Written In Blood

Written In Blood
Sheila Lowe
Penguin Group
ISBN: 978-0-451-22487-3
Fiction, Mystery
Reviewed by Ruby G. Krautsack

Sheila Lowe gave me an exciting few hours of joyful reading with her book, Written in Blood. It really did keep me reading instead of doing my daily tasks. I kept wondering what was going to happen next.

Sheila is a very talented mystery writer. Proving a contested will’s signature using a hand writing expert was authentic and a great introduction and plot. Her character, Claudia, got very involved in the school for girls, which was a new twist for readers. Who could not like the teenage girl, Annabelle? She really was a poor little waif.

I learned about how important handwriting can be from this book. The story goes from one exciting episode to another at a very fast pace. It had the life styles of the characters explained in detail and connected all the players in a clever way.

I also love Las Vegas, so when the chase wound up there I was on familiar ground. She mentioned some of the casinos and described the layout and the desert in a way that places the reader there. She even threw in a desert sand storm and made me glad that I was never in one. Vegas is like a small world all it’s own with people from all over the world coming there to gamble, get married, see the sights. She made it all come alive.

Sheila is explicit in her writing so it makes it easy to keep track of the people in the plot and what they are doing at all times. Claudia Rose, her main character, is a likable and enticing person. Ms. Lowe may want to keep her in a series.

I am looking forward to Ms.Lowe’s next book and rate her as one of the top mystery writers of our time. Keep writing Sheila and I for one will keep reading.