Thank you to Netgalley, the publisher and author for this eARC.

The Blood Promise is a fab start to a new series by Liz Mistry. It certainly hit the ground running with its beginning and lured me straight into the story. I liked Jazzy and Queenie who investigate a murder that may connect to Jazzy's past. They are both down to earth, larger than life (especially Queenie) who I took to quickly and was rooting for throughout. The banter between the detectives is great and I love the laugh out loud humour the author brings to her writing. The writing style is different compared to previous books - it is still absorbing and engaging and I enjoyed the story being told through mainly Jazzy and the murderers perspective. The writing is very descriptive and I could picture the characters and locations in my mind when reading. The scottish dialect took a bit of getting used to! The plot line is very good and well thought out, and the story moved beautifully from past to present times, giving the reader glimpses of Jazzy's childhood and how it has shaped her. I did guess who the murderer was and was right about another thread in the story.

Overall a wonderful start to a new series and I'd recommend this book if you're a fan of police procedurals. I will definitely want to read the next book in this series.

4 stars

This is a brilliant start to a new series set in Scotland and I loved it! The plotting is very clever and I liked the two main characters, although it took some time before I was really invested in the pairing. There is plenty of humour between Jazzy and Queenie and although it is a bit dark at times, I loved the unexpected reveal at the end. My only negative is there is too much mention of Dick! I can't wait to read more from this pair! Thanks to Net Galley for my ARC.

Past and Present Collide..
The first instalment in a new crime pairing from this author - the Solanki and McQueen Crime series. Sixteen year old Imogen Clark wakes to find her parents at the breakfast table. It is her birthday, both parents are dead and there is a message from the killer. When detectives Solanki and McQueen embark on the investigation they see more than simply the face value of this particular crime. As past and present collide, a race to find a killer begins. With a change of tone from previous books, this is a pacy and immersive crime investigation with a credible and well drawn cast and unexpected twists aplenty. A promising start to a new series.

Wow just wow, if you have read any of Liz’s other books you need to read this one. It’s fast paced, great detail & love the characters.
This book made me laugh, take a breath & most of cry for the emotional rollercoaster it was.
I can’t wait for the next one (fingers crossed)

I am a big fan of Liz Mistry's writing, so I was excited to read this first in a new series. Set in Scotland, demoted detectives Jazzy and Queenie are called to the scene of a most horrific murder. Jazzy starts to think that this is personal to her and is linked to the person who has been sending her anonymous cards. The story is not for the faint hearted, but it is exciting and fast paced and a great read. The character of Queenie is especially worthy of a mention! Thanks to NetGalley for a preview copy.
Copied to Goodreads.

Rounding up to 3 ⭐


This book opens so well,and if you like a bit of gruesome in your books, this has it.
Interesting set up and good use of flashbacks .
Unfortunately I couldn't get past the two main characters. They were the thing that made me less keen on the book.
Others are going to love their banter, just wasn't the one for me unfortunately.

A really promising series in the making. I'm a bit fan of Misty and this looks like it will turn out to be a cracking series

Not read anything from this author before and I found it hard to get into the storyline

The characters were mainly ok but for me personally it didn't keep me on the edge of my seat.

Thank you to Netgalley and HQ Digital for this ARC.

Thanks Netgalley and the Publisher. I have not read anything from this author for a while and was pleasantly surprised. Great storyline and great characters, would recommend.

Liz's books are a must read for me, I loved her Bradford set ones and this new series in Scotland, judging from the book, is going to be a cracker.
Her writing is always gripping and she has the best plots, full of twists that keep me totally hooked.

Thank you to Netgalley for an advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I have read some of Liz Misty's previous books which I enjoyed. This is a new series, it will take some getting used to, but good so far.

Demoted to DCs Jasmine ‘Jazzy’ Solanki and Annie ‘Queenie’ McQueen are not flavour of the month at their station. Queenie has been demoted due to a knitting needle incident (!), and Jazzy under secret circumstances, though the rumour mill is grinding away imagining all sorts. Placed together on a nighttime stake out in a less than salubrious area, they are pushing each others patience. Towards the end of their unsuccessful shift, they are directed to another incident nearby, as there are no other officers available. What they discover is not for the faint hearted.

A new series from the much lauded Mistry. Her Nikki Paresh books are well received and have a huge following. As a writer I think the author is usually spot on and always a very good read. I appreciate that successful writers need to diversify and they hope for another success, but I’m not at all sure about this pairing. As it’s book one in the series we are introduced to the team and spend sometime getting to know them. I understand the need for a mix of dynamics and found the humour a nice touch, but the Queenie character is too much, definitely needs reining in, and Jazzy’s self analysis was cringing at times. Also too much Dick by name dick by nature - a couple of times is ok, but please stop!

The further into the book the better the characters became, they did settle down somewhat. A nice, unexpected twist with Jazzy, though the murderer was obvious very early on. The big action scene was farcical!

Not sure this gruesome twosome is a success, but hopefully book 2 will change my opinion.

2.5* upped to 3*

Thank you NetGalley and HQ.

Having loved the previous books by this author that I’ve read, I was really looking forward to this new series. It’s a really different style of crime writing from her which did take a bit of getting used to. Both lead characters felt like caricatures of female detectives, one intensely brash and loud, the other suffering from PTSD which intruded in her life at the most inconvenient of times. Fortunately, the pairing seemed to gel nicely the further into the book I got. There were some very dark scenes. that I found myself skipping over, and I was glad I wasn’t reading it late at night. That said, I found I couldnt put it down, I guessed who the murderer was not long after they were introduced not the story, but there were still some good twists and turns. It’ll be interesting to see where the next book goes. 3 1/2 ⭐️

Thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for the opportunity to read and review this book.

The Blood Promise by Liz Mistry is the first in a new series based in Scotland and features Detectives Jazzy Solanki and Annie McQueen.
Imogen Clark wakes up on her 16th birthday to find the dead bodies of her parents at the kitchen table in a grotesque murder. Jazzy Solanki soon realises that she has also been targeted by someone in her past.
The storyline is at times grotesque and mesmerising in the way the story unfolds. I am looking forward to reading more in this series.
Highly recommended

The Blood Promise by Liz Mistry begins when 16 year-old Imogen Clark ,impatient to discover her birthday surprise, discovers the bodies,and the heads though not attached, of both of her parents. Detectives Jazzy Solanki and Annie McQueen,both under a cloud, investigate with Jazzy having flashbacks to her past and a traumatic childhood experience leading her to think that the killer is sending her a bloody and twisted message.

This is a bit of a change for Liz Mistry and reads more like a Stuart MacBride novel than her usual style,right down to the foul-mouthed and crude female police officer character that is a trademark of most of his books. I found this a bit grating and over the top, a couple of the action sequences were totally unbelievable and Jazzy's incessant self-analysis had me skimming parts.
The book is entertaining enough but could do with tighter editing and it all got a bit silly during a key action scene,actually very silly.

I'm a big fan of the Nikita Parekh series,sadly this missed the mark for me.

The Blood Promise is a good opening episode in a new series set around West Lothian. The novel introduces newly paired DCs Jasmine Solanki and Annie McQueen - or Jazzy and Queenie. Both have been demoted and are looking to re-establish their careers. There's an initial suspicion between the pair, but their relationship grows quickly into a complex but deep partnership.

A brutal murder gives them the chance to show what they can do, as the favoured team members are all busy elsewhere. But when elements of the crime seem very familiar to Jazzy, it all gets very much closer to home than expected. It's difficult to explain the past events without spoilers ... suffice to say it's complicated.

The Blood Promise takes a little time to warm up, as the reader gets to know the characters and their pasts. There are elements of humour throughout, which don't always work in what is, in places, a very gruesome tale. But the plot is well crafted and there are surprises throughout as past meets present, leading to a final confrontation. And the reader is definitely left wanting more of this most interesting pair of lead characters.

This is the first in a new series from Liz, based around two detectives- DC’s Solanki and McQueen. They have recently been paired up since one was demoted from being a DS and lucky not to have lost her job. Queenie loves knitting and eating and Jazzy (Solanki) is finding this is taking some getting used to but quickly finds she likes just something about her new partner. Jazzy is getting visits from a hooded stranger leaving her birthday cards which is freaking her out but there’s nothing to really go on. When they get called to the strangest birthday party murder she wonders if the two could be connected in some strange way.

I really enjoyed this, there's humour in the newly acquired camaraderie between Jazzy and Queenie which lightens the story. The main crime is gruesome and dark so this is a great balance and there is one heck of a lead up to the ending. Jazzy has her own backstory as does Queenie which they eventually share which forms an even stronger bond. I'm really looking forward to the rest of this series. It's different, and wonderful to have such brilliant, gritty true northern characters who jump out from the page. Stunning, clever, brilliant and all the other superlatives.
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The Blood Promise by Liz Mistry is book 1 in her new series Solanki and McQueen Crime Series. It is published on 23 May. Liz goes back to her roots in Scotland for this series, around West Lothian. Thank you to Netgalley, HQ publishers and Liz Mistry for the ARC of the book. DC Jasmine Solanki or Jazzy, as she is known, has a past she has kept from her colleagues until a murder throws up connections to her mother’s death 15 years before. She only has intermittent memories of the night her mother died, and these are sprinkled through the story. The opening is so good, and it really pulls you in and you just want to keep reading. Liz is a master at setting the scene and is such an amazing storyteller. Jazzy has been demoted from DS to DC, as has her partner Queenie, Annie McQueen, and they have been relegated to the D Team along with Geordie McBurnie and Fenton Heggie, also fantastic characters. These wonderful characters bring so much to the story, and I love the interaction between them.. This adds to the tension and intrigue, but there is also lots of humour throughout, particularly from Queenie. I am looking forward to reading more in this series as I would like to see how the other characters develop, particularly Geordie McBurnie and DI Elliott Balloch, a character connected to Jazzy’s past.

As a massive fan of Liz’s books, this did not disappoint. The main two officers were both troubled souls and took some time to understand, but I loved them both. I also loved the banter and the humour, which probably anyone south of Bristol wouldn’t understand.

The two detectives are thrown together after being demoted, and one of their first cases are the murders of the parents of Imogen Clark on her 16th birthday. The odd clue is that it’s the same date as Jazzy’s birthday, and she believes it’s a message to her personally. Coupled with the fact that it appears to tie in with a stalker who’s been after her for years.

What follows is an excellent piece of crime writing by the talented Liz Mistry, it’s so dark and twisted , and very cleverly thought out.

Jazzy and Queenie are basically on their own as their boss DI Dick (by name and nature) is about as much use as one man missing. However, her boss chief superintendent Afzal gives her all the support she needs to crack the case, and believe me she needs it!!

Just as I thought Liz couldn’t pull any more rabbits out of the hat, the ending was excellent. She really is an excellent author, and I didn’t think she could improve on Nikki Parekh, but she has with these two.

My thanks to Liz, and the publishers for the ARC.

A hooking story from the very beginning! A creepy, complex and very well structured plot ! First book in a series which I am very keen on reading. I think the Jazz Queens police team is very promising and I have liked each of them. Their different personalities make it an unlikely team but I believe they will make a perfect team. I find a shame though that their direct boss is an idiot, totally unfriendly man. That was not necessary for me for the success of this novel. Too many of them in crime books make them too predictable.
I received a digital copy from NetGalley and I am leaving voluntarily an honest review.