#BookReview ‘The Family Tree’ by Steph Mullins and Nicole Mabry

About the book…

The DNA results are back. And there’s a serial killer in her family tree…

Liz Catalano is shocked when an ancestry kit reveals she’s adopted. But she could never have imagined connecting with her unknown family would plunge her into an FBI investigation of a notorious serial killer…

The Tri-State Killer has been abducting pairs of women for forty years, leaving no clues behind – only bodies.

Can Liz figure out who the killer in her new family is? And can she save his newest victims before it’s too late?

A gripping, original thriller for fans of My Lovely Wife, Netflix’s Making a Murderer, and anyone who’s ever wondered what their family tree might be hiding…

Pubished by Avon in audiobook, e-book and paperback in June 2021, ‘The Family Tree’ is the debut, co-authored thriller from Steph Mullin and Nicole Mabry.

Oh boy, I absolutely ate this book up in a few hours, it is one of those reads where you hide from your family with a good supply of biscuits and coffee, and explicit instructions not to be disturbed.

It takes n informed and questioning look at the nature versus nurture debate, as hereditary traits are ever more in the media, alongside increasing numbers of people looking to their history to understand where they have come from.

The Ancestry kits, however, have rarely had a result like this happen…

Bought on a whim as a present for her cousin, this DNA kit not only reveals that Liz is adopted, but that her real family might have shadows hiding in the leaves. It seems she might be related to the infamous Tri-State Killer, who has been actively kidnapping girls in pairs since the 1970’s.

Told from the point of view of the girls who were kidnapped, alternating with Liz’ frantic reappraisal of everything she has ever known, your sympathies and compassion lie with Liz as she tries to piece together what indeed family means to her.

And even worse to come is on its way, as the FBI contact her to say she is a potential match to the Tri State Killer. They need DNA from her closest familial relation in order to eliminate them-or include them-in their investigation.

Involvement is purely voluntary, but what would you do in this situation? Would you act, as Liz does, to try and redeem some good out of this situation? But when you are looking for your roots, what happens if you find that some of them are poisonous?

A breathtaking chase for justice follows, and you are clinging on by you r-now shortened and bitten-fingernails as you get to know, and see, just how brave the kidnapped pairs were, and how they left marks for the next girls to realise that a) they are not alone and b)in case anyone ever finds them. Bittersweet and sad, these passages really broke me but in the best way, as the girls are given an identity, and an agency often not afforded to victims of crime (especially women).

It is this thoughtful and different framing of unspeakable crimes which really attracted me, alongside that ever vital ‘what if…’ hook that reels you in to a really good book. I am excited to see what the co-authors do next, in ‘When She Disappeared’, due 2022.

About the authors…

Nicole Mabry spends her days as the Senior Manager of Photography Post Production at a television network.

Her nights are reserved for writing novels. At the age of seven, she read The Boxcar Children, sparking a passion for reading and writing early on. Nicole grew up in the Bay Area in Northern California and went to college at UCLA for Art History.

During a vacation, she fell in love with New York City and has lived in Queens for the past sixteen years. On weekends you can find her with a camera in hand and her dog, Jackson, by her side. Nicole is an animal lover and horror movie junkie.

She is the author of the award winning apocalyptic novel, ‘Past This Point’(Red Adept), and co-author of ‘The Family Tree’

Links-http://www.nicolemabry.net/

Twitter @NicoleAMabry

Steph Mullin works by day as Creative Director for a Media, Entertainment and Digital Marketing Solutions company, using early mornings, nights, and weekends to write fiction.

Steph’s dream of becoming a writer started at age 6, followed by winning scholastic writing awards and crafting articles for her university’s literary magazine. In her 20’s, she became engrossed in true crime podcasts and literature, which later became the perfect source of inspiration to launch her second career writing dark and twisty thrillers. In 2018,

Steph relocated from NYC to Charlotte, North Carolina where she currently resides with her husband and her rescue puppy. Outside of reading, writing, and playing with her dog, you may find her sipping on a soy latte, watching a new movie, or trying out new recipes in the kitchen.

Twitter @Steph_Mullin