Who Can Stop The Killings?
The Blood Promise by Liz Mistry is a marvellous contemporary novel that drew me in from the start. It is the first book in Solanki and McQueen series which promises to be gripping.
Solanki and McQueen are an unlikely pairing – a young police officer with a troubled past, and a more experienced officer whose daughter was murdered. Both their pasts haunt their days but they are determined to bring a killer to justice. Their personalities complement each other as they also build their relationship.
The reader is drawn in from the start as the book opens with a crime scene fifteen years earlier. We skip to present day and another crime scene – could they be linked? As the body count rises, it suddenly becomes personal. Can Solanki and McQueen catch the killer before more murders are committed?
The landscape and weather are dark and brooding, which mirrors the action.
All of the novel is set in villages in Scotland, around the Inverness area. It is a wild and rugged landscape which helps to heighten the tension.
We see the action from alternating points of view and in the third person, except for the killer’s voice which is in the first person. As the novel progresses, we really begin to wonder if anyone can catch the killer?
This was a fabulous start to a new series. The ending is perfectly poised for book two and I cannot wait to read it.
I received a free copy from Rachel’s Random Resources for a blog tour. A favourable review was not required. All opinions are my own.
JULIA WILSON
The Blood Promise
A deadly gift
Imogen Clark wakes up on her 16th birthday to find her parents dead at the breakfast table, along with a message from their killer.
A twist of fate
Detectives Jazzy Solanki and Annie McQueen join the investigation, but the more they discover, the more Jazzy suspects that the killing is a twisted message for her. Jazzy shares the same birthday as Imogen, and believes that this is more than a coincidence.
A race to catch a killer
When Jazzy discovers the connection between the killer and the stalker who has been following her for years, she is forced to confront the dark past she was desperate to keep hidden. She must stop at nothing to solve the case, before she becomes the next victim…
Purchase Links
Author Bio –
Liz Mistry moved to West Yorkshire in the late 1980s. Her gritty crime fiction police procedural novels set in Bradford embrace the city she describes as ‘Warm, Rich and Fearless’ whilst exploring the darkness that lurks beneath. Yet, her heart remains in Scotland, where childhood tales of bogey men, Bible John and grey lady ghosts fed her imagination.
Her latest work, The Solanki and McQueen crime series is set around West Lothian, where she uses the distinctive landscape, historic heritage and Scottish culture as a backdrop to her gritty yet often humorous stories.
Struggling with clinical depression and anxiety for many years, Liz often includes mental health themes in her writing. She credits her MA in Creative Writing from Leeds Trinity University with helping her find a way of using her writing to navigate her ongoing mental health struggles. The synergy been creative and academic writing led Liz to complete a doctorate in creative writing researching the importance of representation of marginalised groups within the genre she loves.
Her husband, three children and huge extended British Indian family are a constant support to her. In her spare time, Liz loves visiting the varied Scottish and Yorkshire landscape, travelling, listening to music, reading and blogging about all things crime fiction on her website blog, The Crime Warp.
Social Media Links –
Website: lizmistry.com/
X (Twitter): LizMistryAuthor
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/LizMistrybooks
Thanks so much for being part of The Blood Promise Blog Tour and for your fabulous review. So glad you enjoyed it xx