Delving into the world of vampires was what kickstarted my love of reading as a young teen (The Vampire Diaries, Twilight, the Morganville Vampires, the Chicagoland Vampires, I read them all!) so when this opportunity popped up in my inbox, it was a no brainer!
Vampire detectives, unexplained murders and a whole host of things that go bump in the night – what more could you want?!
Big thanks go to The Write Reads for organising this brilliant tour and the wonderful Josie Jaffrey for providing a free copy of this book!
Synopsis:
If the murderer you’re tracking is a vampire, then you want a vampire detective.
Just maybe not this one.
It’s not that Jack Valentine is bad at her job. The youngest member of Oxford’s Seekers has an impressive track record, but she also has an impressive grudge against the local baron, Killian Drake.
When a human turns up dead on May Morning, she’s determined to pin the murder on Drake. The problem is that none of the evidence points to him. Instead, it leads Jack into a web of conspiracy involving the most powerful people in the country, people to whom Jack has no access. But she knows someone who does.
To get to the truth, Jack will have to partner up with her worst enemy. As long as she can keep her cool, Drake will point her to the ringleaders, she’ll find the murderer and no one else will have to die.
Body bags on standby.
Review:
Jack Valentine is a Seeker – a vampire detective tasked with keeping other vamps in line. So, when an unidentified vampire, very publicly, kills a human by throwing him from the top of a university tower, Jack and her team have some investigating to do. But not everyone is as they seem. Her go to suspect seems innocent and some very important people don’t want her getting too close to the truth…
Being such a huge fan of vampire fantasy books I jumped at the chance to read this novel – and I’m so glad I did! Jack is such a fun character to read along with. She’s snarky, she’s clever and she’s not afraid to hold back. At times it was Jack’s personality that had me staying up to read just one more chapter. Character-wise there weren’t any characters that I disliked (even the bad guys were well written) and would very gladly pick up the other books in this series. Killian Drake had to be a stand out for me though! Powerful and well connected, sneaky and broody, but with a hidden soft side for our heroine – who can resist a bad boy, fictional or otherwise?! Other than that, I also thoroughly enjoyed the story. It was obviously well thought out with clues hidden in the right places and the reveals happening at the right times to keep things moving smoothly. Jaffrey often hinted at things that made me think one thing, only to shift and make it something else. I love this in a whodunnit story as it keeps things interesting and stops us from guessing the ending a few chapters in.
There’s also a lovely bit of representation in this book with Jack herself being bisexual (with both a female and a male potential love interest) as well as one of her fellow detectives being openly gay. Personally, I love whenever this crops up as, not only did it make things more interesting in regards to who Jack would pursue, but it lends some relatability to a fantasy world that is otherwise obviously very different to our own experiences.
Overall, I’d definitely recommend this book to anyone who loves fantasy books that feature vampires or anyone who loves a good detective story – this book has a brilliant combination of both!
Rating: 4/5
You can check out the thoughts of some other wonderful book bloggers on this book throughout the rest of the May Day blog tour by following along over on social media!
#TheWriteReads #UltimateBlogTour #MayDay
Are you looking forward to reading this book? I’d love to know your thoughts on it! You can always find me over on Instagram and Twitter if you’re looking for a book chat! 😌
Hannah's Bookshelf 🌸 