When twenty-five-year-old Mary Stuart learns she inherited a farm from her recently murdered grandparents — grandparents her father claimed had died before she was born — she becomes obsessed with finding out who they were and why someone wanted them dead. Along the way she accumulates a crew of feisty octogenarians — former gangsters and friends of her grandfather. She meets and falls in love Tim Olson, whose grandfather shared a deadly secret with her great-grandfather. Now Mary and Tim need to stay one step ahead of the killer who is desperate to dig up that secret.
Daughter Am I
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Book Description
Editorial Reviews
Review
A group of spunky octogenarians joins a woman on a search to discover the truth about the grandparents she never knew she had. After inheriting the farm of her estranged, murdered grandparents, Mary Louise Stuart discovers photos and an address book in the Colorado farmhouse and becomes obsessed with finding out who her grandparents were and who would want them dead. With each question, another senior citizen joins the quest - former friends and gangsters with names like Crunchy, Iron Sam, Happy, Lila Lorraine. The mystery deepens with each stop in their whirlwind tour of the Midwest: who's following them? A love interest ensues between Mary and Tim Olsen, whose grandpa was good friends with her great-grandfather. While the author certainly researched the history of the Mafia, too many of the numerous historical asides - and subplots - are tacked on under the guise of story time, making the story drag with detail abut Wyatt Earp, the JFK assassination and bootleggers. But underneath the relentless bouts of story time is a delightful treasure-hunting tale of finding one's self in a most unlikely way. -- manuscript review by Publishers Weekly, an independent organization
Mary didn't know she had Grandparents till the lawyer called to tell her that she'd inherited everything from them. Turns out, the pair were murdered together. Her father won't talk about his parents and the more she digs, the more she wants to find out what happened to her mysterious family. -- Amazon Top Reviewer
Mary didn't know she had Grandparents till the lawyer called to tell her that she'd inherited everything from them. Turns out, the pair were murdered together. Her father won't talk about his parents and the more she digs, the more she wants to find out what happened to her mysterious family. -- Amazon Top Reviewer
About the Author
Pat Bertram is a native of Colorado and a lifelong resident. When the traditional publishers stopped publishing her favorite type of book -- character and story driven novels that can't easily be slotted into a genre -- she decided to write her own. More Deaths Than One and A Spark of Heavenly Fire are Bertram's first two novels.
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More About the Author
Pat Bertram is a native of Colorado. When the traditional publishers stopped publishing her favorite type of book -- character and story driven novels that can't easily be slotted into a genre -- she decided to write her own. Second Wind Publishing liked her style and published four of Bertram's novels: Light Bringer, Daughter Am I, More Deaths Than One, and A Spark of Heavenly Fire. Second Wind also published Grief: The Great Yearning, a compilation of letters, blog posts, and journal entries Pat Bertram wrote while struggling to survive her first year of grief after the death of her soul mate. Bertram blogs about writing and the writing life at http://ptbertram.wordpress.com
Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
24 of 25 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Teach teaches, Crunchy crunches, or would if he weren't getting too old, and other assorted folk of increasing years join up for the ride. I love the way the author collects her characters in Daughter am I, each interacting for just long enough to establish recognizable voice before the search moves on. The stories in this novel roll with the wheels of the bus, round and round through the tortuous history of Midwestern mobs, to the mystery of Mary's grandparents' demise... and on to a sort of grown-up Secret Seven treasure hunt, with all its curious side-journeys, dangerous foes, missing gold and mixed-up relationships.
Pat Bertram is a recently published author, and this is her third novel (already!). She's published with a small publisher called Second Wind, and if you haven't heard of her, or them, you might want to jump on the bandwagon now before Pat gets famous. She has a distinctive writing style, with good old-fashioned plots that drive forwards on the innocent enthusiasm of youth, and with characters that straightforwardly narrate their tales. But the stories Pat tells are thoroughly modern too, with up-to-date scientific and historical research, complex scenarios, and hints of next year's secrets and the next decade's headlines. Her characters are wonderful and flawed, old enough to have those tales to tell, and lively enough to have tales to build as well.
In this book I learned why the Syndicate's not the Mafia, how to read a serial number that's been filed off a gun, and how many people die per second in the United States. I learned about time and politics and attitudes, and even a bit about myself. There's gold in these pages, a gold standard you can really believe in, and treasure in the "elders" who seek it. Don't miss this book; don't avoid it just because you can't guess the genre. It's whatever you're looking for, and truly, while some of the characters may have been con-artists, that's not a con.
Pat Bertram is a recently published author, and this is her third novel (already!). She's published with a small publisher called Second Wind, and if you haven't heard of her, or them, you might want to jump on the bandwagon now before Pat gets famous. She has a distinctive writing style, with good old-fashioned plots that drive forwards on the innocent enthusiasm of youth, and with characters that straightforwardly narrate their tales. But the stories Pat tells are thoroughly modern too, with up-to-date scientific and historical research, complex scenarios, and hints of next year's secrets and the next decade's headlines. Her characters are wonderful and flawed, old enough to have those tales to tell, and lively enough to have tales to build as well.
In this book I learned why the Syndicate's not the Mafia, how to read a serial number that's been filed off a gun, and how many people die per second in the United States. I learned about time and politics and attitudes, and even a bit about myself. There's gold in these pages, a gold standard you can really believe in, and treasure in the "elders" who seek it. Don't miss this book; don't avoid it just because you can't guess the genre. It's whatever you're looking for, and truly, while some of the characters may have been con-artists, that's not a con.
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful
This is the ultimate page turner. The author created a world so effortlessly, I turned pages unaware that I was turning them. I felt as if I was watching the stories unfold before me. The descriptions and dialogue are so real it is amazing storytelling. Mary's character is so endearing, so innocent yet strong willed and so likeable. The story has me hooked. If I could I would've read the entire book in one sitting. Once I got started I couldn't put it down. There is so much suspense and intrigue in just the first two chapters. I wish I could read the whole thing in one sitting.
I don't want to spoil it but its A MUST READ. Pat Bertram is a magician that has you spellbound and eager for more. This is a masterful display of writing and some of the best writing I have read in a long time!!!
I don't want to spoil it but its A MUST READ. Pat Bertram is a magician that has you spellbound and eager for more. This is a masterful display of writing and some of the best writing I have read in a long time!!!
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
Pat Bertram provides a compelling beginning to DAUGHTER AM I. The dialogue is believable and true to her well-drawn and intriguing characters. Settings are very visual and I felt right there with her heroine, Mary. Foreshadowing as to what will come next is presented nicely as well. These few pages certainly make me want to read much more. An excellent choice as semi-finalist to the contest.
Most Recent Customer Reviews
4.0 out of 5 stars
With colourful characters, leftovers from the long gone age of the...
In Daughter Am I, Pat Bertram has created an entertaining tale of friendship, discovery, and mystery filled with diverse characters who are instantly likeable. Read more
Published 4 months ago by lvgaudet
4.0 out of 5 stars
A Wild Ride
They say you can pick your friends but you are stuck with your relatives. When Mary Stuart discovers her grandparents were murdered, she sets off on a quest to find some answers. Read more
Published 11 months ago by S M Senden
5.0 out of 5 stars
As rivotting as the wizard of oz
DAUGHTER AM I--PAT BERTRAM-KINDLE EDTION.
Mary Stuart has grandparents or had grandparents, but they were murdered and she has inherited their farm. Read more
Mary Stuart has grandparents or had grandparents, but they were murdered and she has inherited their farm. Read more
Published 17 months ago by Karen H. Vaughan
5.0 out of 5 stars
A Wonderful Adventure
Pat Bertram's suspense novel "Daughter Am I is a journey in the true sense of the word. Though the story takes place in modern times and mostly on the road, members of Mary... Read more
Published 21 months ago by Joylene L. Butler
5.0 out of 5 stars
Thoroughly researched
When Mary Stuart inherits a farm from grandparents she thought had died before she was born, she begins a quest to learn more about them and find out why they were murdered. Read more
Published on February 25, 2011 by Michael Murphy
5.0 out of 5 stars
Baby Boomers Will Especially Enjoy!
I had just finished reading the new humorous book about aging by Jeanne Kraus when I turned to read Daughter Am I by Pat Bertram. Read more
Published on July 16, 2010 by Glenda A Bixler
4.0 out of 5 stars
More than a mystery
Daughter Am I brings to life a gang of characters that I came to care about as much as I did about unraveling the mysteries of the protagonist's grandparents. Read more
Published on December 22, 2009 by M.Hoffman
4.0 out of 5 stars
More than a mystery
Daughter Am I brings to life a gang of characters that I came to care about as much as I did about unraveling the mysteries of the protagonist's grandparents. Read more
Published on December 19, 2009 by M.Hoffman
5.0 out of 5 stars
A sharp mystery with humor and memorable characters
Colorado author Pat Bertram follows up "More Deaths Than One" and "A Spark of Heavenly Fire" with a mystery about a young woman on a discovery quest to learn who were grandparents... Read more
Published on October 30, 2009 by Malcolm R. Campbell
4.0 out of 5 stars
Daughter Am I
In "Daughter Am I" by Pat Bertram, Mary finds out she had grandparents after she inherits their farm when they are murdered. Read more
Published on October 21, 2009 by grumpydan
