Blood Ties

December 6, 2010
At the start of Adams's satisfying sixth Naomi Blake mystery (after 2007's Legacy of Lies), Naomi, who was a police officer before an accident blinded her, and her police officer husband, Alec, set out for a holiday in Somerset, where they've reserved a room at a B&B near Glastonbury. Naomi hopes to discuss their plans for the future after past problems, but they're distracted by the death of Eddy Thame, an amateur historian with a keen interest in the Monmouth rebellion of 1685, whom they meet at the local pub. Eddy, who was in his late '60s or early '70s, fell down the stairs of his house, but was it an accident or foul play? Susan, the pub's landlady, and a host of other well-defined characters lend support as Naomi and Alec investigate. Naomi mounts an ingenious defense in the climactic showdown with the killer.

December 15, 2010

A busman's holiday in chilly Somerset brings blind ex-DI Naomi Blake and her husband, DI Alec Friedman (Legacy of Lies, 2007, etc.), up against another murderer.

There's so little to do in the little hamlet outside Glastonbury that it's no wonder the B&B that welcomes Naomi and Alec is faltering. And the village loses one of its chief attractions when local historian Eddy Thame tumbles down a flight of stairs to his death. But Sgt. Andrew Dean is quick to spot the telltale signs of murder, though he needs help finding a motive and a guilty party. Was the dotty old man killed because he'd found a treasure hidden by the fleeing Catherine Kirkwood, whose father had unwisely backed the Duke of Monmouth's 1685 bid for the English throne, and whose subsequent adventures Eddy had chronicled in Roads to Ruin? Or does the motive lie in a more recent historical episode, the death of four teenagers, including Eddy's beloved daughter Karen, in a one-car crash? By the time the question is answered, Alec, who's told Naomi that he's thinking of leaving the force, has the decision of whether to continue taken out of his hands.

Adams (The Power of One, 2009, etc.) adds a guilty suicide, a ne'er-do-well brother, a false claimant and a hostage-taking into the mix, but somehow it never seems very suspenseful, or very mysterious. Maybe that B&B ought to shutter its doors after all.

(COPYRIGHT (2010) KIRKUS REVIEWS/NIELSEN BUSINESS MEDIA, INC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.)

January 1, 2011
Police officer Alec and his wife, Naomi, are vacationing at a bed and breakfast in Somerset. Naomi, a former police officer whose law-enforcement career ended when she was blinded in an accident, is accompanied by her guide dog, Napoleon. In a local pub, they meet historian Eddy Thame, who is obsessed with the Monmouth Rebellion and with locating the legendary Kirkwood treasure. When Eddy dies after falling down some stairs in his home, Alec and Naomi are drawn into the case. Did Eddy fall, or was he pushed? Was he killed by a fellow treasure hunter, or did someone else want him dead? Alec and Naomi assist the local police, who accept their help grudgingly. Then Alec must strike out on his own, against orders, when Naomis life is in danger. On the surface, a straightforward small-town British procedural, the book gains texture from its multiple plotlines, the intriguing details of the Monmouth Rebellion, and Alecs inner turmoil over whether he wants to remain a policeman.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2011, American Library Association.)