Book Review: Blue Mercy

Reviewed By: Harriet Klausner

Blue Mercy     Amazon US PB Amazon Canada PB
Illona Haus
Class/Genre:   Mystery   Psychological Suspense   Thriller   Woman Main Character
Pocket, May 2005, $6.99, 384 pp.

Fourteen months ago, Homicide Detective Kay Delaney and her partner Spence knocked on the door of Bernard Eales’ home to question him in the deaths of three prostitutes. When he opened the door, he is high on meth and beats Kay so badly he puts her in the hospital and gets her gun and kills Spence. There is evidence in his home that place all three women there but he tells the police that he doesn’t remember killing them because he has blackouts.

He is in a state prison awaiting trial and Kay has finally returned to duty when she catches a call about a woman dying in a fire. This woman is the witness Kay found and befriended who saw Bernard dump one of the dead prostitutes. On her chest is the same carvings as the other three victims. Everyone but Kay thinks it’s a copycat killing but when two more deaths occur in the same manner as all the previous murders, Kay convinces her new partner Finn that either Bernie had an accomplice or another man killed the prostitute. When Bernie learns about this, he confesses to the first three killings making Kay wonder who he is trying to protect.

Think Nancy Taylor Rosenberg, Christine McGuire and Leslie Glass and readers will have some idea just how good BLUE MERCY really is. There is plenty of action in this novel but embedded in the storyline is the heroine’s recovery after a brutal physical and emotional trauma. There are many suspects that Kay and Finn figure could be the perpetrator but they have absolutely no evidence linking anyone to the killings. Readers will want to read more Kay police procedurals in future books.

Harriet Klausner

Reprinted with permission. Do Not repost without permission from the author, Harriet Klausner