A book review. A book I finished weeks ago. Suddenly moving out of my apartment meant that review had to wait. That meant today I had to skim back through the book. Remembered enjoying this book, how it entertained, made me think, and then look at places in England on maps. That would be Nathan Dylan Goodwin’s The Hop-Picker Murders. Murders in the past but no gorry details. My kind of story.
A woman contacts forensic genealogist Morton Farrier about some mysteries and loss of lives in the past. Her long-deceased aunt left a journal with some confusing entries that connected to the family’s first quarter of the 20th century tenure as hop-pickers. The history loving side of me enjoyed learning more about the life of hop-pickers and how much they relished the time away from the city. Morton also learned more about those lives, the murders, the people, while also undergoing some challenges in his own life. Chapters move back and forth between the present and the past and that worked for me as long as I paid attention. My final guess on the hop-picker murderer? Let’s pretend I had that correct.
An enjoyable read that includes using genealogy standards and techniques, knowledge about the places, and investigating to figure out what happened to long-buried people. Goodwin pulls all that together and kept me intrigued. THEN at the end of his book, he explains his research, where he researched, what is real vs fiction, people who contributed historical information, and provides a list of books that helped in the accuracy of the story. Only problem is that the book ended.
https://www.nathandylangoodwin.com/ for more information. Available in hardcover, paperback, kindle.
© 2026, Paula Stuart-Warren. All rights reserved.
