Book Review: Blood Lies

Reviewed By: Harriet Klausner

Blood Lies     Amazon US HC Amazon Canada HC
Marianne MacDonald
Class/Genre:   Mystery
Series: Dido Hoare # 5
St. Martin’s, August 2002, $23.95, 272 pp.

Normally Dido Hoare is a serene even-tempered individual but the events of the previous winter are still affecting her and now she needs a vacation. When her old friend Lizzy Waring invites her and her infant son to stay with her and her husband in the Village of Alford, Dido jumps at the chance to leave London and her antiquarian bookstore.

Alford isn’t the bucolic village of her imagination. There is a dark undercurrent rippling under the surface of the pleasant little town personified by the presence of Teddy who was just released from jail after serving five years on a manslaughter conviction. Teddy shot a burglar in his home but didn’t offer any defense. The buried bones of a woman who was missing at the same time that Teddy shot the burglar convinces the police to reopen an investigation even as Dido goes into sleuth mode.

BLOOD LIES is the story of a family with secrets, many of which they will go to any lengths to see that they stay buried. The heroine is a catalyst who stirs things up and set certain actions in motion. The story line is fast-paced and enjoyable reading for fans of amateur sleuth novels. Marianne MacDonald has written another intriguing installment in her popular cozy series.

Harriet Klausner

Reprinted with permission. Do Not repost without permission from the author, Harriet Klausner