I do enjoy attempting to solve puzzles and this often morphs into trying to locate missing persons, and the more fact-based study of actual genealogy charts and the genealogical universe for family history. This interest of course, found its way into a major plot point in my story Loving Vintage.
Boomer heroine, Annie Savone takes on a determined quest to examine how she came to be with very little information; information that must be extracted from the murky depths of a muddled private adoption. Actually the story does become something of a dectective story … what a surprise.
Enter a new read by author, Nathan Dylan Goodwin with a genre new to me, Forensic Genealogy. An English author, he sets his stories in charmingly historic real life locations in beautiful Sussex, England. As a reader, I always attempt to Google story locations and thrilled when they return real places. I can even map street names. So exciting. When I first started writing, I chose to set my stories locally even though many tried to change my mind. So here was a shared commonality.
Goodwin’s Forensic Genealogy series is based on main character, Morton Farrier, a gifted genealogist, and his cases. The first story includes forensic insight for how to analyze an old photo in terms of time the image was taken, noting background detail, and the angle or perspective from where the photo was captured by a photographer. I was hooked immediately, as I had processed these qualities in my story and pleased that I had thought enough about what would be relevant in an old photo, to be helpful to the heroine. I was thrilled my fledgling insight had created a storyline that was relevant and productive.
I am excited there are eight more books in this series, eight new reads for me to enjoy and learn from a master at building a satisfying story for my readers. I hope you grab a Quarantine-silver-lining to read through some titles and escape via a great story. Stay safe.
At one time if I picked up a title I’d read it to the last page. Now, not so much. Down it goes. My favorite genre? Why the type of stories I write of course—thoughtful professional heroines at a crossroad.
Nancy LaPonzina 