Splinter In The Blood - Ashley Dyer

Mystery

Rating: 6/10

As a rule, I veer away from mystery novels that are framed as police procedurals.  Too heavy on the crime solving details and too light on the exploration of the criminal and characters in general.  While this book certainly fell victim to that formula, it was a nice change of pace and had some unique elements that kept me interested.

The story starts off with a female investigator scrambling to conceal evidence in the home of her senior officer as he lies shot and bleeding. What was the evidence that was so secretive, and what happened to him?  The reader has a front row seat to the unpacking of the case against a serial killer they have been hunting and all the sidetracks they follow.

Footnote: The good guys in this novel were well drawn characters with backstories that ensured the reader understood their passion in the pursuit of justice.  The bad guy was utterly lacking in malevolence and if there where glimpses into why they were drawn into the life of a ruthless killer, I missed them.  And not to sound all smarty pants, but when it comes to reading, I don’t tend to miss much.