Mystery, thriller, and genealogy all in one fascinating story. The book is The Family Tree by Steph Mullin and Nicole Mabry. It centered around the hunt for a mass murderer with an important genealogy mystery also at the heart of the story.

I did not know what to expect but was very glad I tried it. I thank Netgalley for a chance to read this book before publication.

I found this book fascinating since I enjoy a good mystery and thriller. I also spend a good bit of time on genealogy including looking at DNA matches to try to find the connection. And my experience there added to my enjoyment,

The Family Tree centers on two cousins, Andie and Liz. The cousins are really close as girls. They remain best friends as young adults and share an apartment in Brooklyn. Andie does a 23 and Me DNA test and gives one to her cousin Liz . When Liz gets her results, she sees no relationship with Andie and contacts her parents to find out why. Liz was adopted and so has no shared DNA with either parent or with Andie.

This upsetting news leads her to look for relatives in the 23 and Me database. When she does not find any answers fast enough, she uploads her DNA results to Gedmatch which allows people who used different DNA testing companies to compare results.

She opts in to allowing law enforcement to use her results. This was her choice as she was told her birth mother had been in jail. She is contacted by the FBI since her DNA partially matched the DNA of a known criminal. She eventually learns the partial match is to the Tri-State Killer, who abducts young women and then kills them after a period of imprisonment.

In the meanwhile, Liz meets a DNA match and becomes close with a grand-uncle who may or may not be the serial killer. Liz is hoping he is not the killer but much evidence points to him. And the killer has abducted 2 young women and the race is on to save them before they are killed.

I think the mystery-thriller part is well done. The genealogy angle added motivation and interest. For me, it was a good addition as I use Gedmatch to reach out to DNA matches. I highly recommend this book to readers whether or not they have an interest in genealogy.