“Blood for Blood” was my Kindle First Read for January and as it is Victoria Selman’s debut novel, it was a complete unknown. The serial killer plot is strong and gorey and kept me wondering who dunnit. There were enough red herrings swimming in that pond to keep me guessing all the way to the reveal. And that’s a positive. However, I’m still not sure I even like the protagonist. Ziba MacKenzie is a free-lance criminal profiler and very good at her job, but her personal life is a mess. She was widowed two years ago and doesn’t ever go out with friends. Instead, she stays home alone, and drinks. A bottle of wine. Every day. Plus, she exhibits all the classic symptoms of clinical depression. For a strong female protagonist, Ziba comes across as weak-willed. Readers expect flawed characters. The flaws lend them authenticity so we can identify with and believe in the characters. But Ziba just comes across as weak-willed and prone to pity parties. Which pretty much negates that whole strong female thing. All in all though, a good yarn and worthy of three and a half stars. (I do wish Goodreads would allow us to award half stars.)
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