"Intriguing cozy"
Normally Dido Hoare is a serene even-tempered individual
but the events of the previous winter are still affecting
her and now she needs a vacation. When her old friend Lizzy
Waring invites her and her infant son to stay with her and
her husband in the Village of Alford, Dido jumps at the
chance to leave London and her antiquarian bookstore. Alford isn't the bucolic village of her imagination. There
is a dark undercurrent rippling under the surface of the
pleasant little town personified by the presence of Teddy
who was just released from jail after serving five years on
a manslaughter conviction. Teddy shot a burglar in his
home but didn't offer any defense. The buried bones of a
woman who was missing at the same time that Teddy shot the
burglar convinces the police to reopen an investigation
even as Dido goes into sleuth mode. BLOOD LIES is the story of a family with secrets, many of
which they will go to any lengths to see that they stay
buried. The heroine is a catalyst who stirs things up and
set certain actions in motion. The story line is fast-paced
and enjoyable reading for fans of amateur sleuth novels.
Marianne MacDonald has written another intriguing
installment in her popular cozy series. Harriet Klausner
Reviewed by PNR Group Member
Posted July 15, 2002
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To escape from bad memories and nightmares in London,
antiquarian book dealer Dido Hoare takes time off to visit
a childhood friend, Lizzy Waring. Lizzy lives in the
picturesque village of Somerset with her husband and his
family. The Warings own Monksdanes, an idyllic Georgian
mansion; it appears the perfect place for an over-active
London native to rest and recuperate.
At first Dido is enchanted by the surroundings. But it's
not long before she realizes, to her dismay, that the
postcard beauty is just a façade - there's a much darker
reality below the surface. And her best friend is
unwillingly at the center of it all; something has gone
terribly wrong with Lizzy's life. But what? Lizzie won't
say, and her in-laws are a secretive lot. The Waring family
code is quite obviously "blood is thicker than water." The
rest of the world are outsiders. Nothing is what it seems. Dido is determined to help her old friend. Fighting through
a maze of lies and misdemeanors, and ultimately what she
suspects is murder, she persists in probing the deep
secrets the Warings are guarding. Making some allies and
some enemies along the way, Dido uncovers the sinister
underbelly to life in the picturesque village. Although
aware that she is putting herself in jeopardy, she doggedly
brings to light the horrifying truth that is at the center
of it all.
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