My Sister-My Mother, My Uncle-My Father – Fingering the Family Jewels by Greg Lilly

Greg Lilly’s Fingering the Family Jewels is a wonderful, witty romp of a mystery with such an incredible twisted denouement you’re left breathless at its audacity. And it works.

Lilly gives us a wonderfully diverse roster of characters ranging from the very likable and sympathetic hero/protagonist, Derek Mason to a crusty, bigoted daughter-lusting Grandfather. Lilly can flesh out a character in a couple of pages better than most writers can do in a whole chapter. You can’t help but fall in love with Derek’s maiden aunt, lust after his new boyfriend, hate his mother, “the bitch” and be repelled by yet attracted to his handsome and sexy ex-lover-cum-cousin.

But it’s in his descriptions of the (dysfunctional) family dynamics where Lilly’s talent really heats up. Derek Mason is surrounded by a circle of women whose sole life-mission seems to be to protect him from some unspeakable family history - there’s his relentless and frigid mother, a feisty maiden aunt, the delusional but still matriarchal grandmother, and an overly devoted older sister.

On the other hand the male members of his family all seem determined to screw him at every turn (and in some cases, literally!); we meet the bigoted right-wing uncle who will do everything to keep his family in power, a closeted cousin who subordinates his sexuality and personal dreams for the sake of the family, and the family patriarch who’s motto seemed to be, if I want it I’ll take it.

Themes of sibling love, sexuality, hidden truths, family rivalry, race relations, and incest are all explored in this funny, sexy, fast-paced, and very twisted mystery. You’ll like it.