Mostly Murders

“Haven’t we always looked out for each other, Hep? Helped each other?”

When Hep Anderssen’s older brother Bill unexpectedly shows up at her door one night, claiming that he has hit a deer on the road, Hep does what she always does and helps him keep his accident a secret. But when news of a hit-and-run on that very same night surfaces, Hep finds herself caught in a web of lies and guilt threatening both her job and her marriage. To make matters worse, the lead detective assigned to the case is someone both Hep and Bill have past history with and someone who is connected to a dark secret Hep and Bill share.

A character-driven crime drama with a strong focus on the motivations and inner emotional life of Hep and Bill and on the complicated bonds of loyalty, accountability and trauma that can run through a family, defining its members in both good and bad ways, and on how easy it is for people to let themselves be ruled by greed, guilt, habit and self-preservation.

The ending of this novel felt a little abrupt to me, I prefer when everything is nicely wrapped up at the end of the book. That being said, I have nothing but praise for Blood Between Us. The character portraits in this novel are so good. I don’t like Bill at all. But I found myself caring about him as I saw him through the eyes of Hep. Making me care about a character I like is easy, but making me care about a character I distinctly disliked right from the start is a very impressive achievement.

Many thanks to Lindsay Scott for the review copy of this novel.

Crime drama