#TeamDaniels #BlogTour ‘Settled Blood’ by Mari Hannah

About the book…

When a young girl is found dead at the base of Hadrian’s Wall, it’s not long before Detective Chief Inspector Kate Daniels realises her death was no ordinary homicide. She was thrown from a great height and was probably alive before she hit the ground.

Then a local businessmen reports his daughter missing, has Daniels found the identity of her victim, or is a killer playing a sickening game?

As the murder investigation team delve deeper into the case, half truths are told, secrets exposed, and while Daniels makes her way through a mountain of obstacles time is running out for one terrified girl.

My thanks to Tracy at Compulsive Readers for the invite to join #TeamDaniels, a readathon of all the Kate Daniels mysteries, this time we are looking at Book 2, ‘Settled Blood’

Picking up very shortly after Book 1, Kate is thrown straight back into a murder inquiry unlike anything she has come across before-the body of a young woman had been found, face down, in a field.

At first, identification seems relatively easy to come by based on the woman’s clothing, she seems to have fallen straight out of a blue sky, her death a hideous contrast to the stunning North East countryside.

Shocked and appalled at this level of violence, worse is to come at the morgue when who is believed to be the victim’s father, denies she is his daughter, but recognises all the clothing. The race is on to find out just who is dressed in Jessica’s clothing, and worse, where is she?

As clue after clue piles up but leads frustratingly nowhere, Kate and her team find themselves dealing with a power shift, dangerous assignments for one of them, and a changing dynamic which challenges her personally, and professionally.

And then, another almost identical young woman goes missing….

After having faced down a serial killer already in her first case as a DCI, could this be history repeating itself?

A case and a mystery which leaves the reader breathless with the twist and turns that it takes, ‘Settled Blood’ can be read as a stand alone novel. But honestly, why would you when you can start at the beginning and follow her progression through the ranks?

The skills and intuition that she has as a detective are accentuated by her team and what is particularly interesting, is seeing how Kate mentors Lisa Carmichael , her junior, who she is trying to not only set a good example to, but also show the other members of her investigation team that she is not playing favourites.

She is as hard, if not harder on Lisa than the others , like Hank Gormley, or DS Robson-I only know him as Robbo, from the way she talks to him!-, but she is most hardest on herself. Her constant pull by the job to see justice done has impacted on her personal life, and the slow build of her character arc has shown , so far, what she will and won’t put up with-as well as what needs to let go of.

It’s really clear how the passion and drive of the team leads to mistakes being made, on occasion, in the pure adrenaline rush to locate the missing girl. This is inevitable as they are all only human but each has had the chance to grow, and other characters, such as Kate’s new superior, Ronald Naylor, are allowed to take up space themselves.

The story which began in book 1 continues here as you see the cumulative effect of trauma on these individuals who you are becoming familiar with. Kate’s banter with Hank is almost diametrically opposed to the way she deals with DCS Phillip Bright, her ex-boss and head of CID with whom she has had to have several very difficult conversations .

And, as ever, the North East -this time mostly placed in Durham and the area surrounding Hadrian’s Wall-takes a role all of its own as the place which has grown, and nourished, the formiddable Kate , and provides a back drop for the crimes which we readers are g;ad to have her and her team investigating. For if there is one thing you learn about DCI Daniels from the start, she will sacrifice anything to bring justice to the loved ones of the dead.

About the author…

When an injury on duty ended my career as Probation Officer, I began writing. I am the author of the Kate Daniels and Ryan & O’Neil series published by Pan Macmillan and the Stone & Oliver series published by Orion. My debut, ‘The Murder Wall’, was written as a TV pilot for a BBC Drama Development Scheme – before the adaption.

The novel won the Polari First Book Prize. Before becoming an author, I fell in love with scriptwriting and submitted speculative original dramas to the BBC Writersroom. I’ve also written a romantic comedy feature film that I hope will find a producer one day. In 2010, I won the Northern Writers’ Award for my second novel, ‘Settled Blood’.

And in 2017, I won the Dagger in the Library for my body of work. I’m represented by AM Heath literary agent, Oli Munson, and live in Northumberland with my partner, a former murder detective.

Twitter @mariwriter  @DCIKateDaniels @OrionBooks @Tr4cyF3nt0n

Links-http://www.marihannah.com/news/author/marihannah