Book Review: Blood Matters by Taffy Cannon

Stars: 4 out of 5
Pros: Good story, the main characters

Cons: A late sub-plot bogs down the second half

The Bottom Line:

Enjoyable book

If not the authors best one

Still, it's worth a read

Uneven at Times but Enjoyable

Sometimes the back story on a novel is as interesting as the book itself. The character of Roxanne Prescott originally appeared in Guns and Roses, a cozy type mystery set on a tour of Williamsburg, Virginia. Author Taffy Cannon went on to write other books, including a series as Emily Toll. But now, 8 years later, Roxanne is back in Blood Matters, a police procedural. She's gone back to her roots as a police officer, taking a job on the San Diego Sheriffs Department.

Sam Brennan is a local celebrity in the San Diego community because of Adoption Central, a non-profit dedicated to everything having to do with adoptions. Sam himself had been adopted as a child, and his experiences made him want to help others find their birth parents and help parents looking to adopt.

Everyone seemed to love Sam, so the fact that he was hit (and hit and hit) over the head with a Michael Jackson statue in his home filled with collectibles is a shock. Roxanne is part of the team assigned to investigate the case. They quickly find that it is filled with ex-wives, distant relatives, and employees.

Because Sam was so well known, the media are quick to pick up on the story, meaning the team is under extreme pressure to find the killer quickly. Can Roxanne sort through the suspects (and junk) to figure out who did it?

While this is a sequel of sorts, there is no need to worry about reading the previous book (although I do recommend reading the book at some point because it is good). There is really no connection to the story, and everything you need to know about Roxanne is explained here.

Between the police and the suspects, the book is filled with characters. Sometimes I had a hard time keeping them all straight, which was more my fault than the books. The first few days I was reading, I read so little I was wasting my time. But once I got going, I figured everyone out pretty quickly. It certainly helped that any time a character reappeared there was some mention of how they related to the story.

And this certainly isn't a reflection on the characters themselves. While the police were a little shallow (but most of them didn't have much to do), the suspects were distinct people. Roxanne herself was certainly well developed and interesting to read about.

Which is a good thing since this book was narrated first person from her point of view. That is an interesting departure for author Taffy Cannon since every one of her books I've read previously were written from multiple viewpoints. I do think this was the right choice for this book. As always, her writing is good and flows well.

The plot started strong introducing the characters setting up their potential motives. It even had some interesting revelations. However, it bogged down slightly in the second half. A sub-plot was introduced that really didn't add anything to the story. Several scenes seemed to just act as filler before the exciting and logical conclusion.

And a quick aside. Fans who have read the author's books written as Emily Toll will find a fun little reference to them at one point. But if you haven't read them, it won't confuse you in the least.

Even though Blood Matters gets bogged down a little in the second half, it is still an interesting police procedural that will please readers.