An unusual hybrid of genealogy and record checking plus amateur detective stuff makes Hiding the Past by Nathan Dylan Goodwin a worthy page turner for a holiday week. Anyone who loves family tree research, and a good crime novel, will like this with its narrative stretching from World War Two to present-day politicians.

Within days of taking on a new client, genealogist Morton Farrier knows this case is different: one, his client pays a fee of £50,000 straight into his bank account; two, the client shoots himself in the head. Or does he? Helped by his girlfriend Police Community Support Officer Juliette, Farrier studies the background of his, now dead, client, Peter Coldrick, a study which leads him to two key years: 1944 and 1987. Official records for Coldrick’s descendants have mysteriously disappeared, Morton is being followed by a glossy black 4×4, and it may be his imagination but a usually helpful archives officer is proving difficult to pin down.

Morton is an interesting character, adopted, rubbing along awkwardly with his widowed adoptive father and soldier brother, quick with a sharp word whilst knowing he should be kinder and hating himself for it. I also liked the clear drawing of his setting around the Kent & Sussex towns and villages of Sedelscombe, Rye, Tenterden and Lewes, an area I lived in and loved, Goodwin makes them feel real on the page. This is the first of, at the time of writing, four Morton Farrier novels, so expect to read more about Morton’s own adoption story in future books.

For more about Nathan Dylan Goodwin’s books, click here for his website.

If you like ‘Hiding the Past’, try:-
‘In the Blood’ by Steve Robinson
‘Mrs Sinclair’s Suitcase’ by Louise Walters
‘The Knife with the Ivory Handle’ by Cynthia Bruchman

‘Hiding the Past’ by Nathan Dylan Goodwin, #1MortonFarrier [UK: ND Goodwin]

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HIDING THE PAST by @NathanDGoodwin http://wp.me/p5gEM4-1U3 #bookreview via @SandraDanby