Reviewer: Lori Graham
Title: Blood Kin
Author: Judith E. French
Publisher: Love Spell
ISBN: 0-505-52685-9
Release Date: August 2006
Genre/Sub-genre: Romantic Suspense
Year/Setting: Current/Tawes Island
Overall Rating: 4.75
Sexual Content Rating: Sexual
Language (Profanity) Rating: Mild
Violent Content Rating: Moderate
Judith's Website:
www.judithefrench.com
Bailey Elliot lived a childhood of confusion. Her parents made sure she had everything she needed but she never really bonded with them. She wasn’t particularly surprised to find out she was adopted and as she became an adult she often believed they didn’t really want her. Her thought was that they were really more dog people than children people but even with that they really didn’t like dogs.
Just as she was really deciding to find her birth parents, she received a call from an attorney saying she had inherited some property on Tawes Island. Finally a clue into who she was. Upon arriving at this remote island (you can only get there by boat), she discovered a place where it seemed like everyone was related to each other and news traveled faster than people. Within minutes (far ahead of how fast she could walk), everyone knew she was there and who she was. Unfortunately, several didn’t seem to encourage her to stay.
Getting her off the island, however, wasn’t going to happen. After meeting with the lawyer, Bailey found she was the niece of Elizabeth Tawes and the property she had been left was fantastic – a beautiful home, fully furnished sitting on waterfront property. What she didn’t yet know was why? The small church cemetery seemed the place to start. Once there she discovered Elizabeth "Beth" Tawes who passed away at 16 years old at the same time Bailey was born. Now, she knew who her mother was but she still needed to know who her father was and what happened to her mother and why had given her up for adoption.
Daniel Catlin is a native (newly returned) of the island. While he wasn’t old enough to remember the girl who was Bailey’s mother, he knew his way around the island and its people. Plus, they happened to both be living at the same boardinghouse. Daniel wasn’t sure he wanted to get involved with this little investigation, however, until some pretty mysterious things began to happen. As an ex-government agent, there was just too much off-center for Daniel to be happy so joining the investigation became a moot point.
Judith French has an incredible way of weaving a mystery that leaves you guessing until the very end. The clues were all there but right up until the last few chapters, the reader could make a case for multiple men to be Bailey’s father and for multiple people to be at the head of the mysterious happenings.
The characters are well fleshed out from Miss Emma (the woman running the boardinghouse) to Forest McCready (the lawyer). There is more than enough detail on each of the characters for you to feel as if you are a member of this little island community but not so much that you ever lose sight of the main character – Bailey. They all shadow her very well and flow to create the intrigue behind the chapters. Blood Kin in a drama which grips the reader and doesn’t let down until the very last chapter.
Lori
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