Italian geneological mystery

Blood Washes Blood is the account of a man trying to find out the story of his great grandfather and namesake, a Sicilian. On his deathbed, His grandfather whispers to him the name of his great grandfather's murderer. Viviano feels compelled to return to his ancestral homeland to try to unwind the story of what really happened.

He goes to Sicily and lives there for long periods of time, goes to the parish and civic archives to sift through baptism, marriage, and death records (sound familiar?). He also finds old maps of the area, looks at newspaper articles, and on and on. Lots of tedious work. He also puts together the historical time period, including the formation of il potere, also known as the Mafia, in order to piece together a story. What he finds out is fascinating, an interesting twist at the end, that explains why his parents married and sheds light into his own personal identity.

Pretty interesting book. I didn't like the portions where he fictionalizes the history in a novel like way. It felt a little too detailed for a general audience, more appropriate perhaps for his family. I got a bit lost in the historical details. His dedication to solving the mystery were admirable and it made me think that I shoudl get back to my Italian history. The reason I picked it up: I heard about it on a yahoo groups list for Italian geneological research.