Today I’m wishing Liz Mistry a very happy publication day and joining the blog tour for The Blood Promise. My review is written with thanks to Rachel Gilbey at Rachel’s Random Resources for inviting me on the tour and to the publisher for my copy of the book.

Blurb:

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…

Don’t miss the first book in the Solanki and McQueen Crime Series, perfect for fans of Stuart MacBride, Val McDermid and Marion Todd.

Review:

I’ve been so excited to read The Blood Promise. It’s the first book in a brand new series by Liz Mistry, who is one of my favourite authors and it does not disappoint! In this series, there are two heroines, Jazzy Solanki and Annie McQueen, who have very different personalities, but form a wonderful partnership when they both find themselves demoted. There are a few lovely moments of dark humour and I absolutely love these characters. I can’t wait to see where their relationship goes as the series continues. 

Both Solanki and McQueen have issues from their pasts and I love the way that Liz Mistry explores this, continuing to show us that women with mental health issues can thrive in society. At the beginning of the novel, they are both in quite a vulnerable place and I was rooting for them to succeed and show everyone what they could do.

Unlike Liz Mistry’s other novels, The Blood Promise is set in West Calder. I’ve never visited this area, but nevertheless, it was easy to picture everything and feel immersed in the story as her sense of place is immaculate, not only in terms of the physical landmarks but also her intricate knowledge of the community.

I love hearing from the perspective of the killer in crime novels and The Blood Promise is one such novel. I really appreciated being able to get inside the killer’s mindset and have some idea of what they were going through and why they acted in the way they did.

I found the beginning of The Blood Promise quite slow, as the detectives struggled to nail down the perpetrator. However, this changes very quickly in the last third of the novel which is incredibly fast paced. I really wanted to know what was happening and I was on the edge of my seat waiting for answers, especially as the detectives find themselves in some very dangerous situations. Liz Mistry has plotted this novel so well and there are lots of twists as we reach the conclusion. I did guess some, but some were absolutely huge and I am still shocked!

I’m already looking forward to the next book in the series!

The Blood Promise is available from Amazon.

You can follow the rest of the blog tour here: