Reviews for Blood for Blood

The average rating for Blood for Blood based on 2 reviews is 4.5 stars.

Review # 1 was written on 2014-10-25 00:00:00 Leslie Lucas Another corking mystery from S. K. Rizzolo. In her first, The Rose in the Wheel, the author vividly captured the textures of life in London in 1811. This sequel returns to London but also takes us out into the countryside (which I enjoy more) for a climax that will keep you on the edge of your seat. The story delivers local color, brooding atmosphere, and red herrings galore (I was completely suckered by one of the red herrings and got the villain wrong'though when he/she was revealed, the resolution made perfect sense). Although it can easily stand on its own, Blood for Blood revisits some of the characters from the first novel, and I enjoyed the way our relationship with them deepened here'especially Penelope Wolfe, who finds herself in an invidious situation that combines material comfort with extreme unease. This situation plays out through scenes that the author unfolds with delicacy but an unflinching eye. A few of the subsidiary elements of the story were given somewhat short shrift (e.g., I would have enjoyed learning more about the political context), but the touching core of the story earned it a five-star rating from me. Equally impressive to me is the way the author conveyed the rural scenes; I felt as if I were reading a native author of the old school such as a Margery Allingham, not an American one trying to bring to life the early nineteenth-century countryside. Loved the antiquarian and prehistoric elements (read: the pagan bits) and the folklore! I wish this author had a more mainstream publisher who was able to bring her work further into the limelight.

Review # 2 was written on 2014-10-12 00:00:00 Jonathan Villalobos #2 in the John Chase / Penelope Wolfe Recency murder mystery series. This one was much more readable for me than the first. I completed this one in a day.