An interesting premise and dive into new technologies to solve crimes. Pacing a bit slow at times, but overall a good mystery.

I really enjoy this series, after accidentally requesting the last one despite not having read the ones prior. I went back and read them all and am glad I did. I always have a soft spot for detective novels set in the UK.

The books tend to follow not just the team but others involved and eventually the pieces all fit together. Sometimes I wish the team had more time devoted just to them bc I want to know them better than I do. However, I find the team really likable anyway. And I really like how the other characters are handled so it balances out.

This story in particular, I felt invested in Aisling and her family. They were well developed and held my interested as I tried to piece things together. There’s a few things I could see coming and others I did not.

I would have looked forward to reading the next one anyway but damn, that cliffhanger. Way to make the wait that much more difficult!

There were a lot of story line perspectives which made the beginning of the book a little hard to follow. I also found it hard to follow when characters were interchangeably called by their first name in some places and last name in others. It was difficult to keep straight which last name went with what characters.

Overall, I enjoyed the book. The overall storyline was interesting

Aisling Cooley sets out to find her father who disappeared from her life when she was a young child by submitting her DNA online. Days later, surprisingly she is contacted by Detective Chief Inspector Jonah Sheens who is conducting an investigation into recent murders in the local area. Aisling is shocked to learn that her two sons are the prime suspects after blood found on one of the murdered victims links to the DNA samples she had submitted online. Why are her sons being so secretive lately, what are they hiding from her. Or could it be her father committing the murders, after all no one seems to be able to locate him. This book will have you guessing not once, but several times who the actual killer in the family really is and it’s not who you think it is.

Rating this 3.5 stars, but rounding down.
This was a great read full of in-depth police work and a surprising mystery. It was a bit of a slow-burn whodunit, but with short chapters and exceptional writing, it kept you guessing. I love how the author tied all the characters together in the end. It made for a wonderful plot twist. Most of the action happens in the last 25% of the book, and Lodge does an amazing job zig-zagging you between suspects.
My biggest issue was how I couldn't connect to any character and felt completely distant from the scene. I couldn't invest in any story, even Jonah's, whose side story was the most emotional. This mainly had to do with the fact that a lot of the DCI team's side stories are told in the previous books, and we aren't given much detail into their backstories. I have read the previous book in this series, 'Little Sister', and yet still found myself either not caring about the side plots, or completely baffled as to why it was necessary.
Definitely a good vacation read, or if you're in the mood for a slow-burn mystery!

Disclaimer: I received a gifted copy of this via netgalley and in exchange I'm leaving my honest review.
In the last year or so I've discovered I like crime novels. Stuff like this in fiction is hit or miss though, and I think I'm just not the target audience.
There were entirely too many twists in the story. I think it could be a lot better, but every other chapter there was a "new twist" to the antagonist. It wasn't him, or her or him. It was entirely too complicated in that way, and I think that may be why it fell flat for me.

This was definitely more of a slow burn and was kind of challenging for me to work through. However, once I got through about 50% of the book, it picked up and I was hooked!

I love this book as I'm really into the whole genetic genealogy aspect of solving crimes, like the Golden State Killer. Great use of that background to flesh out a story about how the past can come back to find you. It made me want to read the previous books to find out more about the detectives up to this point.

A twisty thriller that will leave you guessing until the end, A Killer in the Family is the fifth in a series by Gytha Lodge. Definitely worth the read. Four stars!

*I received an advanced reader copy of this book from NetGalley. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

The multiple point of views made this book a little difficult to read. But it is a really great mystery. I did find the middle of the book dragged a little. I unfortunately haven’t read the others in the series but this was good!

Thanks Random House Publishing Group and NetGalley. Sometimes I've wondered what would happen if my DNA was linked to a killer. AKIF answers those questions. I thought the writing was a bit confusing which made the story hard to follow along, but beneath all of that was a great story!

This was a great read! I really enjoyed the characters and the plot. It held my ATTENTION and kept me on my toes! A sold 4 star read!!

I could not get past 20% of this book as I was utterly confused. There are multiple different third person POVs, switching each chapter, but not clearly detailed, so you have to use a lot of context clues of who’s who. And then it’s very unclear who the people are, minimal explanation of them and why I should care. Lastly, the killer is introduced at the beginning - while we don’t know who he is, we know he’s always around, so I just feel like it will be predictable. Not going to waste my time finishing this book as I don’t want to jump through hoops to understand what’s happening.

A Killer in the Family is the 5th-book in the DCI Jonah Sheens series. This is a top-tier Police Procedural Mystery series for me and I have anxiously awaited each new release.

As with many Adult Mystery series, these books don't necessarily need to be read in order. Personally though, I would recommend it, mainly due to the interesting character development involving the group of detectives. With this being said, any of the books in this series would also make great standalone novels. However, I feel like once you read one, you'll want to read them all!

In this installment, DCI Jonah Sheens and his team are trying to track down a serial killer. Dubbed the 'bonfire killer' because of the circumstances in which the victims are found, the killer shows no signs of slowing down.
The area of Southampton is on edge. It's recommended women not walk alone after dark. Extra precautions should be taken, but not everyone is listening.

Thanks to a DNA registry compiled via a UK-based ancestry website, the investigators have a strong lead. It takes them to the doorstep of single-mom, Aisling Cooley. The events that happen next will leave both the investigators and Ms. Cooley scratching their heads. For Aisling, it's a puzzle almost too devastating to want to figure out.

Could there be a killer in the family?

Y'all, this book doesn't release until August, but I couldn't resist picking it up. I normally never, ever, ever pick up ARCs months before their actual release, but for this one, I was willing to break my own rules.

Right out the gate, Lodge shocked me with an epic Prologue. Like, that's how you start a story. Jaw on the floor, yikes, what am I getting into?! I got super invested in this mystery. I had so many different theories, but I actually hoped I wasn't correct, as I really liked all the characters involved.

In addition to this new case, I enjoying reading the continuing storylines involving our main group of recurring characters, DCI Jonah Sheens and his team. Particularly Juliette and Ben, I love them and their friendship so much.

One of the things I love most about this team is how well they work together. I feel like in a lot of stories involving people that work together, there's always some sort of drama or contempt amongst the characters.

That doesn't happen in these books. They support one another, they treat each other with respect and the camaraderie is frankly, workplace goals. Each one of them has their strengths and Sheens recognizes that and assigns them tasks accordingly. I love a happy, supportive, cohesive team, working on one myself IRL, so appreciate that representation here.

I also really enjoyed the concept of using consumer DNA services to track a killer. I just read a fantastic nonfiction book, The Forever Witness: How Genetic Genealogy Solved a Cold Case Double Murder, about that very topic, so it was fun to see its fictional use here.

This investigation was perfectly paced and the plot was structured so well. Lodge kept me guessing, and second-guessing myself, at the edge of my seat, until the exciting final scenes. Overall, A Killer in the Family is a sensational addition to the Jonah Sheens series. I absolutely loved this one. Lodge has successfully created another enticing page-turner.

Thank you so much to the publisher, Random House, for providing me with a copy to read and review. This is one of my favorite series and I hope it continues for a long time to come!!

A Killer in the Family by Gytha Lodge is the fifth book in the DCI Jonah Sheens series. This book is about a serial killer, who is known as the "bonfire killer." When a woman uploads her DNA online, the police realize that she is related to the killer, and she may be in danger herself. This was a very well-done mystery, and I enjoyed it just as I have the previous books in this series. Thanks to NetGalley for the free digital review copy. All opinions are my own.

Thank you NetGalley for letting me review this book. I honestly found it to be all over the place with too many characters to keep track of. The middle portion dragged a bit. It was a decent read, but I don’t think I will be reading any more.

I received a free Advanced Reading Copy via NetGalley in exchange for a complete and honest review.

One of the best books I've read in a long while!!

A Killer in the Family by Gytha Lodge is the 5th installment in a UK based crime series, and while you don’t have to read all the prior in the series before reading this one, there are some plot points that won’t make sense if you jump in here. The crime story itself is standalone, but the lives of the detectives are the backdrop that continues across the series so if you understand their relationships, you may enjoy the book a bit more.

In this story, the detectives are looking to solve a string of murders involving single women in their 40s who are burned on a pyre. It’s a grim premise, but there are not a ton of visual details, so it doesn’t get too gruesome. Their break in the case (this is not a spoiler) comes when a woman uploads her DNA to an ancestry site and is a match with the killer. From there, it’s a procedural crime novel with a few twists and turns.

For me, the twists were somewhat predictable, and the delivery could have been less roundabout, BUT I was into the story and enjoyed the ride. I’m not typically drawn to procedural crime mysteries, but I keep finding myself pulled to this author and series. I’m already anticipating the next in the series, especially with that ending.

Thank you to Random House Publishing Group and NetGalley for the complimentary copy, I really appreciate you!

Content warnings: Murder, Violence

ARC provided by NetGalley and the author in exchange for an honest review.

WOW! What a wild ride that was! Suspenseful, edge of your seat. The family DNA part of the mystery just kept on giving every time you thought you had it figured out!

Aisling Cooley after uploading her DNA to a genealogy website is faced with the knowledge that her DNA is a close family relation to some blood found at a crime scene of serial killer. Told through multiple POV between Aisling and the police staff we go on a journey through solving this crime and meeting it’s many many suspects.

This is part of a series of books surrounding police chief Jonah Sheen, but what I loved about it especially was that even without having read the preceding 4 books I was still able to love this book!

First, let me say I had never heard of this book series or this author, but I will certainly be hitting her backlist!

I love genealogy so when I saw this on NetGalley, it was the cover and title that first pulled me in. But it was the mention of DNA that kept me there.

It is set across the pond, but there are nods to the United States various law enforcement agencies using DNA technology to solve crimes successfully. This has really been a huge win for some of the country’s more prolific cold cases.

I have also read about people uploading their DNA and finding long lost relatives or those they never knew about.

SO, what would you do if you got a DNA match for a very close relative that you didn’t know about? What if they might be involved in a horrific crime?

Book 5 in the DCI Jonah Sheens series seeks to answer these questions and more, with twists at every turn.