What do you think?
Rate this book
Torie O'Shea #7
In Sheep's Clothing
When genealogist Torie O'Shea gets an invitation from her favorite aunt, Sissy, to come and spend some time with her in Minnesota she jumps at the chance. She piles her husband and her father-in-law into the car, leaving her two daughters in the care of her mother back home in Missouri, and hits the road, looking forward to some relaxation and some family bonding. Once they arrive, Torie finds out that her aunt's invitation was not so innocent: Sissy has uncovered a 150-year-old diary in the attic of her home and is dying to find out who wrote it and where it came from.
Certain she won't be able to find anything, Torie reluctantly dives in. She is immediately riveted by the author's story; a young Swedish woman living with her family in 1850s rural Minnesota, she had fallen in love with a man she couldn't have. When the diary ends abruptly with hints of brutal violence, Torie becomes enmeshed in a deadly mystery passed down through generations-and still festering today.
Fans and newcomers to Rett MacPherson's cozy genealogy mysteries will delight in the inventive story and engaging characters that have come to characterize this wonderful series.
Certain she won't be able to find anything, Torie reluctantly dives in. She is immediately riveted by the author's story; a young Swedish woman living with her family in 1850s rural Minnesota, she had fallen in love with a man she couldn't have. When the diary ends abruptly with hints of brutal violence, Torie becomes enmeshed in a deadly mystery passed down through generations-and still festering today.
Fans and newcomers to Rett MacPherson's cozy genealogy mysteries will delight in the inventive story and engaging characters that have come to characterize this wonderful series.
272 pages, Hardcover
First published January 18, 2004
4 people are currently reading
156 people want to read
About the author
Rett MacPherson
18 books115 followersRett MacPherson was born in Saint Louis, Missouri. She is the author of the popular Torie O'Shea mysteries and helped to pioneer the sub-genre of genealogical mysteries. She is also a bead and fabric artist and loves wineries, cemeteries, genealogy, history and of course, books.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 31 reviews
July 31, 2023
Torie O'Shea; her husband, Rudy; and stepfather, Colin, travel across a couple of midwest states to answer a summons from Torie's Aunt Sissy. When they arrive, Torie is surprised because her aunt wants her to read what is first identified as a novel and somehow come up with the name of the author. As she reads, Torie realized this is not fiction but a diary written by a young woman who likely lived in her aunt's house more than 150 years before.
Realizing that puts Torie on a better footing. If the story is true, she can use her genealogical skills to hopefully find out who the woman was, but it also brings grief — the woman died, along with her mother, in a fire in the house.
While the result are sad, Torie starts to dive deeper and along with information, Torie finds out a whole lot more about the woman's relatives, as well as clues about what is happening today in the community and Olin Lake. Then there is the murder of the owner of the marina and Torie and her step father find themselves in the midst of the murder and a family feud. Torie may be the only person who can and save an innocent man.
The Torie O'Shea mysteries are fun, light reading and the solutions are clever.
Realizing that puts Torie on a better footing. If the story is true, she can use her genealogical skills to hopefully find out who the woman was, but it also brings grief — the woman died, along with her mother, in a fire in the house.
While the result are sad, Torie starts to dive deeper and along with information, Torie finds out a whole lot more about the woman's relatives, as well as clues about what is happening today in the community and Olin Lake. Then there is the murder of the owner of the marina and Torie and her step father find themselves in the midst of the murder and a family feud. Torie may be the only person who can and save an innocent man.
The Torie O'Shea mysteries are fun, light reading and the solutions are clever.
July 20, 2019
I admire a series in which each book stands alone well, but gathers so much more meaning as characters entertwine, learn, and evolve through the series. And be warned, being a pivotal character does not guarantee you will live to the next book.
January 25, 2021
At first I thought the plot of this book was a bit light for a whole book... and I wondered how a book could be written on the premise of Aunt Sissy asking Torie for help with finding the author of a novel. I'm surprised Torie didn't realize it was a diary right away... and didn't wonder how the family responded to their daughter at 17 getting pregnant by a pastor's son. Not once did she consider how Anna's parents reacted, or that her brother (not the parents) claiming Anna's daughter died may have meant that no one wanted Emelie around. I'm baffled at Sven, Anna's brother, wouldn't be strong enough to kill a man (Anna's love, Isaac) but was old enough to report Anna's daughter's death -- I think he was 9 when Isaac was found dead, so he couldn't have been more than a year older when Emelie was reported dead. And where was Emelie when Anna died? Did Sven get her away first -- how? I still have questions. It would've been interesting if Torie had found Sven's family Bible to read, because I wondered where that went too. If Emelie didn't die and was able to prove to the court that she should have the land her father rightfully would have gotten, how come Kimberly Canton couldn't do it too (maybe if she'd have gotten Torie on her side, it might've helped! she must've let Roberta Flagg know what she was doing, and Roberta wouldn't have helped at all).
July 12, 2018
Really enjoyed this book! I somehow missed this book so I ended up reading it out of sequence but no worries. I think it works as a stand alone. Good mysteries with plenty of surprises and giggles. I love Torie's humor and her interactions with her father-in-law are frequently hilarious. Lots of background on how a genealogist does research which I found interesting and informative. I'm planning to pick up another Torie O'Shea novel soon. Recommended.
December 17, 2017
This Torie O'Shea adventure is a little far-fetched. Torie travels to Minnesota to visit her aunt and learns about a murder that occurred in her aunt's home 150 years ago. She investigates and solves that case and another that occurs while she's in town.
November 9, 2021
Another good entry in the series. I love how Torie always stumbles across a genealogical problem/murder even when she travels. I enjoyed reading about what happened and watching Torie unravel it all.
June 27, 2018
Spook goood
I love book and genealogy and crime solving in one. True keeps finding dead bodies. I love it! Great book
I love book and genealogy and crime solving in one. True keeps finding dead bodies. I love it! Great book
November 25, 2018
Fun read, this time set in Minnesota.
February 28, 2019
Not my favorite in the series but still very good
March 25, 2020
Love this series!
discovered it last week and am on book 8
characters are great!
discovered it last week and am on book 8
characters are great!
October 17, 2020
Nice enjoyable light reading - like Hardy Boys for grown up female genealogists! Reading the whole series now.
February 22, 2022
Just a bit of cussing
January 8, 2017
Torie O'Shea, busy wife/mother/history buff and genealogist, gets an abrupt invitation to visit her favorite aunt in Olin, Minnesota. Regardless of the 12-hour drive from New Kassel, MO, Torie, husband Rudy, and step-father Colin Brooke travel north for a week of fishing in the land of ten thousand lakes for the guys and a week of helping Aunt Sissy for Torie.
Saddled with the task of reading an old diary and searching for what happened to the author and her family, Torie becomes involved peripherally in a murder investigation with roots in past family jealousies over a hundred years old and murders that were never solved at that time. All of the puzzles are right up Torie's alley as amateur sleuth.
Entertaining and unusual in topic, this slim volume would have benefitted from closer editing to remove typographical errors, and proofreading so that all names were consistently spelled and the town's names that are mentioned were not confused.
(Cedar Rapids is used once instead of Cedar Springs which was the small town name used consistently up to that point.)
Rating: 3.5
Saddled with the task of reading an old diary and searching for what happened to the author and her family, Torie becomes involved peripherally in a murder investigation with roots in past family jealousies over a hundred years old and murders that were never solved at that time. All of the puzzles are right up Torie's alley as amateur sleuth.
Entertaining and unusual in topic, this slim volume would have benefitted from closer editing to remove typographical errors, and proofreading so that all names were consistently spelled and the town's names that are mentioned were not confused.
(Cedar Rapids is used once instead of Cedar Springs which was the small town name used consistently up to that point.)
Rating: 3.5
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
September 19, 2011
Torie, Rudy and Colin are visiting Torie's Aunt Sissy and Uncle Joe in Olin, Minnesota. Sissy has found a novel/diary from a young woman who lived in the house in the 1870's. Sissy wants to know how the story ended and wants Torie to use her genealogy skills to find answers.
As usual Torie and Colin are at loggerheads, Sissy is exasperating and Rudy and Joe try to stay out of the way. There is a lot of Minnesota history as well as family history in this book, all of it interesting and all tied together.
Eventually Torie solves the mystery for Sissy, and helps the local sheriff solve a murder.
I do love this series and this book is a marvelous addition to the series.
As usual Torie and Colin are at loggerheads, Sissy is exasperating and Rudy and Joe try to stay out of the way. There is a lot of Minnesota history as well as family history in this book, all of it interesting and all tied together.
Eventually Torie solves the mystery for Sissy, and helps the local sheriff solve a murder.
I do love this series and this book is a marvelous addition to the series.
October 15, 2011
Sadly this is the last MacPherson book I have to read. Now I will sit back and hope she writes another soon!!!
My grandson has to write his favorite thing that happened in his books he has to read in the Summer. My favorite part of this book is when Torie remarks to a woman that her glorious ancestor may not be as upstanding as she thinks and the lady decks her in the Historical Society knocking her to the floor with a black eye to show for it! We genealogists do take our heritage seriously!!
My grandson has to write his favorite thing that happened in his books he has to read in the Summer. My favorite part of this book is when Torie remarks to a woman that her glorious ancestor may not be as upstanding as she thinks and the lady decks her in the Historical Society knocking her to the floor with a black eye to show for it! We genealogists do take our heritage seriously!!
Read
January 31, 2016I have mixed feelings some negative , and some positive.
When I saw the cover I thought I would enjoy it immensely. However, when I read the first chapter I was at first disappointed. The reason why was because the way the characters talked sounded silly, and I do not really care for that in books. When the mystery began it became intriguing. My thoughts were that: the mystery was well thought out. I had two qualms though: Despite this I was able to see who the culprit was a mile away. I also felt that although there was some emphasis on the wolves there should have been more
When I saw the cover I thought I would enjoy it immensely. However, when I read the first chapter I was at first disappointed. The reason why was because the way the characters talked sounded silly, and I do not really care for that in books. When the mystery began it became intriguing. My thoughts were that: the mystery was well thought out. I had two qualms though: Despite this I was able to see who the culprit was a mile away. I also felt that although there was some emphasis on the wolves there should have been more
March 4, 2016
I try not to read most series out of order, but this one caught my eye at the library and I snatched it up, knowing nothing of the series. I was hooked from the beginning of the story. Historical research and genealogy are interests of mine, so I thoroughly enjoyed that part of the book. The tragic story of the diary's author broke my heart. The current mystery in the book was almost a side note for me, but did remind me how much the past affects the present.
Loved the book, and will be reading the ones that preceded it... and followed.
Loved the book, and will be reading the ones that preceded it... and followed.
August 4, 2007
I love this Torie O'Shea series. I've never been into geneology or history in general, but they way MacPherson writes about it, with such passion, well, it actually sounds like fun. Plus, I love how Torie's so sarcastic and witty about life and people in general.
These aren't serious books, just a fun read.
These aren't serious books, just a fun read.
March 6, 2015
This is the first book by Rett MacPherson I have read, though I understand there have been a number already published in the series. What a delightful blend of genealogical sleuthing to solve real mysteries! Family research does require much research and they come together well in this mystery.
For anyone who enjoys family history and mysteries, this is an excellent choice!
For anyone who enjoys family history and mysteries, this is an excellent choice!
May 10, 2010
I enjoyed this book quite a bit. I've never really been that much into mysteries but this series peaked my interest. I will definitely go out and see if I can find any others. I would definitely recommend it.
January 29, 2015
New author, new skill of genealogy, kind of fun, mystery lame, likelihood of answering questions about 150 year old murder about 0. But not terrible.book, may look for another in series. I did like the husband character, seemed real.
April 24, 2008
The Torie O'Shea books are great for a light read with a mystery. Torie is a great protagonist and uses a lot of humor to solve her mysteries.
August 3, 2009
Torie #7
March 11, 2011
Pretty good. Not great.
January 20, 2012
Torie visits her aunt in Minnesota and gets involved in geneology, murder from 150 years ago
June 8, 2012
Easy reading. Interesting.
March 22, 2013
The latest genealogical mystery finds Torie visiting her Aunt Sissy to solve the mystery of an unfinished diary written in the 19th century.
June 13, 2013
Love Rett MacPherson!
July 15, 2013
Delightful! Sounds corny, but that is what it is.
March 20, 2016
This was the first book in the series that I didn't love. There were too many underdeveloped characters and a couple of plot holes. Still, I'm looking forward to the rest of this series.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 31 reviews