Bloodlines and Barbed Wire

Tangled Roots Historical Mystery #2

by Susan Finlay

In this riveting genealogy mystery and world war 2 historical novel, a young American, Lucas Landry, continues tracing his ancestry, using breadcrumbs found in old WW2 diaries found in the home of an elderly German woman living in Phoenix, Arizona.Lucas Landry receives an email from a teenager, Mikayla Carson, who thinks her legal guardian and great-grandmother, Elisabeth Hoffman, is related to his great-grandfather, Franz Nagel. She’s not certain, because Elisabeth suffers from dementia. Mikayla wants Lucas to help her find out more about her family's past. As a genealogist, Lucas is eager to untangle the family roots.He travels to Arizona to meet Mikayla, her younger brother, and Elisabeth, and begins reading old Nagel-family diaries, but his eagerness dampens when he discovers Nazis in their bloodline. Further complicating the task, he can’t even figure out how Elisabeth is related to those Nagels, and she can’t explain, either; her mind is a jumbled mess and her answers to his questions are unreliable.He returns home, ready to give up until two events pull him back in—his discovery of an old newspaper clipping about the war-time murder of one of the Nagels, and Mikayla’s frantic call about the danger of her family being torn apart unless a family member steps in and helps. Against his wife’s wishes, Lucas returns to Arizona and delves deeper into the WWII diaries, learning about a Lebensborn home, a Polish concentration camp, and the tragic lives of three Nagel teens; their father’s young mistress; and two nieces. But will those diaries tell what he really needs to know and empower him to help Elisabeth and her great-grandchildren?

Genres: Mystery, Fiction

302 pages, Kindle Edition

Published April 2, 2019

Reviews

[Karen G Clesen]

Excellent!

I read the first in this series and the 2nd is even better. Having done my own genealogy on ancestry.com, I'm addicted to all of kindle geneology novels on kindle. I think this one read faster than her first. I loved it and can't wait for the 3rd!

[Scott Finlay]

Another amazing collection of deeply intertwined stories showing the many different perspectives in such dark time in history. Its many twists and turns never failed to surprise, and it was left open for another sequel. I can't wait to read book three!

[Debbie Trammell]

Good book

Have enjoyed both of these books in this series. The characters are very vivid and the plot interesting. Hopefully you will write more on this series.

[Kathy Bentley]

Book Reviee

Can't wait for the next book in this series to be published. Great story telling. Detail to history is great.

[Patricia Davies]

Excellent read

Great book. Sometimes hard to follow each family. I can't wait to read next book. New author for me to follow.

[Audrey]

Can’t wait on the third book !

[Connie]

Great Genealogy and WWII story. At points confusing but it all comes together in the end.

[Janice Burnett]

After reading the second book in this series, I can't wait for the third. Beyond the genealogical interest, Susan Finlay presents a fascinating window into the lives of those living through the horror of WW II in Eastern Europe.

[Aryn-Marietta Eaton]

If you’re going to write historical fiction get your historical details right.

[Jane Irish Nelson]

Disappointing. After Lucas Landry published a book about his genealogy research, he is contacted by sixteen-year-old Mikayla Carson, who thinks they may be related, and hopes he can help her prove it, using the diaries her great-grandmother has. Neither Lucas nor his wife, Tawny, as sure that he wants to become involved in research again, but in the end, he agrees. The storyline alternates between the present day and the experiences of the diary writers in 1944-1945. But, unfortunately, the writing is rather pedestrian, and both storylines become as unbelievable as a soap opera with twist and turns and unlikely coincidences. The book could have been improved, in my opinion, if the historical sections were the actual diary entries that Lucas read.

[Kelsey Stewart]

I wish the family tree would have Been at the beginning and along the way. So many people made the book somewhat confusing

I wish the family tree had been at the beginning of the book. I think with all the people included made for some confusion for me. It would have been helpful to have a German in order to judge walking distances. Tense read due to WW II.

[Breda]

interesting

This book makes for uncomfortable reading by, it is fascinating as well. The characters or believable and you find yourself willing them to be safe and to survive to tell their story, their diaries answer many questions but create many more xxx