A New Genealogy Mystery, and Related Books Planned
24 Wednesday May 2023
Written by susanfinlay
So exciting! My newest genealogical mystery novel, Bohemia and Broken Hearts, has been out four weeks, and is selling in four countries as well as getting read thru Amazon’s Kindle Unlimited program. So far, it’s garnered seven ratings/reviews averaging 4.8 out of 5 stars. That’s pretty cool, and I want to thank everyone who has read it and encourage others to read, too! Even though it’s part of a series, it can be read as a stand-alone book, if you want.
After the whirlwind of writing and publishing, I took a short break, but now I’m ready to work some more. I’ve started to plan two more related books. One will also be part of my original Tangled Roots series and will be a sequel to Bohemia and Broken Hearts. It doesn’t have a title yet but will tell more of Simon and Marie’s story. The other book, probably the next book I’ll write, will be the second book in my spin-off series, Tangled Roots II. This book will be titled Gaslight and Gloom.
As I said previously, my mother’s side of my family is quite interesting because of World War II. Breadcrumbs and Bombs, the first book in the original series, was very loosely based on my mother and her siblings. Also, Bohemia and Broken Hearts had a character who was very loosely based on one of my mother’s ancestors. But what I’ve found through my own genealogy research, is that my father’s side of the family tree is huge and is quite interesting, too.
One large branch of his tree is from The Netherlands, another is from the U.K., and some smaller branches are from Germany and France. But many of those ancestors immigrated to the U.S. and spread out–to NY, North/South Carolina, Virginia, Arkansas, Texas, Oklahoma, etc. There are even mentions of nobility, supposedly including a prince in the 1500’s, and a possible slight link to a famous poet from the 1800’s.
I’m not writing about the nobility or the poet, but in Gaslight and Gloom, my main character, Seth Landry, will be researching his father’s American side of the family tree after finding a shocking story. That shocking story will be very loosely based on something I learned about some ancestors while researching my father’s American ancestors. This has led me to another big research project which will help me plan the book.