FAIRHOPE, Ala. — It’s been said that when death walks in the door, love flies out the window. In Sharon Pott’s new novel, “In Their Blood,” a brutal double murder causes familial love to fly in many directions before it is able, finally, to come home to rest.

In many respects, Elise and Jeremy Stroeb were typical modern young people. The children of well educated parents, they were used to a rather privileged lifestyle on exclusive Lotus Island in Miami Beach, Florida. However, all was not well in the Stroeb household. Even Geezer, the old family dog, could sense something was amiss.

D.C. and Rachael Stroeb had a strong, passionate marriage that had endured 25 years of togetherness, but they were experiencing a rocky patch with their 22-year-old son, Jeremy. Father and son were at odds with one another, so much so that Jeremy had fled to Europe to escape the sphere of his father.

Younger sister, Elise, was a typical 16 year old. She loved her parents but chafed at their restrictions on her freedom. It would be rare to find a teenager prepared to deal with the death of a parent let alone the slaying of both parents, and after her parents were gunned down in their bed, Elise Stroeb was no exception. She was lost, alone and fearful for her own safety.

While Jeremy was no longer a teenager, in many respects he still acted like one. He had become so aloof and disconnected from his family, he could not be contacted in time to get back to the states for his parents’ funeral. When he did arrive, he was filled with grief and remorse. Jeremy knew he had also let his sister down by his absence.

He quickly tried to step up his game and prepared to assume responsibility for his sister, their home and to assist the authorities in finding out who had mercilessly killed their parents. The murder was puzzling. There just wasn’t any logical answer as to why anyone would want to murder a professor of international economics along with his wife, who was a revered partner in a leading CPA firm.

Of course there were plenty of suspects: D.C.’s grasping younger brother, Dwight; graduate assistant Marina Champlain or perhaps some of the professor's radical students. A few of Rachael’s CPA firm cohorts along with a couple of her clients rounded out the cast of potential perpetrators. Jeremy set out to find the guilty person.

However, he didn’t stay on track long. For almost two-thirds of the way through this book, you will want to ring this character’s neck. The author has crafted a frustrating but very real protagonist in Jeremy. Anyone who has raised a strong-willed child will find Jeremy antagonizingly real. He and Elise slowly make some steps toward maturity as they uncover surprising truths about their parents and their associates in their search for the murderer’s motive and identity. You may kibitz at them while you read, but underneath you are rooting for them all the way.

For a first novel, Sharon Potts has woven a most interesting family tale.