Strange Blood: A Crime Novel

by Lindsay Jayne Ashford

Overview

In this suspense thriller, a British profiler must sift through conflicting clues to uncover a murderer's true motive—serial killing, or personal vendetta?

Forensic psychologist Dr. Megan Rhys is called in to help police investigate what they believe to be a ritual killing. But as more women die, and as the press, the police, her boss, and even her own family turn on her, Megan stakes everything on finding the killer.

Praise for Frozen

"Gritty, streetwise, and raw . . . with an authenticity and detail borne of Ashford's own journalistic experience." —Denise Hamilton, the Edgar, Anthony and CWA Creasey Memorial Dagger award–nominated author of the Eve Diamond crime novels

"Intelligent, loaded with suspense, and possesses one heck of a gutsy female detective in Dr. Megan Rhys." —Beverly Connor, author of the Diane Fallon Forensic Investigation series

"Chilling . . . will appeal to patrons who enjoy the forensic procedurals of Kathy Reichs." —Library Journal

Lindsay Jayne Ashford's Megan Rhys Crime Mystery Novels

Frozen (#1)

Strange Blood (#2)

Where Death Lies (#3)

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781466838765
Publisher:	Minotaur Books
Publication date:	08/06/2024
Series:	Megan Rhys Crime Novels , #2
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	237
File size:	466 KB

About the Author

Lindsay Jayne Ashford is a former BBC journalist and the first woman to graduate from Queens' College Cambridge with a master's degree in criminology. Originally from Wolverhampton, she now lives on the west Wales coast. This is her second Megan Rhys crime novel.

Editorial Reviews

Forensic psychologist Megan Rhys's second case is even more grisly than her striking first (Frozen, 2006). Ever since converting from Wicca to Christianity, Tessa Ledbury has been leading a quiet life. Apart from her husband and children, virtually her only friends are Bob and Jenny Spelman from St. Paul's Church. So why has someone stabbed her, stripped her and carved a pentagram onto her forehead? Det. Supt. Steve Foy, of the Wolverhampton police, doesn't hold much stock in profilers, but since attending Megan's course at Heartland University he's become a believer. Megan's work on Tessa's murder is complicated by her relations with another admiring student, Dutch ex-cop Patrick van Zeller. While Tessa's sister Ceri, a part-time lecturer at Pendleton College, revels in her adulterous affair with yet another student, Tessa's killer, who gloats over his cleverness in a series of italicized passages readers are well-advised to skip, prepares for his next victim. Can Megan figure out who he is before he strikes too close to home?The killer's motivation is both too explicitly telegraphed and unconvincing. When she sticks to her detectives, though, Ashford is a whiz as a storyteller. Her inventiveness, economy and pace ought to shame recent bloated epics by Patricia Cornwell and Kathy Reichs into crash diets.

Kirkus Reviews