Lethal Lineage

January 15, 2011

The windy plains of western Kansas provide the backdrop for a bizarre locked-room puzzle.

Lottie Albright, historian and undersheriff, is attending her niece's confirmation at the new Episcopal church, built on the corners of four counties. The priest is Mary Farnsworth, old friend and dedicated social worker, the visiting bishop a strange figure who preaches fire and brimstone. Something causes Mary to drop the chalice and flee to an anteroom, where she's shortly found dead. When Lottie and her twin sister Josie, a clinical psychologist, search Mary's office for information on her next of kin, they're arrested by Irwin Deal, the cruel, stupid sheriff of Copeland County. Outraged, the sisters mount a campaign to have Sheriff Deal recalled, starting a feud with his many relatives and provoking nasty consequences for Lottie's husband, a veterinarian who dislikes her job. An autopsy reveals that Mary was killed by a rare South American frog poison. Lottie struggles to maintain her work as county historian, help the Kansas Bureau of Investigation with the murder case, and comfort an old lady whose oral history has revealed a disturbing past. Her skills as a researcher are put to the test as she searches for clues to Mary's true identity and reasons why the bishop, a cousin of Sheriff Deal, is claiming ownership of the church.

Lottie's second case is a worthy successor to Deadly Descent (2009). Deftly drawn characters and a complicated but believable mystery leave you yearning for more.

(COPYRIGHT (2011) KIRKUS REVIEWS/NIELSEN BUSINESS MEDIA, INC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.)

March 1, 2011

When Reverend Mary Farnsworth dies in a locked room in tiny St. Helena's Church in rural western Kansas, Deputy Sheriff (and local historian) Lottie Albright and her sister Josie, a consultant for the FBI, go to the reverend's apartment to find her family contact information. They are arrested for trespassing by Sheriff Deal, who represents the law from another county and who hates Lottie. This sets off a citizens' attempt to oust him from his job. VERDICT The complex threads of the investigation and the viciously mean-spirited actions of the Deal family add to the electrically charged atmosphere and create drama in this unusual and well-written sequel to Deadly Descent.

Copyright 2011 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

March 1, 2011
Hinger brings readers a new series, featuring local historian and undersheriff Charlotte Lottie Albright. Lottie and her twin sister, Josie, are preparing the new church built on the corners of four counties in western Kansas for the confirmation of their niece. The priest, the Reverend Mary Farnsworth, and the congregation are upset over the hellfire-and-brimstone sermon given by the sinister Bishop Talesbury. When Mary suddenly drops the chalice during communion and flees to the anteroom, Lottie follows and discovers her dead body. She suddenly has a potential murder case on her hands and must deal with law-enforcement officials from the neighboring counties. As Lottie works to find Marys family, she discovers both that the woman seems to have no past and that the mysterious bishop has surprising links to western Kansas. Hinger draws readers into the small-town atmosphere of rural Kansas with an intriguing tale that links current events to old rivalries. Readers will be waiting for Lotties next case.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2011, American Library Association.)

January 10, 2011
At the start of Hinger's appealing second mystery featuring historian and undersheriff Lottie Albright (after 2009's Deadly Descent), a suffragan bishop delivers a scolding sermon at the first service of the new Episcopal Church, St. Helena, built by four western Kansas counties. The congregation is even more distressed, however, when the temporary rector, Mary Farnsworth, drops the chalice filled with communion wine and flees into the anteroom where the clergy change. After the service, Lottie discovers the rector dead on the anteroom floor. When an elderly parishioner tells Lottie what she heard at the altar rail from a stranger and the autopsy reveals that Mary was poisoned, Lottie launches a murder investigation that will cause ill will among the local elite. Lottie's husband, Keith, and her psychologist twin sister, Josie, lend support in a whodunit that will keep the reader turning the pages until the dramatic conclusion.