A Killer in the Family is the fifth book in the DCI Jonah Sheens series, but works well as a standalone mystery/thriller. The plot is centered around the timely topic of the police using DNA that has been submitted to ancestry sites in their investigations. One of the detectives on Jonah's team has an American contact knowledgeable about DNA matching and they take advantage of her expertise as a Forensic Genealogist.

Aisling Cooley wonders what happened to her long-lost father and uploads her DNA to a popular ancestry site. The divorced mother of two teenage boys is shocked when she is contacted by the police because DNA left at a crime scene of a murder committed by a serial killer can be linked to a close relative of hers!

I love the premise of the book and I enjoyed getting to know Aisling and wondering what secrets she was hiding. Jonah Sheens and his team work well together on this complex case as they also deal with their own complicated personal lives. As a result of their hard work, the case comes to a satisfying conclusion, but then I was shocked by the ending of the book. I don't love cliffhangers, but I have to say I cannot wait to find out what happens in the next book!

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House for the advance copy of this ebook. I received it at no cost, but my review is voluntary and unbiased.

Women are urged not to travel alone at night, and constant vigilance is encouraged among the local residents, as someone the press calls the “Bonfire Killer” has been killing women and setting their bodies on fire. Single mom Aisling Cooley hasn't been paying a lot of attention to the news. She is busy developing her next video game to sell, parenting her: two teenage sons and lately she has been on a quest to find her long-lost father, whom she hasn’t seen since she was a teenager. She has just sent in her DNA to a DNA registry hoping to find him. But to her horror, it’s not her father who’s found her. It’s a detective. And they say her DNA is a close match to the Bonfire Killer. .

This is the fifth book in the DCI Jonah Sheens series. I have read them all and they are all great. This one definitely kept me guessing - I think I suspected almost every male in the book before the big reveal at the end. Every time I was sure I had it right, there was another twist. That is the hallmark of a good mystery. If you are mystery buff, then you should add this one to your TBR pile.

I couldn't put this book down! The characters are complex and engaging. The mystery kept me guessing and completely gripped. There were so many twists. I also liked the multiple viewpoints. It really helped to make me feel like I was right there alongside the characters. And that ending! That left me wanting more.

Another fantastic installment in the DCI Jonah Sheens series! This police procedural is realistic, engaging and thrillingly written. Each leaves us with a cliffhanger making it difficult to await the next one!

Many thanks to NetGalley and Random House for this ARC!

A killer in the Family is the fifth book in the series. I have read two of the previous books but not all of them. I didn't feel like that has taken away from this book at all.

There's a serial killer on the loose. He's taking women in their 40's and killing them.

Single mom Aisling submits her DNA to an ancestry site in hopes of finding the father that abandoned her family long ago. What she gets instead is the knowledge that her DNA has a close relationship to the blood found at the crime scene of one of the murders. What could be more terrifying than learning that your father or sons could be a murderer?

There are many twist and turns throughout the story. What I liked best about the book was the relationship between Aidling and her two sons. Fantastic portrayal of a loving family.

Thanks to netgalley and Random House Publishing for the arc.

There’s a serial killer on the loose! He likes to abduct lonely middle aged women and then burn them on a pyre…ew. Anyway, where there is evil there is also good guys trying to stop it. That’s where this book comes in as it showcases a detective team searching for the murderous creep before he can strike again. But the killer has been watching them and his POV is a unique one…ugh that creep.

A lot of yelling rather than showing writing style - might work better though for this story since there are numerous characters with backstories and personalities to learn.

This had a unique and modern twist on the traditional crime mystery novel. I loved the inclusion of DNA ancestry used to try and narrow down the suspects.

This book had me wondering how much a mother’s love could withstand. Would I love my child if they were a serial killer? Would I love my parent or sibling if they were? How far can the love of one’s family stretch before it snaps?

Although on the slow side for my taste, I think fans of crime novels and shows like CSI and Criminal Minds will have fun with this one.

Golden State Killer with a twist.

A single mother uploads her DNA into an ancestry website and is contacted by a detective saying her DNA matches a known killer.

This is good BUT I didn't realize? that the detective is part of a series. I hate coming into a series mid-way.

Thanks to netGalley and the publishers for the opportunity.

A Killer in the Family by Gytha Lodge

I've read this series from the beginning with A Killer in the Family being the 5th book of the series. What makes it one of my favorite series is the camaraderie of the team of Detective Chief Inspector Jonah Sheens. These aren't people suffering burn out, they enjoy their jobs, they enjoy working with each other, and the team is like a family. These are the people they spend the most time with and they know what is important to each of them and the best ways to support each other.

The story has a terrifying start. A woman has made the wrong choice and she's going to pay for it. That's one of the worst places for me to be in a story, in the head of a victim. Now the team is trying to solve another murder and this one makes it clear they are probably dealing with a serial killer. As luck would have it, there is DNA at the scene.

That is where single mom, Aisling Cooley, comes in. She has a wonderful, open relationship with each of her teenage sons but she still feels the hurt of being abandoned by her father long ago. Aisling uploads her DNA to an ancestry website at about the same time DCI Sheens' crime scene DNA sample is submitted in a search for a match. If a close relative, preferably two close relatives, can be matched to the DNA sample, there is a chance of narrowing in on who might have left the DNA at the murder scene.

A theme to this story is family. Sheens made a decision for the sake of family and even with the best intentions it may have been the wrong decision. We meet so many characters that have been abandoned, some suffering greatly in one way or another. And then there is the sense of real family with people who may not be blood relatives. Blood ties can let a person down but there is still a chance for "family".

Thank you to Random House Publishing Group - Random House, and NetGalley for this ARC.

I enjoyed the twists and turns of this book. It definitely keeps you guessing throughout the whole thing. There was a bit of a slow build but hang in there. It gets wild. I did not realize that it's in a series of books. I don't think I missed anything by not reading the first few, but I definitely would have liked to know that with the way it ended. Guess I will have to wait for the next book to see where we go from here. The killings in this book do get solved so that is good. Recommend if you like a good mystery.

Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for advanced copy, and I give my review freely

What a twisted web this story was! A very very large web. I will be the first to say that I did not know where this story would end up but the ending was really good. I love a good serial killer thriller but I was skeptical about the police procedure aspect. I think I had a bit of a hard time following some of the detective aspect since it was set in England so that’s on me. But the author does have a glossary of the terms used at the end which was a great touch.

I really enjoyed the DNA element being such a big part. And adding in the ancestry site to help solve the crime was really genius. The character development was really well done but there were A LOT of characters. I loved (Ansling) and her sons relationship.

The only thing was the beginning was extremely slow. It took about halfway through for me to really get into the action. This was a longer book but the ending was really worth it.

In this mystery/thriller from Gytha Lodge, we follow the life of a mother and her two teenage sons. Both well mannered boys that are extremely involved in their communities.

Mom sends away for a DNA swab kit to find out more about her family history and ends up with a visit from the police. Turns out, her DNA has matched as a possible serial killer in the family. Trouble is, the DNA states it can only be one of your two sons, or your estranged father.

This book kept me HOOKED from the very beginning. I honestly didn’t see the ending coming & I thoroughly enough when a book can trick me.

Amazing writing by the author. Will definitely pick up another novel!

When Aisling Cooley uploads her DNA online to find her father, she ends up being a match to a serial killer and finds herself in the middle of a crime scene investigation. The police think this DNA belongs to a close male relative and she is suddenly forced to question everything she knows about her family and prove that her two sons are innocent.

I really liked the premise of this book and the idea of following the DNA evidence to catch a killer. When I got approved for this arc, I hoped it would be a page turning thriller. While the story did keep me reading until the end, I found it to drag on. The first third of the book was very slow and even when it picked up, it felt like it was taking too long to finish.
There were definitely parts of the book that kept me reading and wanting to know more. I also liked that I kept changing my mind about who the killer was and I love when a book surprises me in the end. For people who enjoy books that follow detectives solving crime scene investigations, then this is a good book for you.

Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️

Pub Date: 8/8/23

Thank you to @netgalley and @atrandombooks for this ARC copy.

This is book 5 in a cracking series that is best enjoyed started from book one and read in order... Jonah Sheens is a brilliant character and his development through the series is worth experiencing properly.
So... in this book we meet Aising who gets more than she bargained for when she uploads her DNA to an ancestor site. She wants to know more about her long-lost father but instead gets attention from a very different place. It appears that she is a close relative to someone the police are hunting for. One who has a connection to a series of heinous crimes...
And so begins a rather nifty twist turny story that sucked me in from the start, played with me for the duration, spitting me out at the end shocked but also wholly satisfied... The Bonfire Killer is a bit of a villain and has been quite successfully leaving no trace of their crimes. Until this one time, where there was blood. Not necessarily from the killer but definitely someone the police need to talk to... Aisling has no idea who... and her world, and that of her family, are turned upside down with the inference...
What I like best about this series is the fact that the majority is about the case in question. There is enough surrounding the series characters to make it worth being a series of books, but that stops well short of being intrusive. Apart from at the end... after all has been concluded with the case. On a night out... oh my...! Bring on book six... as soon as possible... don't like leaving things like this...
My thanks go to the Publisher and Netgalley for the chance to read this book.

They really need to start labeling when a book is part of a series. I felt like I was missing something while reading this and I looked it up and it's the fifth in a series!! I haven't read the others and I DNF this one because it was so slow.

I'm literally only writing this review to alert others to the fact it's part of a series and so Netgalley doesn't ding me for not leaving a review.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

A Killer in the Family
Author: Gytha Lodge
Source: NetGalley ARC
Publish Date: August 8, 2023
🔥
A Killer in the Family by Gytha Lodge is a serial killer thriller. When you send your DNA to a national search registry to find family members, remember you never know what you will find, if anything. But this time, there is a serial killer on the loose, and the only person who has a connection to the killer is Aisling Cooley through her DNA. After two gruesome murders of lonely women, Aisling becomes the focus of the investigation because someone related to her (father, son, or brother) is the murderer. I started this novel, and I did not stop until I finished the book. The story is a delicious anxiety-inducing story, and for a 400-page novel, the reading time flies by because each chapter leaves you wanting more. This will be published next Tuesday, and I highly recommend you get on this quickly. Gytha Lodge is an excellent writer, and her stories are always a blast to read. This is a standalone read, although part of a series. #thriller #mystery #fiction #funeralpyre #crime #murder #UK #detective #DNA #adultfiction #stalker @netgalley @randomhouse @gythalodge #AKillerInTheFamily
🔥
I received a complimentary copy of this ARC. The opinions expressed in this review are entirely my own. Thank you to Random House, NetGalley, and the author for the opportunity to read this novel. Pub. Date: August 8, 2023.
🔥

#book #books #bookaddict #booksofinstagram #bookstagram #bookstagramer #bookshelf #reader #booklove #bookreader #reader

When aisling enters her DNA on a site to find long lost family the last things she expects to hear back from is the police. Her DNA matches that of a killer, as in the killer is her father, her brother or her son.

A very slow police procedural frying to solves the crimes of two murdered women, a bunch of strategically lit fires, and a dead horse. Aisling is unsure if she should believe her sons about their innocence, question her father who ran out on her over 20 years ago even though she remembers him to be a good man, or is there someone else in this DNA bubble?

Slow with multiple perspectives from aisling to the unsub, to different people on the police force. There isn’t as much relating to Jonah as the previous books as more people on his team are given more time for their live stories than he is. Lots of back story from the previous books, not 100% needed to know for this story but it definitely helps.

It’s like an old friend telling you a story, warm and inviting. There are multiple POV’s that have distinct voices. It is a slow burn with a lot of buildup and character building. I wish there had been less mundane character building involved. I didn’t feel a connection to any of the characters. It should have been a very engaging and captivating storyline. Not even the killer POV kept my attention and made me want to know more. I had a feeling extremely early on that I knew who the killer was. So that may have prevented my immersion and enjoyment. I had to keep pushing myself to get through it to give it a fair review. If Netgalley hadn't provided me with an ARC for a review I wouldn't have finished it.

Thanks to NetGalley for the advance copy of A Killer in the Family. I hadn’t realized this was the fifth in a series based on DCI Johan Sheens. In all honesty, I think it would have helped to have read previous books in the series as I had some difficulty keeping all the members of the force—names and jobs—straight. The story takes place in the early days of a serial killer known as the Bonfire Killer. Coincidentally, Aisling Cooley has submitted her DNA to try and find the father who had abandoned her family many years before. These two stories collide when DNA from the bonfires is matched to someone in Aisling’s family.

There were multiple sub-plots, some of which served to lengthen the book and not really serve the story. While I thought the premise of the book was a really good one, I was disappointed in the denouement. The book was confusing for me and not as compelling in its execution. I liked it but it could have been better.

Okay full disclosure, I kinda think I knew the twist early one. Further disclosure, I think the author knew most readers would figure it out a little bit. But like I've said, sometimes knowing the twist doesn't decrease the enjoyment of the story itself and that is the case here. You know where the story is going, you don't know exactly where it is going to end up, but in the meantime you get to see what havoc is wrecked on the characters. I was also glad to see that we got a bit more of DCI Sheens and his team's personal lives. That is always my favorite part of reading a series and this one includes a great diverse cast of characters that feel so true to life and I want to get to know them more. In addition to including a great complex mystery, I feel like this installment set up a couple good arcs for upcoming stories. I look forward to continuing to read the series!

Jacqueline Clarke, a 40-something year old woman, is found dead, her body burned on a pyre. The case has all the earmarks of a serial killer, dubbed by the media as the "Bonfire Killer." But months go by without another killing. Instead the police are following pyres - three more popping up at random places. That is until Lindsay Kernow, another woman in her 40s, doesn't come home after a New Year's Eve celebration. The pyre was present, but not lit. And this crime scene had blood that was not the victim's...

Aisling Cooley, a 40-something woman, is plugging along at life. Living with her two sons, 17 and 19, she is trying to keep things together but she is struggling. Her father left her family when she was a teen, and in an attempt to find him, she submits her DNA to an ancestry site. The results she gets are not what she anticipated though - according to the police, her DNA is a familial match for the Bonfire Killer. The killer could only be her father, brother, or sons. And she has no brothers...

There are very few modern mystery series that I read, but since I read her first book, Gytha Lodge is a must buy. As a police procedural, it is not over-bearing, bogging the reader down with terms and policies. It has just enough police work, mixed in with the lives of the officers as well as the main characters of each story. They are always well-written and enjoyable, and this one was no different.