Tag Archives: Dan Waddell

#BookReview ‘Blood Atonement’ by @danwaddell #genealogy #crime #mystery

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A fascinating mixture of modern crime novel and family history research, Blood Atonement by Dan Waddell takes Nigel Barnes from London to the USA as he races against time to find answers for Detective Chief Inspector Grant Foster. Dan WaddellFoster’s first case after returning to work following injuries sustained in The Blood Detective [first in this genealogical crime series] is a dead actress and her missing daughter. Links to the actress’s past, mystery about her family and unanswered questions, lead Foster to call in the help of genealogist Nigel Barnes. Both men are strong characters who walk off the page, both loners of a kind, both lonely in love.
This is a fast-moving mystery revolving around what happened to Horton and Sarah Rowley, who we know from flashbacks were teenage sweethearts planning to run away, but who only appear in records in the UK from 1891. Before that, they cease to exist. Where did they come from, and why were they running? Simply because their parents disapproved of the marriage, or something more sinister? And what has this to do with the dead actress found lying face down on her lawn in London? As he searches for the missing 14-year old, Foster finds chilling parallels with Leonie, another 14-year old who disappeared three years earlier and has never been found. As links to a cult are uncovered, attention focuses back on Sarah and Horton.
A satisfying well-written plot which manages to slip in a little history too.

Here’s my review of the first book in this series by Dan Waddell:-
THE BLOOD DETECTIVE #1BLOODDETECTIVE

If you like this, try:-
‘Hiding the Past’ by Nathan Dylan Goodwin #1MortonFarrier
‘Blood-Tied’ by Wendy Percival #1EsmeQuentin
‘Deerleap’ by Sarah Walsh

And if you’d like to tweet a link to THIS post, here’s my suggested tweet:
#BookReview BLOOD ATONEMENT by @danwaddell http://wp.me/p5gEM4-1Ub via @SandraDanby

#BookReview ‘The Blood Detective’ by @danwaddell #genealogy #crime #mystery

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I raced through The Blood Detective, a hybrid mixture of crime and genealogy mystery. Author Dan Waddell is also a journalist and genealogist, having written The Genealogy Handbook to accompany the Who Do You Think You Are? television series. So, he knows his stuff and it shows. Dan WaddellUsually a crime novel features a lead detective and team, here we have two lead characters: Detective Chief Inspector Grant Foster, and genealogist Nigel Barnes.
Waddell’s plotting is ingenious. The past really does come back to haunt the present. There is a serial killer in West London who leaves a clue carved into the skin of his victims. This clue prompts DCI Foster to call on the specialist help of researcher Barnes. The murder hunt takes parallel paths: Foster chases living suspects, Barnes searches the archives for the true 1879 story of a serial killer, his victims and their descendants. What is the link? The final chapters are a thrilling race against time.
I really enjoyed this. The linking of historical and present-day crime was clever, and the characterization was convincing and not of the stereotypical detective form. An enjoyable mixture of fast-moving crime novel with genealogical research and historical gems about this particular part of London, its transformation from Victorian times to the 21st century, and its dark history of crime.

Here’s my review of the second book in this series by Dan Waddell:-
BLOOD ATONEMENT #2BLOODDETECTIVE

If you like this, try:-
‘In the Blood’ by Steve Robinson
‘Innocent Blood’ by PD James
‘The Irish Inheritance’ by MJ Lee #1JayneSinclair

And if you’d like to tweet a link to THIS post, here’s my suggested tweet:
#BookReview THE BLOOD DETECTIVE by @danwaddell via @SandraDanby http://wp.me/p5gEM4-1Tp