Review: A Skeleton in the Family by Leigh Perry

A Skeleton in the Family
(A Family Skeleton Mystery)
Brand New Series
Cozy Mystery
A Berkley Prime Crime Mystery (September 3, 2013)
The Berkley Publishing Group
Published by The Penguin Group
Mass Market Paperback: 304 pages
ISBN-13: 978-0425255841
E-Book File Size: 1009 KB
ASIN: B00BDQ3BQA

Most families have skeletons in their closets…

But Sid is a very special skeleton. He and Georgia Thackery have been friends for as long as she can remember.  Sid is the Thackery family’s skeleton. He’s lived in the house as long as Georgia can remember, although no one, including Sid, knows exactly where he came from and how he came to be a skeleton.

Georgia has accepted a job back in her hometown and her parents are away on sabbatical so she has moved back into the family home with her teenage daughter, Madison. But her daughter knows nothing about Sid. He lives in the attic and stays out of sight whenever Madison is at home.

Sid walks, talks, reads and as far as Georgia know never sleeps. He even convinces Georgia to take him out of the house. That’s when things get crazy. He sees a woman who triggers memories of his past. Now he wants to know how he died and ended up living with the Thackerys. Georgia agrees to investigate a bit and leads that to “a killer who’s still alive and well and bad to the bone…”

Dollycas’s Thoughts
This is a really fun premise for a mystery series. Sid is a complete treasure. I want a Sid of my own and after you read this you will too!

Georgia is wonderful too. She is a professor who just can’t get on the tenure track at any nearby colleges. But she doesn’t let it get her down. She has a very positive attitude and a great daughter. Her parents are both professors and have been for a long time which is why they are able to take a sabbatical. I am sure they will show up in a future installment.

I don’t want to give too much of the plot away so I will just say that the mystery of Sid leads to a current mystery that circles back to the past. Very clever writing and thoroughly enjoyable. Funny and exciting and a great book to read on a chilly autumn evening. A terrific start for this new series.

Leigh Perry is a pen name for author Toni L.P. Kelner. Find out more about the author here.
Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from the publisher. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. Receiving a complimentary copy in no way reflected my review of this book. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 : “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”