Blood and Bone by V.M. Giambanco
Genre; Crime thriller
After two years in the Seattle Police Department, Detective Alice Madison has finally found the kind of personal and professional peace she has never known before.
When a local burglary escalates into a horrific murder, Madison is put in charge of the investigation. She finds herself tracking a killer who may have haunted the city for years – and whose brutality is the stuff of myth in high security prisons.
As she delves deeper into the case, Madison learns that the widow of one of the victims is being stalked – is the killer poised to strike again? But then her own past comes under scrutiny from enemies close to home, and Madison’s position on the force – and the fate of the case itself – are suddenly thrown in jeopardy.
My thoughts:
I’m usually quite obsessive about reading series books in order but I was sent this book as an ARC by the publisher Quercus and it was the third in the series. I did download the first Alice Madison novel with the hope of reading the first two books before this one – because I am that anal – but my TBR is that bad and I wasn’t getting down it, that I decided to just jump in with this and see what happened.
Well, my world didn’t end, you’ll be pleased to know.
And, in a book reading context, yes, there was information in Blood and Bone relating to the previous books but I took it as backstory. Information that could have been there anyway because lots of detective novels come with a back history for their detectives and reading it this way worked for me. The rest of the novel was a standalone story it was some of the character stuff that rolls over as it does tend to with series fiction (hence my liking for reading in order).
Blood and Bone is a great book. I was completely hooked from the outset. Alice Madison is a strong, believable character and the Seattle setting is alive around you. Giambanco blends in enough of Madison’s private life (as she attempts to juggle one!) for her to feel human but not so much that you get sick of hearing about it. Her eyes are firmly on the case she is working. And it’s a tough case and gets darker for the detectives as the days wear on. They are up against a sadistic killer and they find out more about him every day, including the fact that they could have missed his existence for many years, so this has them uncovering more and grimmer and darker discoveries.
I love American crime fiction, there is something a little more hard-edged about it and Giambanco brings that with Blood and Bone. You have blurred lines between good guys and bad guys and you have very definite evil guys and you also have tension and twists. It’s a great read and one I’m glad I finally picked up. I shall certainly be continuing with this series and would recommend it to any crime fiction fan. I can’t wait for the next one.
With thanks to the author and publisher for my copy.
Alex J. Cavanaugh (@AlexJCavanaugh) says
American crime fiction more hard edge? Interesting to hear.
I’ve been to Seattle so I’d be curious to see how well the author handled the setting.
Margot Kinberg says
Very glad you enjoyed this one, Rebecca. I like the idea of the Seattle setting, And when it’s done well, the tie-in of the sleuth’s past with the present case can be very effective.