Family Skeletons

Bobbie O’Keefe
Five Star Publishing (2011)
ISBN 9781432824990
Reviewed by Leslie Granier for Reader Views (4/11)

 

Sunny Corday’s father has been missing for seven years and is now declared legally dead. His Victorian beach house in Northern California has been left to her, along with Jonathan, a distant cousin she had never met. As Sunny and Jonathan spend time cleaning out the old house, they make a gruesome discovery - a baseball bat that appears to have been used as a weapon. Along with the police, they try to determine if Sunny’s father was murdered, where his body is, and why someone would want him dead. When Sunny subsequently becomes a target of violence, they must also figure out if someone is after her specifically or if he or she is trying to prevent a secret from being revealed.

The plot of “Family Skeletons” is good but it is truly the characters that make the book shine. In Sunny and Jonathan, the author creates two people who live completely opposite lifestyles and have little, if anything, in common. Sunny is the outspoken and spunky heroine who has led a difficult life. Being abandoned by her father when she was young was only the beginning of her struggles. She suffered through two bad marriages and a drug addiction. Jonathan, on the other hand, is a laid back ophthalmologist who has led a trouble-free life. When their personalities clash the author infuses humor to the story, which relieves some of the seriousness of the subject matter.

The author does a fine job of stringing the story along at a good pace. She reveals information about Sunny’s father's past as needed instead of all at once. She also provides numerous possibilities as to who may have wanted to harm him. This kept me guessing as to what really happened and forced me to consider different angles.

“Family Skeletons” will appeal to an adult female audience. Mystery and scandal are what make the plot juicy. But the different relationships in the story - familial, platonic, and romantic - add a dimension that helps the reader identify with the characters more closely. Although there is a lot of drama in this book, there is also a good bit of humor to provide a nice contrast.

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