I was quite enjoying this mix of police procedural and genealogy/local history research. The police officers and the researcher were good characters, and even the research seemed exciting. Unfortunately the end was far too gory for me and I had to skim bits of it. There was also a final twist which I felt made the killer's motivation far less convincing - until that point I had been impressed with the way the historic crimes and the modern ones fitted together... ( )

The Blood Detective by Dan Waddell is a fast paced murder mystery set in London and enhanced by featuring a professional genealogist called in by the police to help them solve a series of murders that seem to have some connection that they can't figure out. I read it one day and couldn't put it down.

I was skeptical - how could family history and a police procedural be combined? It was done very well. And I enjoyed it. ( )

A couple of years ago I decided to trace my family tree and it is such an addictive hobby, in fact it is almost as addictive as this amazing book! The Blood Detective is so fast-paced that I absolutely whizzed through it in no time at all with my heart pounding at a million miles per hour as it approached the gripping sweaty-palmed conclusion. You definitely don't need any interest in, or prior knowledge of, genealogy to enjoy it as it is such a brilliant piece of crime fiction in its own right.

I loved all 3 of the main characters: DCI Grant Foster, who doesn't want to close his eyes for fear of missing the killer, his right hand woman, DS Heather Jenkins, and tweed wearing genealogist Nigel Barnes. Foster and Jenkins work brilliantly together, it feels like they have know each other for years and can almost second guess what the other is going to do or say, which comes in pretty handy towards the end. Nigel Barnes was my favourite though, living in his dusty flat surrounded by towering piles of books (sounds like heaven!). The way that he sliced through years of history like a knife through butter was a joy to behold, relying on his experience and gut feelings to trace both ancestors and descendants.

The story revolves around murders in London and their link to the Kensington Horrors of 1879. Even the police didn't see this one coming as they race to uncover clues before the next victim is revealed. Nigel works day and night at the Family Records Office to trace descendants from the original crimes and hits more than his fair share of brick walls. A brick wall to you and me is just a slight nuisance to Nigel as he knows how people changed their names to become more anglicised. You really don't know what is in your past until you look.

I absolutely loved this book! I found the genealogy storyline riveting and not just because I have an interest in it myself, but because it felt like clues were being unearthed right before my eyes. Foster and Jenkins make a brilliant team and I hope that there are lots more books planned in this excellent series.

I chose to read an ARC and this is my honest an unbiased opinion. ( )

I really enjoy genealogical stories so I thought The Blood Detective might be right up my street and I was correct. In this book we have genealogist, Nigel Barnes, working with the police to try and solve a series of murders. He's a bit of a loveable geek really - I think one of the police officers, Heather Jenkins, describes him as a walking anachronism. He's still using a record player, wears tweed jackets and doesn't like any music from after the year he was born. I thought he was a great character with lots of potential to take further.

This is an exciting and fast paced read as we follow DCI Grant Foster and his team in their desperate race to link the past to the present. I love books where facts are uncovered and I enjoyed reading about Nigel racing around between the Family Records Office, libraries and newspaper archives, and sites in London that are relevant to the story. It was all so exciting (perhaps I'm just a bit of a geek too!).

It's quite obvious that Dan Waddell knows a lot about genealogy. There's a huge amount of detail and information. I was fascinated by some of the surnames mentioned, for instance, and the explanations as to how they came about. But make no mistake, this is not a book which is just about listing facts. It's a page turner of a crime novel, a chase right up to the end to find a murderer.

This is no cosy crime sort of book. It's actually quite gruesome, much more than I expected, but I thought it was very well done. I loved how the present day murders were linked to something that happened over a hundred years earlier. The two strands come together brilliantly to make this a fantastic read. I already have Blood Atonement, the second in this series, and I'm sure I will like it just as much. ( )