Signs in the Blood

by Vicki Lane

Book Overview

Elizabeth Goodweather and her husband built a rewarding life in the hills and hollows of their adopted Appalachian home. But now Elizabeth is alone, her husband tragically killed, her children grown, the land around her filled with customs and beliefs she cannot share. It's still a good life-tending the small herb and flower business-but Elizabeth's fragile peace is about to be shattered. Cletus Gentry vanished while hunting ginseng in the hills-and...

• Format: Mass Market Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0440242088
• ISBN13: 9780440242086
• Release Date: May 2005
• Publisher: Random House Publishing Group
• Length: 400 Pages
• Weight: 0.48 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.1" x 4.2" x 6.9"

Customer Reviews

Thoroughly enjoyable

Cozy mystery readers should not be put off by the title; this is not a gory story, but rather an engaging trip deep into Appalachia. Vicki Lane has created a genuinely likeable, down-to-earth protaganist, and a host of interesting suspects in this yarn. I'm ready for her next one.

A truly stunning debut.

Vicki Lane is a master storyteller who paints a stunningly vivid picture of the people and of the amazing geography that is Appalachia. Prepare to be amazed, because Vicki Lane's hauntingly fluid novel does exactly that and much more.

Fantastic Mountain Mystery

I love the blue ridge mountains, and I love a good mystery. Vicki Lane's book didn't disappoint me in either area. She kept up the tension, the story was compelling, and her ability to set the reader right there in the mountains was delightful. I can't wait to read her next book! Chrissy K. McVay Little Switzerland, NC

new and different

A charming trip into the mountains of North Carolina and the strange people one might find there...not to mention a murder mystery par excellence! The leading character, Elizabeth, is so life-like that we get to know her and like her immediately. Let's hope she is only beginning her adventures in the mountains. Placing the story in this environment lends itself to a much different tone than the hard-boiled types you find in most such novels, thus the title for this review. IF you find yourself attracted to this idea I say buy it without question!

A truly brilliant page-turner mystery

Vicki Lane's thrilling tale of Elizabeth Goodweather's "true-life" adventure still lingers in my thoughts more than a week after finishing the book. The story became real to me and the characters reminded me somehow of relatives I must have living somewhere in the mountains of Appalachia. My wife didn't complete her reading for a couple of days and I enjoyed teasing her, telling her repeatedly that I knew who done it, so to speak. This was much more than just an entertaining read for both my wife and I. The eloquence of character and scene development drew us into the storyline. Vicariously participating in the drama as we read, Signs in the Blood became an experience a mystery we, as readers, solved right along with the loveable Elizabeth. Although it doesn't seem to make much sense to read again a mystery - because I know the ending - I think I'll sit down with Signs in the Blood again, just for a visit with Elizabeth, Laura, and Ben. At least I know now that nobody else will get killed.