Cozy fans with a genealogical bent will best appreciate Sampson's bland second mystery to feature family researcher Suzie Fewings (after 2009's In the Blood
). When Suzie requests permission from Floridus Hereward of Hereward Court to post a transcript of a rare 1821 census on the Internet, she's stunned by his wife inviting her to the house to view the original and other old papers. The thrill of the Hereward's document trove is mitigated by the strange household's cold ambience and by the rumors Suzie's teenage son, Tom, relates of Floridus being a fascist. Tom and his friend Paul Shino, a black refugee from a place called Matoposa, find evidence of a vile racist group inhabiting huts on the Hereward estate. Warnings and threats follow. Visits to the police produce talk but no action until Suzie's final visit to Hereward Court brings matters to a surprising, if somewhat silly, conclusion. (Feb.)
