The Genealogist's Cold Case
A Forensic Genetic Genealogy Thriller

About this book:

A nameless girl has lain in a shallow grave for twenty-nine years. In thirty-one days, the statute of limitations on her murder expires, and her killer walks free forever. Genealogist Claire Abbott has one month to turn a degraded DNA profile into a name, a family, and a suspect—using nothing but centimorgans, census records, and the silent testimony of distant cousins who don't know they're witnesses.

When a 210-centimorgan match points to a dying mining town and a family tree with a branch violently severed in the mid-nineties, Claire uncovers more than a missing person. She finds a community built on secrets, where endogamy blurs the genetic lines between victim and predator, and a sunflower patch on a rotting denim jacket is the only clue to a life erased by shame. With the clock ticking, every triangulated segment pulls her deeper into a pedigree of lies—and closer to a murderer who has been hiding in the family album for decades.

*The Genealogist's Cold Case* is a high-stakes forensic thriller where the lab is a laptop, the evidence is ancestry, and the truth is buried in the branches. Perfect for fans of Karin Slaughter, Michelle McNamara, and true-crime podcasts, this novel proves that in the age of genetic genealogy, the dead no longer stay silent—and the past is never really past.