Sins of the Fathers

Sins of the Fathers is an excellent who-done-it with great timing, personable characters and a tight story line. A. J. McCarthy brings us a novel that is difficult to put down. Set for the most part in Canada, I enjoyed this seldom explored background, and found all the characters in this tale are memorable and well rounded. I will look for more from A. J. McCarthy.


I received a free electronic copy of this novel from Netgalley,A. J. McCarthy and Black Rose Writing. Thank you all for sharing your hard work with me.

I received an ARC from the publisher, Black Rose Writing, and Netgalley. Thank you!

This story is a mystery and provides the reader with a lot of suspense and twists and turns and danger, but is still very charming and endearing at the same time. The characters are well developed and I feel that I really got to know the characters; the main character Charlie Butler and her friend and employee, Frank and the Simms, the private investigator.
The intrigue centers around family secrets and lies. The story is well developed and the story flows beautifully and will keep you reading for hours.
Charlie Butler, runs a bar that she had inherited from one her father’s best friends. She start receiving seemingly non- threatening but nevertheless creepy letters in the mail. On advice of Frank she hires a Private Investigator to help her find out who done it. The story takes many twist and turn and you do not see the ending coming. The background of the story is the lovely city of Quebec, which is a rarity intself. I highly recommend this book and the writer as her style is so easy to read.

I would like to thank Netgalley and Black Rose Writing for a review copy of Sins of the Father, a stand alone mystery set in Montreal.

When Charlie Butler receives a strange, anonymous letter she shrugs it off but as more arrive she gets uneasy so at her best friend Frank's urging she takes them to the police. With no overt threat in them there isn't much the police can do so Frank encourages her to hire PI, Simm. As Simm and Charlie investigate things take a dangerous turn.

I enjoyed Sins of the Father which has a well conceived plot and some unlikely twists and turns. It is probably more graphic than I expected at points, given that the initial tone is quite cosy, but it all fits together well. I think the tone of the letters is especially well done as they are creepy, unsettling and menacing despite containing no threats.

I can't say I took to Charlie who is wilful, obstinate and obstructive for no obvious reason although there is a sub Mills and Boon attraction simmering between her and Simm so that probably explains it. I didn't find her a particularly convincing character which slightly spoiled my enjoyment of a good, interesting adventure. Apart from that Sins of the Father is a good, page turning read which held my attention throughout.

Good story ,good characters. An unusual thriller with some interesting twists and turns. Complex characters who all have their own troubled back story.

Charlie Butler is receiving strange letters delivered to her home. They are all written by the same hand, but the writer uses different names. They aren't threatening, but creepy enough that she reports them to the police. They don't seem to be interested, so her best friend, Frank, introduces her to Simm .. a private investigator.

Charlie and Simm start off on the wrong foot. It's like mixing water and oil. Charlie is very private about her life and hesitates to share anything with SImm. How is supposed to track down who's sending the letters if she doesn't tell him anything?

Things escalate when her home is broken into and then the bar that she owns. Whoever it is even goes as far as kidnapping her beloved dog, Harley, and then returns him with a note asking how it feels to lose someone she loves.

Simm and Charlie team up and their investigation leads them from the Canadian Mafia to the underground of Dublin, Ireland. They find themselves in more danger than they dreamed. And what they discover is something Charlie never saw coming.

This is a fictional mystery composed in a competent and entertaining style. The characters are extremely likeable and memorable. The story premise is a good one with a few small twists thrown in for good measure, leading the reader into a surprising direction.

Many thanks to the author / Black Rose Writing / Netgalley for the digital copy. Opinions expressed here are unbiased and entirely my own.

This book had lots of twists and turns and a great read.

Charlie Butler owns a pub and she starts to receive some strange letters. She goes to the police who will not do anything, so her best friend makes her go to a private eye to find out what and who are sending the letters.

The book takes us through the underworld of organised crime in Canada and Ireland.

This is a good book that kept me reading long into the night.

I would have liked to have liked Charlie but there was something about her that I could not relate to thats why its getting 4 stars not 5.

Thank you Netgalley and Black Rose Writing for the eARC.
This was a fun book, with a good cast of characters (especially Harley the Pug!) and two of my favorite locations: Montreal and Dublin.
Charlie Butler has a happy life; she loves working in the pub she owns alongside her best friend Frank and walking Harley through her neighborhood. Everyone knows and greets them.
Things change when she starts receiving strange notes in the mail. They're not threatening, but signed in different names in the same handwriting. When she receives a bag of body parts and bloody posters of missing children, it's obvious the danger is being ratcheted up and Frank talks her into hiring a PI, Simms.
At first there is tension between Charlie and Simms. She hates having someone digging into her life and past, but realizes they must find the 'stalker', especially when Harley is kidnapped.
Simms and her end up following a lead as far away as Dublin, Ireland. I enjoyed that part of the book, there are some funny scenes in a pub that had me giggling...the Irish language can be hilarious, love it.
I'm always excited to find books set in Canada and would recommend this one highly.