Oh my gosh – I just finished this book, and it was every bit as good as Cross Her Heart, the first book I read by Sarah Pinborough. A Matter of Blood did not disappoint. It is entirely different than the first book I read, but it too captured my attention immediately.
Detective Investigator Cass Jones finds himself working on several cases concurrently, one of which is the death of his brother, sister-in-law, and nephew, seemingly a murder-suicide. His brother tried more than a few times to reach Cass by phone, sounding worried about something, but Cass ignored his younger brother’s calls until it was too late.
A serial killer is stacking up corpses; two young boys are collateral damage in the attempted murder of a local gangster, and Cass’s marriage is on rocky ground. Then he becomes a suspect in his brother’s death. Is someone setting him up? He has no idea who he can trust. All-in-all – not a good couple of months for Cass. Oh, AND he’s seeing his brother’s ghost.
Cass has skeletons in his closet, and Pinborough keeps you in the dark about what haunts him, revealing his past a little at a time. Cass is a good detective, largely because he thinks like a criminal. He’s not an entirely loveable character, and he has plenty of warts.
Somehow, “The Bank” plays a role. His brother worked there, and everything seems to lead back to it. Ultimately, Cass believes that all three of his cases could be related – but the truth is not what you might think. There is at least one little hook at the end that makes me want to hurry and read the next book in the series.
After the reviews I’ve read for Pinborough’s book, Behind Her Eyes, I can’t decide whether to read it next, or read the next book in the Forgotten God’s trilogy. Have you read any Sarah Pinborough books? What’s your favorite? What should I choose next?
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