaims HISTORY MATTERS-- and it does. Seeds that were sown long ago can germinate and take hold down through generations. Families can have prejudices and yet have no clue that those prejudices had their beginnings eight generations in the past. Hinger understands this and shows us how to tease the answers out into the light of day. It's a process of which I never tire. I look forward to the next book in this series and hope that Lottie regains the spark she was lacking in this book.

Hidden Heritage by Charlotte Hinger

ISBN: 9781464200762

Poisoned Pen Press © 2013

Paperback, 250 pages

Amateur Sleuth, #3 Lottie Albright mystery

Rating: B

Source: NetGalley 

Lethal Lineage by Charlotte Hinger

First Line: Happiness happens.

The Episcopalians in Lottie Albright's corner of western Kansas have worked hard to build a small church on a parcel of land that sits on the corners of four counties. The first day they gather together for a sermon, communion, and the confirmation of Lottie's niece.

The bishop gives an inappropriate sermon filled with hellfire and brimstone, and everyone is thunderstruck when beloved Reverend Mary Farnsworth drops the chalice during communion and locks herself in the anteroom. Lottie's sister Josie, a psychologist, stays after the service to comfort Mary, but Lottie orders her sister to leave when the locked door is opened and Mary's body is found on the floor. Frightened  by the bishop's strange rituals for disposing of the spilled wine, Lottie would like nothing better than to leave, but as undersheriff, she must stay to attend to the death.

An elderly lady who attended the service insists that a man kneeling next to her scared Reverend Mary into a heart attack which gives credence to Lottie's belief that this was not a natural death. Calling in other law enforcement agencies, Lottie discovers many more questions than answers as the investigation moves forward.

The first book in this series, Deadly Descent, relied a great deal on Lottie's skill as an historian digging through old records, documents, and genealogical charts. In Lethal Lineage, Lottie finds herself focusing more on the oral histories of several county residents. She also realizes that she's bitten off more than she can chew in her work for the county historical society and as undersheriff. It is something on which both she and her husband must come to some sort of agreement while Lottie tries to find a killer and deal with a sheriff whose family has ridden roughshod over a neighboring county for decades.

Hinger brings sparsely populated western Kansas to life by seamlessly including details of how poor counties constantly battle budget constraints as well as how feuds, secrets and lies never seem to die out no matter how many decades pass. (Have you ever stopped to wonder how many fewer books would be written if people everywhere would simply tell the truth?)

Her three main characters-- Lottie, her sister Josie, and her husband Keith-- are strong, vivid people who care for one another deeply although they don't always see eye-to-eye. I feel as if I've known them my whole life.

In just two books I've fallen in love with the setting, the characters, and the way Charlotte Hinger can tell a story. Lethal Lineage stands alone quite well, but I think it would be best to start at the beginning so you can fully appreciate the fascinating work Charlotte does at the historical society, as well as the dynamics between the characters. This is a highly recommended book in a highly recommended series. I can't wait for book number three!

Lethal Lineage by Charlotte Hinger

ISBN: 9781590588390

Poisoned Pen Press © 2011

Paperback, 310 pages

Cozy, #2 Lottie Albright mystery

Rating: A

Source: Purchased as a Nook Book from Barnes and Noble