This one was a DNF for me, unfortunately. I wasn’t immersed in the storyline or characters. I believe this has more to do with me than the story itself. The star rating is only due to the fact that Netgalley requires a star rating. Otherwise, I wouldn’t have given any stars due to me not finishing it.

I read this without having read the first book and had no trouble following the storyline. Dark, gritty, and plot driven, this book was compelling and solid. The multiple storylines and murders kept the plot moving and pages turning. Thoroughly enjoyable.

This book was so so detailed in the history of what happened. I picked up this book wanting to learn more about the topic, and boy did I learn more. A whole lot more. And I never regretted it for a second! I would greatly read more in this subject, but with how emotional it made me at times, I need a bit of a break at first before diving back in.

This book was fantastic! Book 2 is the first Rebecca Connolly thriller that I have read and now I can't wait to read Book 1 or even Book 3 if and when it comes out! Rebecca is the journalist I would want to have an interview with if I was involve in something reportable. She wants the truth even if it puts her in danger. The references about her interactions with her deceased policeman father are pretty cool too. This book is for everyone who loves to read thrillers. Highly recommended.

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
#thebloodisstill #douglasskelton #arc #suspense #mystery #NetGalley #skyhorsepublishing

This book is number 2 of a series. It didn't feel like it. I didn't know all about the main character but the way the author revealed tidbits about her, it felt as though it was part of the mystery itself. This book can definitely be read as a stand alone, as I read it. I am definitely going to go back and read the first in the series as well. And I'll be following this author for more books in the future.

This book is told in 3rd person and concentrated on 3 main characters, Rebecca the reporter, DCI Roach newly transferred and Nolan drug dealer who wants out. I think it's been a while since I've read a book in 3rd person. You got to hear their thoughts and feelings. I liked being able to learn more about just the one main character. I think that's why I like when books in first person rotate between characters from chapter to chapter.

There never seemed to be a lull in this story. Never did I feel bored by it. And at 85% it picked up even more. At 93% I changed my kindle to % until the end of the book, not just chapter. I wanted to finish this last night. But I didn't manage to stay awake. 😕 So I finished this morning.

Since this book takes place in the Highlands of Scotland there is some great little accents going. I LOVE when it is included in dialogue. I will rarely go back for a second book without it. Not only did the dialogue include it, #douglasskelton described what region it originated and whether it was considered high or low class. The accents and these descriptions lend to the authenticity of the story.

I have a pretty good vocabulary. And if I don't know a word, I can usually decode what it's basic mean is but this book introduced me to batch of new words. Normally when I see this many words that are new to me I feel as thought an author is trying to prove they are smarter reader. I didn't feel this here.

#bookstagram #booknerds #bookworm #booklover #bookdragon #readalot #ilovereading #inkdrinker #bookrecommendation #bookreview #booknerdigan #bookish #booknerdbookreviews #bookaddict #bookaholic

This book has a good plot, developed characters, beautiful setting and an amazing twist all intertwined in a skilled narrative. Though I haven’t read the first book this could be read as a stand-alone. Some characters are left off maybe to be picked up in the series later. 4.5 stars.

I received a copy from Netgalley and am voluntarily leaving a review.
I took a chance on this one because it was given a glowing recommendation from Ian Rankin. I love Ian Rankin's books, so I figured...

This is the second in a series. Reading the first seems like it would be beneficial, but I didn't find it necessary. It reads easily as a stand-alone.
You know how, sometimes, you can tell right from the first few pages if you're going to like a book or not? Just from the tone and the writing style? This was one that got me from the get-go. It's written in a similar style to some of my favorite authors, Rankin among them. (I want to say Tartan Noir, but apparently the term can be kind of disparaging, so I guess I shouldn't? There is a certain region-specific vibe, though, and a certain slightly cynical hard-boiledness. I dig it.) I thought I was going to like it, and I did.

This was really good. A few different plot threads that may or may not be connected, an interesting and compelling cast of characters, including a sympathetic but not overwritten lead, and good, solid writing. Even a few sort of funny moments, which is always nice in an otherwise grim and gritty story. The murders were inventive but believable. The author wasn't afraid to take risks and make surprising decisions. I actually really enjoyed it, and will definitely seek out the first book, and any subsequent.

Rebecca Connolly, a journalist, and DCI Val Roache (with occasional help from other) alternately tell this twisty tale of murder, anger, gangs, and well, so much else. A body found on the battlefield at Culloden starts this off- who is he and why was he murdered? Is it connected to a film being made there? And then there's Mo Burke, whose crime family sort of rules their area except that when the council wants to house a sex offender there. That's where the politics come in and the Spirit of the Gael, a right wing group that has ties to a more violent organization. This is complex, with several threads that pull together. Skelton paints a portrait of Scotland, especially Inverness, in shades of grey. It's gritty, yes, and dark but also, occasionally you might fund yourself smiling, I was a fan of the first book; this will be fine as a standalone as the locale and the cases (and most of the people) are different. Thanks to the publisher for the ARC. Excellent read.

Rebecca is covering a demonstration; the local council want to place a sex offender, caught with child porn on his computer, in a neighborhood nicknamed the Ferry. Mo Burke, the matriarch ruling her family's crime business, fronts the demonstration. A local candidate, super conservative and racist attends.
While talking with Cruz, freelance photographer, they receive a tip about a murder.
DCI Roache is called to handle the case. A man dressed in traditional highland dress, murdered with historical sword. No leads. No identity.
Rebecca teams up with her previous boss, Elsbeth to investigate this murder. She befriends a historical consultant for a movie being filmed.
Meanwhile Rebecca has caught the attention of the oldest Burke son. Though he has taken part in his family's business, Nolan wants out.
I could not put this book down. The characters. Plot. Suspense. Twists. Loved it.
Highly recommend.

Amazing story. Well developed characters that are in a twisted engrossing thriller. Highly recommended. Super suspense that comes to a satisfying end! Highly recommended . A true roller coaster thrill ride

I would like to thank Netgalley and Skyhorse Publishing for a review copy of The Blood is Still, the second novel to feature Inverness based reporter Rebecca Connolly.

When a murdered body is found at the Culloden battlefield Rebecca knows there is a big story. Is the murder linked to the film re-enacting the events of the 1745 battle or to the nationalist Spioread Nan Gàidheal who object to the film’s depiction of them or to something else entirely? Rebecca is determined to find out but must divide her time between this and the protests about housing a sex offender in the local community, protests led by Mo Burke, matriarch of the most prominent local crime family and whose son is showing interest in Rebecca.

I thoroughly enjoyed The Blood is Still and was glued to the pages from start to finish. I can’t say I was overly enthusiastic about its predecessor, Thunder Bay, but this is a different league. The novel is told from various points of view, mostly Rebecca and DCI Val Leach, the investigating detective, but Nolan Burke gets the odd scene and there are some stream of consciousness chapters from an unnamed victim of sexual assault. I can’t say that I paid these latter excerpts much attention as their relevance is not immediately obvious but they do raise speculation as to who their narrator is.

There is plenty going on in this novel with the murder and then a second one, the history associated with it, the link to nationalism and the question of what to do with sex offenders and yet it all merges seamlessly into a riveting narrative. The vignettes of the various supporting characters are spot on from the self serving justification of the paedophile to the oleaginous piety of the politician using racism to rabble rouse, via criminal paranoia and violence. I found it impressive that so much can be summed up in so few words.

I liked the way the plot gradually brings all these disparate strands together into a surprising conclusion that seems, somehow, more sad than uplifting. I like my conclusions to satisfy by meting out justice to the bad guys and giving the good guys a win, but in this case the win is tinged with regret.

The Blood is Still is a good read that I have no hesitation in recommending.

A body, clad in full Highland dress, lies on Culloden battlefield, stabbed to death with an antique sword. A mother and her two sons, suspected of masterminding the drug trade in their working class neighborhood, protest the relocation of a convicted sex offender to a nearby apartment. They are supported by an alt-right wing of a conservative political group. How can these events be related? In The Blood is Still, Douglas Skelton skillfully and suspensefully
weaves all these and Scottish history into a mesmerizing thriller.

Rebecca Connolly, a reporter for the Highland Chronicle, learns of the Culloden murder while she is covering the protest. Although the police, led by DCI Val Roach, try to keep the sensational details of the killing from the press, Rebecca is given access when she trades information given to her by sources. One of her sources is Nolan Burke, son of Mo and brother to Scott, the drug dealing kingpins of Inchferry. There’s a definite attraction between Nolan and Rebecca but a relationship seems impossible. Then violence erupts in Inchferry and another costumed body is found.

The Blood is Still is the second in a series featuring Rebecca Connolly but it can be read as a standalone mystery. It’s atmospheric and full of well described characters “Finbar Dalgliesh..was as oily as the sea around the Exxon Valdez. And if he was here, he smelled votes.” I’m looking forward to the third in this riveting series. 5 stars.

Thank you to NetGalley, Skyhorse Publishing and Douglas Skelton for this ARC.

Than you Negalley and Skyhorse Publishing for the eARC.
This can be read as a standalone, but I was glad to have read the first in the series.
A body is found in the battlefield of Culloden, at the reenactment field, dressed in 18th Century Highland dress. Rebecca Connelly, journalist, is on the story immediately. Not many days after, another body, dressed similarly, is found at another historical site.
This story features the aftermath of child molestation and the horrifying after effects. It also
has an interesting mobster family. The setting is great, I love Scotland.
I like Rebecca, she sure is headstrong, but understandably so, risking her job at every turn, but determined to do what she thinks is right. I was hoping goodlooking bad boy Nolan, part of the mob family, would succeed in wooing her!
The ending is a surprise, at once a good and a sad one... can't wait for no. 3. Definitely recommended. 4 Stars rounded up to 4.5.