Left Isis
Right Isis
             

November 9th, 2010

My new Alafair book, Crying Blood, won’t be out until next February, but the review copies have already been sent out, and I’m beginning to see a few on-line reviews popping up. So far, so good.

I haven’t seen the final cover yet, so I’m waiting just a little longer to add a new page to this website for the new book. The book pages will contain a synopsis of the story and reviews, as well as the first chapter so you can get a look at it and decide you must read more. In fact, while you’re waiting, Dear Reader, feel free to read the first chapters of the previous four Alafair mysteries which are also posted on their respective pages. Just click on “About This Book” under the title icon to the right.

In the meantime, here are a couple of excerpts from the new reviews of Crying Blood for your pleasure and edification.

The characters are well-drawn and interesting, especially Alafair and Shaw Tucker…On the whole this was a charming and entertaining mystery. Ghosts and superstition play a certain role for the environment and the atmosphere, but the solution of the crimes does not depend on anything supernatural…I wouldn´t mind meeting the engaging Tucker family again. From “DJ’s Krimiblog” Nov. 8, 2010. Dorte Hummershoj Jakobsen, Denmark (The ‘o’ in Hummershoj has a slash through it, since this blog is out of Denmark. But my American keyboard won’t do that. Sorry, Dorte.)

Crying Blood begins with a simple hunting trip by a father, his brother and their sons.  It then evolves into a great mystery.  A skeleton, a ghost, a murder, and a manhunt!  How does this everyday family in the early years of the 1900’s in Oklahoma help solve the mystery?  You are drawn into the lives of Shaw and Alafair Tucker and their large and extended family.  The interaction between the family members is very well written.  You feel as though this is a real family struggling to live and survive.  Their reactions to the events they are drawn into are the same reactions I think you or I would have.  I liked that the author gave us (and not the characters) the whole story of the mystery after the end of the book.  It tied everything up in a neat little bow.. Christy Gibbon on Goodreads, posted on 10-31-2010. (This is the entire review)

Alafair’s sixth [sic. This is actually the fifth Alafair book – D.C.] will appeal to history buffs and Hillerman aficionados. The book includes sections on hog butchering, favorite old-time recipes, the history of the Indian Territory and land allotment, as well as a guide to Creek pronunciation. Review from Kirkus, November 1, 2010 (Kirkus reviews are often quite harsh, so I was quite pleased they compared the book to Hillerman)

Leave a Reply