If you want to learn how to use DNA in researching family history, you would do well to read the Venator Cold Case series written by Nathan Dylan Goodwin. The stories are set in the USA and revolve around an investigative genetic genealogist (IGG) and her small team. Each person has specific expertise valuable in helping to trace and identify people in cases that have so far proven unsolvable.

One of Venator’s primary clients is law enforcement, and in the most recent Venator story, The Hollywood Strangler, one of the country’s biggest unsolved cold cases arrives for the Venator team to get stuck into. They’re both shocked and excited. Can they discover who was behind multiple deaths in 1980s Hollywood? An officer from the LAPD Cold Case Unit hopes so, because he’s determined to retire after this, his last case, one with which it turns out he has an historic connection.

As I’ve come to expect from Nathan Dylan Goodwin, the plot reels you in and twists and turns. The Venator team are experienced, yet fallible, and along with the central mystery, they each have other IGG projects which are slowly revealed as the series progresses. There are unexpected topics woven in, and sub-plots running through the series include issues and secrets from the personal lives of each of the characters, which sometimes complicate their work lives as well. Some themes explored may be more confronting than those of regular genealogical research, but remain realistic and make you think.

You will, if you’re anything like me, find yourself stopping to write reminders about something, or jumping straight into a new avenue for your own research.