The Missing Man (A Morton Farrier Novella)

The Forensic Genealogist, Book 6

By: Nathan Dylan Goodwin

Narrated by: Ian Pringle

It was to be the most important case of Morton Farrier’s career in forensic genealogy so far. A case that had eluded him for many years: Finding his own father. Harley "Jack" Jacklin disappeared just six days after a fatal fire at his Cape Cod home on Christmas Eve in 1976, leaving no trace behind. Now his son, Morton must travel to the East Coast of America to unravel the family’s dark secrets in order to discover what happened to him.

This is the sixth book in the Morton Farrier genealogical crime mystery series, although it can be enjoyed as a stand-alone story.

©2017 Nathan Dylan Goodwin (P)2020 Nathan Dylan Goodwin

Will Morton find his father in America??

If you're a Morton Farrier fan, don't miss this episode, which is completely devoted to his search for his own family. I felt sorry for the narrator, though - a Brit tackling American accents. He made a valiant effort, but the Boston and various Yankee accents are notoriously hard to get right. I couldn't resist a chuckle, having lived in Western Massachusetts for many years - everything east of the Connecticut River was a foreign land. I guess this is how Americans sound to English people when we try to speak with a British accent - muddling together a variety of dialects!

Excellent Story!

Nathan Goodwin once again created an excellent genealogical mystery. I really enjoy this series, and following Morton Farrier's adventures. The characters are nicely developed and the stories are really good! This book is no exception, especially because it deals with Morton's own family mystery. I listen to audiobooks mainly because it's the only way I can make time to enjoy fiction these days. I have never complained about a narrator, and I hate to do so now, but Ian Pringle wasn't a great choice for this particular book. Massachusetts accents aren't easy. They aren't easy for Americans and unfortunately for Ian, they aren't easy for the British. As someone from Massachusetts, I found his narration of American characters PAINFUL. Word to the wise for future narration: don't even try to do the Massachusetts accent. And please, please, please don't do a southern American accent. In fact, don't even bother with the accent! Just read it straight!

Great story, voice issues

The story is well written and continues the adventures of Morton. The English male voice bits are fine. The English women are voiced as twits which isn’t how they are written. The American accents are abysmal and detract from the listening experience. As an American, it’s hard to hear characters supposedly from one part of the country voiced with bad accents from other parts of the country. Like a voiceover of The Queen speaking in Liverpudlian accent, the the next minute Cockney.

Love Morton Farrier series

This book lived up to my expectations and kept me involved and interested the entire time as Morton solves his biggest case yet - locating his birth father. As a lover of genealogy and mysteries this series never fails to be satisfying to me

Narrators attempt at American accent mars the entire production

The story is a reliably great one. The amateurish attempt at an American accent, specifically the Boston accent, made it impossible to concentrate on the story, however. I tried listening to it when it first came out but had to drop it. Trying again in 2025. As an Eastern Mass. native some details are off, like 11 straight days of sub-zero on Cape Cod.