Our Lying Kin by Claudia H. Long

Our Lying Kin by Claudia H. Long

"Hello? I knew your father...better than you did."

Zara and Lilly are back, but their relationship has some cracks in it. Through the long pandemic isolation, Zara's gone from straight-laced to rigid, while Lilly, true to form, has indulged in some dubious -- and not-particularly-legal -- adventures. But they're still sisters, and sisters are special.

While Zara is visiting New York to help Lilly testify against the thief and murderer Walter Rosen, a surprise phone call rocks their view of their family: a woman claims a shocking relationship to their deceased father, and now to them. Zara and Lilly turn their considerable sleuthing talents toward unraveling a series of family mysteries...but their quest begins in earnest when they learn that Rosen, who nearly killed Lilly the last time they met, has escaped from custody.

Can Zara and Lilly discover the truth about their newfound -- possibly ersatz -- relative, while keeping themselves and their loved ones safe from a Nazi's vengeance?

Laced with verbal photographs of a family's secrets, and filled with humor, sibling rivalry, and love, Our Lying Kin tells a human, haunting and rollicking story of the ravages of the pandemic and the power of family.

I am novelist Claudia H. Long, and here you can read all about me, my historical fiction novels, and follow the latest book news and events. I’m a weaver of words, catcher of dreams, and chronicler of the spaces between the lines in the history books: women’s stories, women’s dreams, her-story. In my alternate life I’m a new grandmother of two spectacular grandsons, mother of two marvelous kids, chocolate-loving lawyer-mediator, wife and cook.

My books live in rich historical settings that show the lives, loves, and lusts of women immersed in a society that they want to be a part of, but as themselves. Jewish women living as Catholics in colonial Mexico. Professional female writers struggling to effect change in early 20th Century California. Cryptojudaic feminist historical fiction sounds like a mouthful, but at their heart my books are sweeping romantic tales.