Books by G.G. Vandagriff
Voices In Your Blood: Discovering Identity Through Family History
Because I am a mystery enthusiast, this how-to genealogy book is written as a mystery. It is currently out of print, but can often be found on-line. It needs to be updated to account for modern technology (it was written in 1993), and I have been asked to do a new edition, but haven’t done it yet!
Cankered Roots
Because I am a genealogy enthusiast, my mysteries naturally feature genealogy sleuths—Alexandra Campbell and Brighamina Poulson. Alex reunites with her parents for the first time in eighteen years, and the result is murder! In order to solve it, she and Briggie have to uncover the secrets in her own family tree, discovering in the process why she was sent away to Paris at age eighteen. A recent convert to the LDS church, she is still grieving over the death of her husband, but is powerfully attracted to Daniel Grinnell, a psychotherapist who knows just a little too much about her for comfort.
Of Deadly Descent
Alex and Briggie go to France and then to Oxford, on the track of cousins Alex discovered in Cankered Roots who will possibly disinherit her. They scarcely arrive in Oxford before one of her cousins is killed. Was it murder? Did it have anything to do with their search? If so, who even knew they were coming? While trying to answer these questions, they uncover among her relatives a number of secrets someone would kill for. In the midst of her sleuthing, Alex attracts the attention of Charles Lamb, an impossibly handsome bachelor who is used to having women fall at his feet.
Tangled Roots
Accompany Alex on her attempt to unravel a family tree that proves to have more branches than she bargained for, not to mention a murderer, a misappropriated fortune, and a family secret someone is willing to kill for! As she grapples with this unwieldy job, she is also trying to learn to get to know her mother, whom tragedy separated from her as a teenager. A recent convert to the Church, she is still trying to trust God and discover the true essence of forgiveness. On top of all these issues, she also has serious conflicts in matters of the heart. Should she marry the charming Englishman Charles, who courts her so exquisitely, or the down-to-earth Daniel who knows her better than anyone?
© 2007 - G.G. Vandagriff
All rights reserved.
Photograph by William Whitaker
Voices in Your Blood
can usually be found
as a used book on
Amazon.com
The Arthurian Omen
In the tradition of Mary Higgins Clark, The Arthurian Omen takes Maren Southcott to Wales on a hunt for an ancient manuscript that precipitated her sister's murder. Her own life in peril, she is also dodging a stalker/psychopath who is fomenting a Welsh revolution. Darting from castle to monastery in search of this relic that could prove the identity of King Arthur, she is unprepared for tragedy to strike at the heart of her family, impelling her to find the manuscript before MI5, Scotland Yard, her former husband, and a Celtic professor with extraordinary eyes.
Click here to read an excerpt from The Arthurian Omen
Deliverance from Depression - Finding Hope and Healing Through the Atonement of Christ
Clinical depression brings turmoil, despair, and pain that can crush the well-being of itsvictims and their loved ones. But the merciful power of the Atonement can lift even thisheavy burden.
This inspiring guide portrays the experience of the Vandagriff family, which struggled under depression for more than twenty-five years before relief came through the grace of Jesus Christ. G.G. Vandagriff and her son, Gregory, suffered the physical and emotional effects of depression, while David Vandagriff endured the deep difficulty of trying to support his wife and son during the turbulent years of their illness. Yet in the midst of great strife, the family saw the hand of God revealed in the form of inspired physicians, effective medications, and, most importantly, the direct influence of the Spirit.
Written in turns by mother, son, and father, this poignant and uplifting account shows how to rely on the Spirit during times of adversity and draw on the Savior's blessings of peace, hope, and healing.
Click Here to Read an Excerpt from Deliverance from Depression
Poisoned Pedigree
Is there such a thing as “bad blood?” Take a rifle-toting grandmother and a recently engaged young widow, combine with a passion for genealogy, and you have RootSearch, Inc, dedicated to unraveling complicated family trees. The most recent client of Alexandra Campbell and her associate, Briggie, is a famous singer who at the age of thirty-seven wants to marry and have a family but is terrified by childhood memories of whispers of a family curse and “bad blood.” The investigation leads to a remote Ozarks town and a strange woman known as the Keeper, who holds secrets that turn out to be deadly. Her sudden murder leaves Alex and Briggie no alternative but to piece together the mystery of a 150-year old scrapbook and tombstones in the local cemetery with cryptic references to a lynching. It takes all of Alex and Briggie’s ingenuity to discover the source of the “bad blood” and escape death deep in the Missouri woods.
Click Here to Read an Excerpt from Poisoned Pedigree
In December 1913, the city of Vienna glitters with promises of the future for nineteen-year-old Amalia Faulhaber. Daughter of a prominent merchant, she is schooled in the fine art of flirtation by her aristocratic grandmother and in issues of conscience by her socialist uncle. Then, almost without warning, life takes a dramatic turn as simmering political unrest escalates into World War I, the most deadly war the world has yet known.
Amalia is devastated when the Prussian baron Eberhard von Waldburg breaks off their engagement to return to Germany and a commission in the army. But while Europe descends into darkness, Amalia is forced to confront even greater challenges. Disillusioned and heartbroken, she discovers a budding passion for democracy that sets her life on a new and unpredictable course.
Her family torn apart and impoverished by war, Amalia struggles to find her way in a changing world. Should she marry an idealistic young doctor who shares her political views or the wealthy Baron von Schoenenburg, who promises to provide safety and security in a violent, tumultuous time? Her growing political conscience sets her apart in the social circles of Vienna, but is it worth the personal cost to her and her family? And what can she do when her beloved Austria rushes headlong to embrace Hitler, threatening to destroy everything she loves?
In this gripping tale of love and war, a dazzling young socialite of the old world contends with deeply contradictory notions and personal crises to become a woman who would be extraordinary in any age.
Click here to read an Excerpt from
The Last Waltz
The Hidden Branch
When the murder of Armenian-American billionaire inventor Paul Mardian takes Alex and Briggie to Huntington Beach (aka "surf city"), California to hunt for heirs, Briggie is immediately smitten with ideas of wetsuits and boogie boards.
Alex believes the killer is a relative of the victim, but her pursuit of the truth nearly costs another life--her own. So many suspects, so little time. Could it be the real estate typcoon with the trophy wife? The pompous attorney who spends every cent he makes on high living? The professor of Middle Eastern studies with a penchant for American antiquities? Or even the darlky handsome surfer who has more than a passing interest in Alex?
While her fiance struggles with a crisis of faith, Alex searches for answers, putting her life on the line, yet again, to discover the missing link that will solve this captivating mystery.
