A Comedy of Heirs

Torie O'Shea #3

by Rett MacPherson

Genealogist Torie O'Shea gets more than she had bargained for when she researches her own family tree, unearthing information about the murder of her great-grandfather, a crime in which her great-uncle was the prime suspect, and discovers that long-buried secrets can have deadly implications for the present. Reprint.

Genres: Mystery, Fiction, Cozy, Cozy Mystery, Book Club, Holiday

230 pages, Paperback

First published August 1, 1999

About the author

Rett 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.

Reviews

[Peggy Clemens Lauritzen · Rating 5 out of 5]

I am just loving this series of quick read books!

[Barbara Radisavljevic · Rating 2 out of 5]

I prefer mysteries that have more well-developed characters than this one did. I like any book to be more believable. I just can't picture a real person (at least anyone I know) acting like Torie does. It seems she hardly talks to anyone except her husband and daughters without questioning them, and that includes her family during the family reunion, since she seems to consider them all suspects. I guess there was just no character in this book I got to know well enough to really care much about.

[Rhonda Clark · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was my favorite book so far. I almost think it should've been second in order, to give a foundation of her family and her expertise, but I like getting to know more about her in the bigger picture of her family. The last book had some of that, with her father... but I sort of wondered about the dynamic between her parents, considering her mother lives with them, and then her father was welcomed to come and play music there (how many years had they been divorced)? This book didn't answer that question, her mother just appeared to be polite and not affected at all being around her ex-husband or his whole family... but she's dating the sheriff, so I guess they've moved on. More happens with Torie's family when she hosts the holidays, and gets articles about her great-grandfather's death in the mail. The one thing I thought was odd, after finishing it and thinking about it, was why would the murderer have taken the pictures of Torie's grandfather from his friend's house 15 years ago? It's not like she'd have known that Torie would investigate it later and she'd have a nice story to tell about Torie's grandfather being the son of another man...

[Kathleen · Rating 3 out of 5]

This cozy mystery takes place at Christmas and has fun with the dysfunctional family concept. Torie's research of her family's history is given a jolt when she receives some old newspaper articles about a relative just prior to hosting a huge family reunion where she'll have the opportunity to ask some questions they won't want to answer.
I ended up not liking the main character. No excuses, although she thinks she has some, she doesn't treat people nicely and is extremely selfish.
Once it got going it kept my interest pretty well. It has some decent twists. It's a clean read for anyone, but of course there's a bit of foul play and plenty of drinking and smoking by the relatives.

[Liz V. · Rating 4 out of 5]

A reunion has 50 some family members trekking through Torie's house for a week. Someone has decided this provides the perfect opportunity for Torie to solve the mystery of who murdered her not so great-grandfather. By all accounts, he was a vicious drunk, but the family story had always been that he died in a hunting accident. Not only had her father and siblings lied, but one of them might have been the murderer.

[Katie Hilton · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another light genealogy/murder mystery featuring Torie O'Shea. This time Torie travels to West Virginia with her grandmother. When she's staying at an old boardinghouse, the owner dies under mysterious circumstances, and Torie is the chief suspect. She researches her way out of a jam.

[Charlene Dean · Rating 4 out of 5]

More entertaining than previous books in the series. It's a good, light, read for an afternoon escape.

[Pam · Rating 5 out of 5]

Nice family oriented genealogical mystery. Well done. Short and sweet.

[Sheila · Rating 5 out of 5]

You never know what's going to happen at a family reunion!

[Karyn Buchanan · Rating 5 out of 5]

A fun read. Torie’s extended family is great. A real cool twist at the end. Really an awesome mystery series.

[JennyCash · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really loved this one. Best so far

[Margaret · Rating 4 out of 5]

Love the plot and the step by step reveal.

[Margaret · Rating 4 out of 5]

Can't wait for the next book from this author!

[Lily Hwang · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ehhhhhh

[Laura · Rating 5 out of 5]

Nice enjoyable light reading - like Hardy Boys for grown up female genealogists! Reading the whole series now.

[Alton Motobu · Rating 2 out of 5]

Cozy Christmas mystery: Interesting concept and premise, but there are just too many characters and the story line is unbelievable.

[Michael · Rating 4 out of 5]

Pretty good mystery told in a delightful way. Author is not afraid to shake the status quo up when needed.

[Patty · Rating 4 out of 5]

Torie (short for Victory) O'Shea and her madcap family are front and center again. This years family reunion on her father's side is scheduled for Torie's house and hometown.

As usual, Torie gets deeply involved in genealogy, this time her own father's family. She thought she knew everything but someone sends her some newspaper clippings about her great-grandfather. She had been told he died of a hunting accident, but these articles make it clear that he died on his own front porch - was it murder? And if so, who killed him?

Torie is off and running to see if she can solve the mystery, all the while trying to entertain 40-50 family members, deal with her mother and mother's beau, the Sheriff, and some other interesting twists that I would never spoil!

I'm looking forward to the next in this series, it just keeps getting better.

[Kay · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another fun mystery in the Torie series. Finding out that her great grandfather was murdered she jumps right in to solve the murder. It turns into a genealogist's horror story when she is given information that her great grandfather isn't really who she thinks but rather the 'lover' of her great grandmother. That is probably the biggest worry of any family historian, because you could actually be 'barking up the wrong tree' so to speak. I know every generation feels like they invented sex but there's living proof that sex has been around since the beginning of time and that kindly little white haired lady may have had a lover or two in her wilder younger days that resulted in birth. Oh horrors! I shudder to think branches could fall right off those trees I've worked so hard on for 21 years!!!

[Lesley Looper · Rating 2 out of 5]

I love the idea of combining mysteries (which I love to read) with genealogy (one of my favorite hobbies), so I checked this book out of the library with high hopes. This book was even set during a week-long family reunion!

While I enjoyed some aspects of this story, like some of the family interactions, other parts weren't as enjoyable as I remember the other two Torie O'Shea books I've read were. This time around, I found Torie O'Shea, the protagonist and amateur genealogist/sleuth, to be a bit contentious. While the thought of her digging around to uncover a family secret was interesting, she came across as as a bit of an inquisitor, to me.

Still, I'll probably look for more Rhett MacPherson books in the future.

[Kristen · Rating 4 out of 5]

In the third installment of the Torie O'Shea Genealogical Cozy Mystery series, A Comedy of Heirs, Torie O'Shea returned to find herself in the heart of another mystery. At the December family reunion, she discovered there was a bad apple in her own family tree. Someone sent her news clipping of a 50-year-old murder of a dead man, which was her own great-grandfather. Everyone believed it was a hunting accident, while Torie discovered it might be murder. With a house full of guests and this bombshell was planted right on her doorstep. As she shook her own family tree for answers, she learned she was pregnant with her third child, before she looked the killer with her own eyes.

[Leslie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another fun outing in the Tori O'Shea mystery series. It's probably not a **** book, but I enjoyed it thoroughly. In this one, she hosts a week-long family reunion, during which she tries to coerce the family members to tell her how her great-grandfather died. They all say a hunting accident (in August?!), but the newspapers said that he was murdered on the front porch. And why did Great-Grandma sit in the living room with a shotgun and not allow anyone to go out and tend to him? Fun doings!

[Harry Lane · Rating 3 out of 5]

Cleverly concocted little cosy. Central character is a history buff and genealogist who receives an anonymous package showing that the family story about the death of her great-grandfather is untrue. She gets this information just in advance of a major get together of her extended family, most of whom seem to be slightly off kilter. Her prodding of the older members of the family, along with some historical research and connecting of relationship dots eventually leads to a resolution that is a bit of a surprise.

[Cheryl · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars. I enjoyed the mystery aspect of the story very much and found the characters interesting. I can't say that I bonded with them, but there was enough of a compelling connection that I was willing to keep reading and finish early rather than saving it for my next train ride. I wouldn't call it a "comedy" per se, this investigation of the protagonist's family story. In fact, it was full of a lot of sordid details and all of the rough and tumble shenanigans that are common in a family.

[Rachel N. · Rating 3 out of 5]

Torie O'Shea is hosting a large family reunion of her fathers relatives when she discovers her great grandfather was murdered instead of dying in a hunting accident as she has always been told. Torie decides to find the murderer in this unsolved case while dealing with her family and the fact that she is unexpectedly pregnant for the third time. It was a bit difficult to keep track of all of the characters but I found this to be a good cozy mystery.

[Rebekah · Rating 2 out of 5]

Definitely a "cozy" mystery. I read this to see how good a genealogical mystery could be. It turns out, even mysteries about genealogy can't escape some of the boredom associated with the actual research. Nice effort though. It wasn't bad, but it wasn't something that sticks in your mind afterward either.

[Kristin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Once again, this series did not disappoint me. This particular mystery had a lot of layers, red herrings, and suspects, which I liked. My only beef is- how do you write a novel set during a family's Christmas reunion but end the book before Christmas Eve or Day? Anyhow, I look forward to reading more of Torie's adventures.

[Rosalyn Eves · Rating 4 out of 5]

I just recently discovered Rett Macpherson's mysteries and I've read the whole series in about a month--I've really enjoyed the combination of light-hearted mysteries with the geneology element. Torie is a particularly enjoyable heroine--spunky, nosy, and generally entertaining.

[Lucy Janowiecki · Rating 4 out of 5]

I jumped into the middle of a series, but it didn't seem to matter. This book added some humor into a cold case mystery. It was a fast and interesting read. I can't wait to read more, and since it was published 12 years ago, I think I will get my wish. :)

[Carolyn Tassie · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the first book I've read in the Torie O'Shea series. I'm going to start at the beginning are read them all! Loved all the characters (even if I didn't like them, the page-turning story and theoutcome! Fun read!