“Tangled Roots” is the third genealogical mystery by LDS author G.G. Vandagriff. When we last saw Alex Campbell, she and her business partner, Briggie, had been to Oxford to solve a question of lineage. While there, Alex began to develop feelings for one of the players in the case, a handsome man named Charles who ended up being a distant cousin. Upon her return to the States, Alex realized that her old friend Daniel was interested in her as well, causing feelings of confusion.
As we go into “Tangled Roots,” we see that RootSearch Inc. has been hired to do a genogram, which is a family tree that not only includes names and dates, but psychological information as well. By charting out a family like this, it’s easy to see where possible mental illnesses might have been passed down as well as the disturbing effects of skeletons in the closet. The girl they are trying to help is sixteen, held in a care center on the pretense of getting off drugs—although she insists she never took them—and relying on Alex to help her get out.
When Alex and Briggie start to investigate the family, they uncover a murder that took place years ago. However, the source of this information is an elderly woman who also claims that she ran off to Hollywood as a young woman and became a starlet. Not sure how much of her story to believe, Alex chooses to disregard all of it until she learns that yes, indeed, Grandma really was an actress. If that much of the story is true, she has to give more heed to the rest of it. And when Grandma turns up dead, Alex realizes she’s a lot closer to the truth than she thought. With both Charles and Daniel concerned about her well-being, Alex has a lot to think about.
This book was an enjoyable mystery and, in my opinion, the best of the series.
(This book was published by Deseret Book in 2007.)
Related Blogs:
Author Interview: G.G. Vandagriff