Reviewed By: Ric Brandt - RAM
Deadly Pedigree
Amazon US PB Amazon Canada PB
Jimmy Fox
Class/Genre: Mystery Genealogy
Series: Nick Herald Genealogical Mysteries # 1
It was not a book that would keep you up all night
to finish, and Jimmy Fox is not in James Lee Burke's league. Nor is his Nick
Herald , David Robicheaux. However it not a bad little book.
Our hero is a genealogist Nick Herald. An ex-English Lit professor who was framed for plagiarism. He drinks to much and is a self-proclaimed "slut". The author provides him with all the mannerisms of someone who thinks he's so much smarter than let's say just about anybody else. However this, and his sliding scale of ethics, get him in a lot of trouble. In the end however ethics win out and he even grows on you a little.
He takes on an assignment from a old holocaust survior who relocated to New Orleans to trace a line of the family that came to Louisiana. At the same time another descendent of that line would like to eliminate any history of that connection. Things get complicated as his research uncovers yet another secret of a line from the slave quarters.
His original client ends up murdered, he ends up working for the bad guys. Decides to see justice done for the heirs from the slave quarters. A couple more dead bodies and a few attempts on him and he wraps the case up with a little "street justice".
I found the story line interesting once I got into it and I can believe such a thing happening. As for the genealogy aspect, I've only dabbled a little in my family tree, but it all seems pausible to me.
The author has attempted to write this as a hard boiled tough guy story and at times I think he tried so hard it was almost funny. He has the beginning of a series complete with all the request characters. Hawty, a wheelchair driving, girl Friday. Slavin Balazar the ex-army ranger turned New Orleans cop and Una the woman who will love him and put up with him....
I don't know that I would rush out and buy any, but it would be interesting to see if he can develop the series. I don't think for a first book it was that bad.
Ric Brandt - RAM
Reprinted with permission. Do Not repost without permission from the author, Ric Brandt - RAM
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