Book Review: Blood to Drink

Reviewed By: Harriet Klausner

Blood to Drink     Amazon US PB Amazon US HC Amazon Canada PB Amazon Canada HC
Robert Skinner
Class/Genre:   Mystery   Private Investigator   Historical
Series: Wes Farrell # 4
Poisoned Pen, Jul 2000, $23.95, 251 pp.

In the thirties, it was easier to be white than black, so Wes Farrell, half Irish and half African-American pretended to be 100% Caucasian. During prohibition, Wes made a fortune as a rumrunner. Wes invested his earnings into legitimate enterprises like nightclubs and commercial properties. Just before the official end to prohibition made his occupation obsolete, a fight broke out in a club where he was drinking. Wes and a sailor managed to escape before the police arrived. His companion Commander George Schofield gives Wes a lift, but someone kills the Coast Guard officer. Wes flees the scene before the police can question him.

Five years later, Schofield’s brother, a T-Man, arrives on the scene to question Wes. He wants to learn the identity of the informant his sibling was going to meet on that fatal day. Feeling a bit guilty, Wes decides to help the treasury agent. They quickly learn that a Coast Guard employee was providing information to powerful gangs. Wes intends to uncover the identity of the double-crosser if he is not killed in the process of his investigation.

The fourth Wes Farrell tale, BLOOD TO DRINK, is the best novel yet in what is a fabulous historical mystery series. The plot is filled with 1930’s regional atmosphere that provides the reader with a glimpse of the lives of Blacks during the Depression as well as a look at the seamier side of the era. With previous tales likes SKIN DEEP, BLOOD RED, CAT-EYED TROUBLE, and now this one, Robert Skinner shows he is a talented storyteller who makes history sing inside top rate crime fiction.

Harriet Klausner

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