Dan Waddell

There's a nice little subgenre in crime fiction that's all about genealogy and how crimes committed in the past have a way of causing even more grief in the present. As main character Nigel Barnes says, "Anyone who seeks to forget the past has a corpse in the basement," and that's exactly what's happened in The Blood Detective. A crime was committed in the past and swiftly forgotten by almost everyone. Notice I said "almost."

Waddell has an excellent cast to solve this mystery. Nigel is show more young, intelligent, and passionate about family history-- well, all history for that matter. He's not without his own skeleton in the closet, and as soon as I knew what it was, I was watching carefully to see how he deals with it. I'll leave that for you to discover for yourselves. His two police colleagues are interesting in their own ways. Heather Jenkins is the likable one of the pair, and although I really didn't care much for Grant Foster (I keep hearing that line from an old commercial, "Who's behind those Foster Grants?"), I certainly appreciated his character being fleshed out more by book's end.

The story in The Blood Detective is a bit like that snowball going downhill, gaining size and momentum till the powerful crash at the end. I enjoyed the journey, possibly because there are no clues to be found in the present. Barnes has to spend a lot of time in newspaper archives and records offices to piece everything together, and watching how he does it is fascinating. History and genealogy really do solve this crime. And Barnes' habit of tossing out name origins as he goes along? Pay attention. (Just a word to the wise. Besides, they're fun.)

I almost added this book to my Best Reads of 2015 list except for one thing, and it's something that doesn't happen to me very often. One scene toward the end was over-the-top with the pain and gore quotient. It had me tied up in a Gordian knot of quivering sympathy pain. I think of it as the "Annie Wilkes on steroids" scene. Be that as it may, I really enjoyed this book. Dan Waddell has joined fellow Englishman Steve Robinson in crafting mysteries steeped in family history that I just don't want to put down. I'm looking forward to meeting Nigel Barnes again-- soon! show less

A couple of years ago I decided to trace my family tree and it is such an addictive hobby, in fact it is almost as addictive as this amazing book! The Blood Detective is so fast-paced that I absolutely whizzed through it in no time at all with my heart pounding at a million miles per hour as it approached the gripping sweaty-palmed conclusion. You definitely don't need any interest in, or prior knowledge of, genealogy to enjoy it as it is such a brilliant piece of crime fiction in its own show more right.

I loved all 3 of the main characters: DCI Grant Foster, who doesn't want to close his eyes for fear of missing the killer, his right hand woman, DS Heather Jenkins, and tweed wearing genealogist Nigel Barnes. Foster and Jenkins work brilliantly together, it feels like they have know each other for years and can almost second guess what the other is going to do or say, which comes in pretty handy towards the end. Nigel Barnes was my favourite though, living in his dusty flat surrounded by towering piles of books (sounds like heaven!). The way that he sliced through years of history like a knife through butter was a joy to behold, relying on his experience and gut feelings to trace both ancestors and descendants.

The story revolves around murders in London and their link to the Kensington Horrors of 1879. Even the police didn't see this one coming as they race to uncover clues before the next victim is revealed. Nigel works day and night at the Family Records Office to trace descendants from the original crimes and hits more than his fair share of brick walls. A brick wall to you and me is just a slight nuisance to Nigel as he knows how people changed their names to become more anglicised. You really don't know what is in your past until you look.

I absolutely loved this book! I found the genealogy storyline riveting and not just because I have an interest in it myself, but because it felt like clues were being unearthed right before my eyes. Foster and Jenkins make a brilliant team and I hope that there are lots more books planned in this excellent series.

I chose to read an ARC and this is my honest an unbiased opinion. show less

I really enjoy genealogical stories so I thought The Blood Detective might be right up my street and I was correct. In this book we have genealogist, Nigel Barnes, working with the police to try and solve a series of murders. He's a bit of a loveable geek really - I think one of the police officers, Heather Jenkins, describes him as a walking anachronism. He's still using a record player, wears tweed jackets and doesn't like any music from after the year he was born. I thought he was a great show more character with lots of potential to take further.

This is an exciting and fast paced read as we follow DCI Grant Foster and his team in their desperate race to link the past to the present. I love books where facts are uncovered and I enjoyed reading about Nigel racing around between the Family Records Office, libraries and newspaper archives, and sites in London that are relevant to the story. It was all so exciting (perhaps I'm just a bit of a geek too!).

It's quite obvious that Dan Waddell knows a lot about genealogy. There's a huge amount of detail and information. I was fascinated by some of the surnames mentioned, for instance, and the explanations as to how they came about. But make no mistake, this is not a book which is just about listing facts. It's a page turner of a crime novel, a chase right up to the end to find a murderer.

This is no cosy crime sort of book. It's actually quite gruesome, much more than I expected, but I thought it was very well done. I loved how the present day murders were linked to something that happened over a hundred years earlier. The two strands come together brilliantly to make this a fantastic read. I already have Blood Atonement, the second in this series, and I'm sure I will like it just as much. show less

By some margin this is the worst book that I have read this year. I have seldom encountered such a woeful combination of weak plotting, implausible characterisation and a fatuous sense of context. I don’t really understand why a respectable publishing house of the stature of Penguin should choose to take this lamentable book on to their list.
I was also surprised to read such effusive encomia from the likes of Mark Billingham and Reginald Hill heralding the debut of a great new star in the show more crime fiction firmament and can’t believe that they could actually have read it. Ah! Here’s a cynical thought – perhaps they didn’t. I certainly wish that I hadn’t! show less