Book Review: Bad Blood

Reviewed By: Carol - SLC - RAM

Bad Blood     Amazon US HC Amazon UK HC Amazon Canada HC
Geraldine Evans
Class/Genre:   Mystery   Police Procedural
Series: DI Rafferty and Sergeant Llewellyn # 7
Severn House Publishers Inc, 2005, 200 pgs, $27.95 (hc)

Bad Blood is Geraldine Evans’ newest installment in her Detective Inspector Rafferty and Sergeant Llewellyn series and it gives a whole new meaning to the term “dysfunctional family.” It also finds the usually staid DI Rafferty nonplussed when faced with his own family crises.

The novel is written in such a manner that while part of a series, it can certainly be read as a stand alone without causing the reader to feel anything of import is missing. Ms. Evans is quite adept at using dialogue to flesh out her characters, especially those of her protagonists Rafferty and Llewellyn.

This book definitely lives up to the hype generated by the prior books in the series. It finds Rafferty and Llewellyn investigating the violent murder of Clara Mortimer, a wealthy elderly woman living alone in an heretofore secure gated community. There is no shortage of suspects as family secrets are uncovered and neighborhood grudges revealed. The reader is kept guessing, and the denouement comes as a complete surprise.

Well done, Ms. Evans! I look forward to the next installment in your R&L series!

Carol - SLC - RAM

Reprinted with permission. Do Not repost without permission from the author, Carol - SLC - RAM