"Sins of the Family" By Hy Conrad: Review/Giveaway

 Review by Sandra Murphy

Details at the end of this post on how to enter to win a copy of the book and a link to purchase it.

In Texas, Buddy McFee is known as a mover and shaker, king maker, and rescuer of the fallen. He’s still sought after but is well-guarded by his assistant, Gil, and his daughter, Callie, both of whom want to make sure no one finds out Buddy’s mind is failing him. He covers it well and they only schedule meetings for when he’s at his best but they worry.

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Callie is dealing with a friend from school. She’d felt sorry for the girl when they were kids, lost track as an adult, and now was approached to help make a documentary about Buddy. Too bad Melissa isn’t interested in the past but wants an interview with Buddy and won’t take no for an answer. 

Trevor is accused of driving while intoxicated, running a red light, and hitting an older woman in the crosswalk. He wants Buddy to make the charges go away. Buddy’s deal making does manage to avoid jail time for Trevor, but he now has a felony conviction on his record. Trevor claims Buddy didn’t tell him of the possible consequences and failed to research enough to find Trevor’d had a prior arrest—not that he told them about it himself, of course. Fearful Buddy’s reputation could be tarnished or worse, Callie and Gil prepare to do damage control. 

Before that can happen, tragedy strikes, and it could backfire on Buddy. Callie is determined to find out the truth, even if it risks her own life and could send Buddy to jail. Melissa gets involved, along with an old friend of Callie’s mother. Trevor’s job and favorite pastime play a role in the solution as well. 

Callie is a flawed but sympathetic character, often at odds with family and in her job as an investigative reporter. It’s her good instinct for clues that carries her through in depth research for work and those messes she finds herself in, thanks to family. Conrad does a good job of bringing all the loose ends together for an ending readers won’t see coming. 

The first book in the series, The Fixer’s Daughter, was reviewed here. Conrad has also written four Mr. Monk books plus three Amy’s Travel mysteries.   

To enter to win a copy of Sins of the Family, simply email KRL at krlcontests@gmail[dot]com by replacing the [dot] with a period, and with the subject line "sins,” or comment on this article. A winner will be chosen April 9, 2022. US residents only and you must be 18 or older to enter. If entering via email please include your mailing address in case you win. If entering via comment please include your email address so we can contact you.  You can read our privacy statement here if you like.

Check out other mystery articles, reviews, book giveaways & mystery short stories in our mystery section in Kings River Life and in our mystery category here on KRL News & Reviews. And join our mystery Facebook group to keep up with everything mystery we post, and have a chance at some extra giveaways. And check out our new mystery podcast which features mystery short stories and first chapters read by local actors! A new episode goes up next week.

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Sandra Murphy lives in the shadow of the Arch in St. Louis Missouri. She writes about eco-friendly topics, pets and wildlife for magazines and reviews mysteries and thrillers for KRL. A collection of her short stories, published by Untreed Reads, From Hay to Eternity: Ten Tales of Crime and Deception can be found at all the usual outlets. Each one is a little weird and all have a twist you won't see coming.

Disclosure: This post contains links to an affiliate program, for which we receive a few cents if you make purchases. KRL also receives free copies of most of the books that it reviews, that are provided in exchange for an honest review of the book.