By now members would have received the exciting news that author Nathan Dylan Goodwin is joining us at FHSC for a live Zoom Q&A session on the evening of 7th February
Watch out for the registration opening on 20th January for this event and in the meantime make a note in your diary.
Below is my review of Nathan's latest book The Foundlings and a link to his website where purchasing details can be found.
It would be quite difficult to review this book, the 9th in the Moreton Farrier series by Nathan Dylan Goodwin, without spoiling the plot for you. Suffice to say that this is a fast-paced story, which unfolds in the author’s distinctive narrative style of moving between flashbacks to the present day, with enough twists and turns to keep even the most ardent Moreton Farrier fan guessing until the last page. Having read all in the series I did feel as if I were returning to visit a family friend when I picked up this book, although it must be said to those new to the series that each book can be read as a stand-alone story.
In his latest adventure Farrier introduces DNA to his genealogical toolbox as he tries to discover the identity of the mother of three women, all abandoned as babies. The case soon becomes emotionally charged for Farrier with his own family history so clearly embroidered throughout the tapestry of the story. It helps that the author is a family historian himself, with the descriptions of the various websites being exactly right and all family historians will find themselves relating to the various online and archival records, you will even find yourself, as I did, second guessing what steps Moreton would take. The explanations of the science behind DNA are not over complicated, which they could so easily become, and the creative dexterity involved in drawing all the threads together to bring everything to a credible conclusion is sublime.
The Foundlings is right up there with the previous books and you don’t have to be a genealogist to enjoy this latest offering, an appreciation of well written crime/mystery/murder thriller is all you need, and I highly recommend it.
The full list of the previous books in the Nathan Dylan Goodwin’s Forensic Genealogist series are listed below in order of publication
- The Asylum
- Hiding the Past
- The Lost Ancestor
- The Orange Lilies
- The American Ground
- The Spyglass File
- The Missing Man
- The Suffragette’s Secret
- The Wicked Trade
- The Sterling Affair
- The Foundlings
Independently published (28 Oct. 2021). Paperback, 258 pages £8.99, Kindle - £4.99. ISBN-13:979-8481041421
For full purchasing details, not only for this book but for all in the series, then visit the author’s at the following link - https://www.nathandylangoodwin.com/
There are also a number of reviews of previous Nathan Dylan Goodwin books in the Cheshire Ancestor that can be downloaded via the website - details below
Reviewed by Babs Johnson
The Chester Creek Murders - Cheshire Ancestor Vol 51 No 4: June 2021 page 15
The Sterling Affair - Cheshire Ancestor Vol 51 No 1: September 2020 Page 23
Reviewed by Jackie Jones
The Suffragette’s Secret - Cheshire Ancestor Vol 49 No 4: June 2019 Page 20
The Wicked Trade - Cheshire Ancestor Vol 50 No 1: September 2019 Page 17
Reviewed by Jean Laidlaw
The Spyglass File - Cheshire Ancestor Vol 48 No 3: March 2018 Page 16
The Missing Man - Cheshire Ancestor Vol 49 No 1: September 2018 Page 18
The America Ground - Cheshire Ancestor Vol 47 No 4: June 2017 Page 20
