BLOOD ALWAYS TELLS by Hilary Davidson

In my review of Davidson's collection, The Black Widow Club, I sort-of compared her to Hitchcock. Yep, I did that. And I'll probably do it again here. Davidson impressed me again with this book, with her skill with plot and character, and the melding of the two. She tells a crafty story about a former supermodel who's plot to blackmail her married ex-boyfriend is thwarted by a bigger, deeper, and ultimately more deadly conspiracy. To say more would betray to joy of discovering the Hitchcockian plot reversals and twists that always keeps you on your toes. And she really sucked me into caring about the characters in no time!

"At some point, you have to be more than a collection of all the rotten things that ever happened to you."

While reading, I realized how appropriate the title of the book really is, because the running theme through its entirety is how every character's motivations and decisions are ultimately informed by the effect of family and its legacy; family secrets that have affected the rest of their lives. Fans of the classic mysteries of Ross MacDonald will enjoy this one. Another thing I found surprising was how much the main character is constantly informing the cops about the case, when usually in the mystery genre, the amateur detective is almost always trying to work around the inept or corrupt police.

Another hit for Davidson!

GRADE: A-