A genealogist uncovers the secret of his client's father's first marriage and a possible reason for the first wife's death.

Interesting novella to start a series. I will keep my eye out for further installments. ( )

Good for a genealogical short story, but I wanted it to be longer!!

Morton Farrier is a forensic genealogist - A researcher into family history. He has been employed by Gerald Peacock to research his family. This brings up a few surprises.
An enjoyable story ( )

Morton Farrier finds an additional marriage for a client's father; however, he initially did not research it since the client told him not to research more recent generations. When the client adamantly denies the previous marriage and Morton's present work load allows him time, he retrieves the marriage record and death certificate for the first wife. The client wants to learn more about the first wife who died in an asylum. One must always prepare for unexpected discoveries, and this case illustrates the lesson. Genealogical ethics once again seem a bit problematic. Farrier discusses his case more openly than a professional genealogist should without written client authorization. I understand why the author had him discuss it with the person he did, but I don't think the story would suffer with the omission of the unethical behavior. Still I enjoyed this short story. ( )