Torie O’Shea Books In Order

Publication Order of Torie O'Shea Books

Torie O’Shea (Series by Rett MacPherson)
Author Rett MacPherson writes the “Torie O’Shea” series of cozy mystery novels. The series began publication in the year 1997, when “Family Skeletons” was released.

This delightful series features Victory “Torie” O’Shea, a genealogist and amateur sleuth, and is perfect for fans of the cozy genre. Set in the tiny town of New Kassel, Missouri, Torie uses her abilities for untangling and tracing family trees to help out in solving murders (whether new or old) and track down missing persons, among some other enigmas.

“Family Skeletons” is the first novel in the “Torie O’Shea” series and was released in the year 1997. Norah Zumwalt, a local shop owner, asks Victory O’Shea to trace her family tree, Torie never believed dreamed that it would lead to murder. Torie is the resident tour guide of the historic German town of New Kassel, genealogist, and historian.

Even though she knows that she is overworked already, she cheerfully agrees to this job just because it is so intriguing: she will learn whatever happened to Norah’s dad, who left to serve in World War II but never came back, and his ancestors, about whom Norah knows next to nothing. As luck would have it, Torie gets some pretty surprising answers for Norah quickly, however when she attempts to tell Norah about what she learned, she puts Torie off before disappearing.

Torie finally heads to Norah’s home to give her the news in person, just to find the poor woman was murdered in her own home. Torie soon realizes that she could have stumbled onto a mystery more complex, not to mention more dangerous, than the question of Norah’s ancestors, and that by nosing around, she has put herself into harm’s way.

Struggling to balance the murder investigation with her work and caring for her family is tough already, however when the mighty Mississippi floods, which threatens her home and even New Kassel itself, it may be all that Torie can do just keeping her head above water. Especially if there is somebody trying to force her under.

Readers found this novel to be a ton of fun, and Rett is a fantastic writer that pulls you into the story quickly. She is quite humorous and the story flows rather well. Torie is a spunky main character, and how can you not love this tiny old town filled with quirky people. And there’s a murder to solve. Torie and her family make the story scary, fun, and simply laugh out loud funny.

“A Veiled Antiquity” is the second novel in the “Torie O’Shea” series and was released in the year 1998. Torie’s at it again.

The open door of Marie Dijon’s house is like an invitation to Torie, and her curiosity gets the better of her. It’s not her fault, right? Torie just happens to be around when Marie’s found crumpled at the foot of her own basement stairs, in her pajamas. Did Marie really just trip and fall, or is it possible she pushed? Marie was a newcomer to tiny New Kassel, so nobody appears all that interested.

However when Torie hears about Marie’s rather strange will, try as she might, she cannot resist doing a bit of amateur sleuthing. However by now, she has gone too far. Between figuring out what actually happened and keeping up with her own hectic life: her two kids, her marriage, her job at the historical society, and her mom’s developing relationship with the sheriff, never a nosy amateur’s favorite person, she’s in way, way over her head.

This book features an incredibly clever plot twist, and is a clever read. This one features an enjoyable and well thought out mystery that is just complex enough to keep you guessing, as well as some great shenanigans that surround it.

“A Comedy of Heirs” is the third novel in the “Torie O’Shea” series and was released in the year 1999. Torie finds that her own family is rooted in murder.

The December yearly O’Shea family reunion is just getting going when town historian and genealogist Torie O’Shea finds a bad apple in her family tree. Somebody has sent her several newspaper clippings reporting a fifty-year-old unsolved murder. The dead guy is her great-grandpa that was shot on his own front porch as his family was trapped in the house.

Everyone knows great-grandpa Keith died during a hunting accident. Or was he? Between the surprising news that she is yet again in the “family way” and fussing over the way too many houseguests, children, she gets the sneaking suspicion that the truth could be equally as lethal as it was fifty years prior.

Before long she is shaking the family tree, never anticipating the stunning truths that are ready to drop, along with a motive for murder which could mean it is history for Torie, too.

There are a lot of layers, suspects, and red herrings, which keeps things moving quickly in this interesting read.

“A Misty Mourning” is the fourth novel in the “Torie O’Shea” series and was released in the year 2000. Going on a ten hour car trip with your eighty-year-old grandma is never that fun, particularly when you are seven months pregnant. However when Torie’s longtime family friend Clarissa Hart Campbell insists that both she and Grandma Gert come to visit at her West Virginia boarding house, they can’t say no to the 101-year-old dynamo.

Torie and Gert, upon arriving, find that Clarissa has called together her whole family for the reading of her new will. However everything’s happening much too quickly, even for Clari, as the very next morning, she is found murdered in her bed. The new will stands, and her attorney follows through on the old woman’s wishes to settle some eighty-year-old debt to Torie’s great-grandma. The Panther Run Boarding House now belongs to Torie.

Torie, mystified by this, has to put her genealogy skills to work and determine what secrets worth murdering for might be hiding in the dilapidated boarding house and the Campbell family story, all before it is too late.