Blood Will Tell

by Jean Lorrah

DRACULA MEETS DESPERATE HOUSEWIVES

"In Blood Will Tell, Jean Lorrah creates an intriguing blend of police procedural, science fiction, and romance with a heroine as strong and appealing as Clarice Starling in Silence of the Lambs. Comparable to the vampire mysteries of P. N. Elrod and Tanya Huff, this novel is a must-read for the discriminating fan." --Margaret L. Carter, Author, The Vampire in Literature

"...Blood Will Tell is the best read...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 143440076X
• ISBN13: 9781434400765
• Release Date: April 2007
• Publisher: Wildside Press
• Length: 272 Pages
• Weight: 0.89 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.6" x 6.0" x 9.0"

Customer Reviews

AuthorZone.Com Book Review

Plain clothes officer Brenda Mather answers a late shift call from Jackson Purchase State University. There is a dead body of an elderly man in Callahan Hall. Her partner Church, Churchill Jones has already left for the weekend so Brandy answers the call alone. Lucky for her Campus Security Chief is Howard McBride a retired police officer. Coroner Troy Sanford's autopsy results disclose the ancient fellow laying dead in the History Department has died of natural causes due to old age. The case takes a definite turn for the peculiar when dental records reveal that the body is that of Professor Everett Land who everyone knows is a robust man in his forties. Brandy engages the help of Dr. Dan Martin one of the school's professors in the Computer Science department. The pair determine Professor Land assumed a new identity some thirty or so years ago after he had reached his sixties under his previous name. Brandy is dumbfounded when the police chief declares the case closed and tells Brandy to get back to her other cases. As Dr. Martin and Brandy develop a caring relationship she is convinced there is more to her loved one than is apparent. As time goes on Brandy begins to know for certain that Dr. Martin is not your average college professor.Blood Will Tell is a page turner daring to take what is accepted lore regarding vampires and turn that cliché inside out. Writer Lorrah presents a well crafted work filled with good writing, fiduciary situations and characters, thought provoking situation and stimulating dialogue. Blood Will Tell is an appealing amalgam of romance, science fiction, and police procedure in which solidly punctilious main characters exhibit great strength of character in the face of impossible situation. Blood Will Tell stands in the class of P.N. Elrod's vampire mysteries.Writer Lorrah sets the stage for excitement from the opening paragraph then carries the reader on a roller coaster of excitement right to the last page. Blood Will Tell is not a narrative for a dark stormy night alone when the lights are flickering and the reader is home alone. Reviewed by: molly martin

Don't judge this book by its cover

Brandy Mather is a detective on the police force of the rural city of Murphy, Kentucky. She is both thrilled and dismayed when a local professor is found dead of advanced old age when the day before he had seemed a healthy man in his mid 40's. This is one of the few genuine mysteries she has come across in her job and for once she sees a real chance to use her detective skills.However, for Brandy this case is going to turn out to be one which throws her perceptions of people and her town in a tailspin. She finally meets a man, Dan Martin, who's willing to take her as she is in a relationship (and not try to make her leave the police force) - but he's a man with a secret who can crack her case right open and lead her into the heart of darkness and corruption in the centre of the city. A darkness which could swallow both Brandy and Dan without a second's thought if they are not careful.This is a well thought out police procedural novel. It is filled with believable, human and fallible characters. Mysteries are not solved overnight and all the characters have a real life and normal day to day problems to deal with. In many ways this has been the best written vampire/detective novel I have read in a long time, and I can see why it justifiably received the Lord Ruthven Assembly Award.If you like the vampire/detective/mystery sub-genre this is a novel you MUST pick up and read. It will be come a yard stick for many other books you might read in the future. Ignore the tacky cover, it doesn't do the contents justice.

A Must Read Item!

I have been an avid reader of vampire fiction for many years I can see why it won the best vampire novel of 2001. It didn't use any of the usual clichés of the genre. I found all of the characters intriguing and didn't want to put the book down. I especially liked the way Jean handled the whole relationship between Dan and Brandy. Her theories about vampires are unique and intriguing. I found the last few chapters to be wonderfully nail biting and went to bed rather late because I had to read them before I slept. It will definitely be on my list of rereads that I do once in a while. Run, do not walk to your favorite bookstore and buy a copy or order it from here!

Oh yeah!

Brandy Mather is a detective in a small, Kentucky town. In such a place, there should not be a rash of murders, especially not ones as baffling as the ones she is now trying to solve. The first victim was supposed to be only in early middle age, but appeared to be an old man who died with a very odd expression on his face. It is not long before other bodies begin appearing, one of them her own best friend. Brandy seeks help from computer genius, Dan Martin. What she gets is a lot more. She begins to fall in love with Dan, but a mysterious secret keeps them apart at first. Dan has an inside track on the killer that is completely unexpected, and shocking. Brandy finds that she is facing an other worldly villain that will attempt to corrupt her very soul. Small town politics and murders may be what she is fighting on the surface, but the truth is one she can hardly believe. Vampires are real.***** In a complex and fast paced plot, readers are given a new twist on the old legends. Dan is an appealing hero, but not as other worldly and brooding as many heroes in this genre are. Brandy is a modern, strong willed woman whom many readers will find similiar to themselves. If it is possible, this would make a fantastic continuing series.

Sexy, Intelligent, Surprising

Blood Will Tell is a great read. It starts out as a small town mystery/police procedural, soon introduces vampires, action and romance but stays true to its mystery beginnings... and ends with a surprise that I won't give away.Great fun from a fantasy master.