Family Affairs — James Y. Bartlett

From Suspect to Sleuth!When Rhode Island Attorney General Preston Knox is brutally murdered in his home, just weeks before getting elected Governor, the state police immediately pull in JuliusHaddock for questioning.After all, Julius, the now-retired chief of police in the town of Little Penwick, had a beefwith the AG, when Knox drummed up some fake charges and put him in jail. (GlitterGirl, Book 1).But Julius didn't do it, and has an unshakeable alibi-he was out having breakfast withhis son Gus Haddock, the current chief in Little Penwick. So the outgoing governorappoints Julius to the task force investigating Preston Knox's murder because she wasimpressed with his recent work on a cold case (Cold Secrets, Book 2).And that's how Julius Haddock went from suspect to sleuth, working with the state policeto track down leads and eliminate suspects, one by one. Along the way, Julius is befriendedby a local kid on a bike, who has some family secrets of his own; and with his partnerSiggi, Julius has to try and convince the last surviving member of an old Little Penwickfamily to consider donating his land to the Little Penwick Land Trust. But there are oldfamily ghosts in the way there, too.Family Affairs, Book 4 in the Swamp Yankee Mystery series, is another page-turningadventure of police procedural, small-town relationships and family secrets. Just the kindof stew that makes James Y. Bartlett's inventive new series so popular with readers.