Next of Kin, Samantha Jayne Allen
Next of Kin, Samantha Jayne Allen
List: $24.99 | Sale: $17.50
Club: $12.49

Next of Kin

Author: Samantha Jayne Allen

Narrator: Sandy Rustin

Unabridged: 10 hr 6 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Publisher: Recorded Books

Published: 04/23/2024


Synopsis

At a gathering for her cousin's wedding party, newly licensed PI Annie McIntyre gets asked an age-old question: What really makes us who we are, nature or nurture? Clint Marshall, an up-and-coming musician and an adoptee at a personal crossroads, wants to hire Annie to find his biological parents, and that question has been on his mind. Annie accepts his case, not knowing then that she, too, must decide if she really believes what she tells him that night—in essence, that people are in charge of their destinies. That people can change.

When Annie discovers her client’s father is a bank robber whom her granddad, Leroy, arrested back when he was sheriff, reverberations sound between the past and the present, igniting old flames and rivalries. And when a family member of her client dies suddenly, the death ruled a suicide, Annie questions whether or not it was, in fact, homicide—and who in this family of outlaws would rather some secrets stay buried.

As Annie sets out to find the killer—and stays out of sight lest she be next—she finds herself searching abandoned, overgrown fields, scouring pool halls and roadside motels, wondering if she will ever escape the sense that her world in Garnett, Texas, expands and contracts in off-kilter ways, growing smaller and yet still more confounding. Fearing that in a place where everyone knows everyone, your enemy is always closer than you think.

Reviews

Goodreads review by Dale on October 06, 2016

This is an interesting, Australian historical read. It took me a little while to get into it but then the further into this story I moved, the more I enjoyed it. It tells the story of Fanny Franks who is accepting of others regardless of where they are from. She works for Hans and Marlena Giese. It......more

Goodreads review by Mazzy on January 14, 2016

Breaking new ground, be it cultural, locational or relational, is fraught with challenge. Add vulnerability and danger to the mix and you have the makings of a thrilling story. The characters and situations Carol Preston explores in 'Next of Kin' provide exactly that. From the moment I first laid eye......more

Goodreads review by Michelle on October 24, 2015

This one took me a while to read and didn't really grab my attention or hook me til a fair way through. Though for me, not a fast read, I did really enjoy the story. I loved the way Carol portrayed the joy and blessing a baby can be and what forgiveness might look like practically.......more

Goodreads review by Susan on March 12, 2016

I always find the context of Carol Preston's books very interesting and this is likewise the case with Next of Kin. The book is set around Grafton in the late 1800's at a time when the descendants of German immigrants and others were experiencing the prejudices of the white Australian community. The......more

Goodreads review by Carolyn on October 25, 2021

This seemed to be slow going for me at the start. But then things picked up. I enjoyed the interaction between the brothers as they tried to move past abuse from their stepfather. There is a rape in this book, not many details but it does follow through the storyline. ​The story builds on the past an......more