Blood Will Tell

"Blood Will Tell" is my first exposure to this series and to the works of Jeanne M. Dams. Cozy mysteries are so much fun, and this one is entertaining, without slipping into silly. Dorothy is a seventy something, former American, married to a retired British detective of some renown, Alan Nesbitt. She was a widowed school teacher with a nose for sleuthing when they met, and is now a British citizen as well. Dorothy is quite "spry" despite her "titanium knees," definitely an individual, one who like Queen Mum who wears her beloved hats everywhere, and for the most part looks and acts many years younger than her birth certificate states. The story takes place as they attend a police conference at St. Stephens, where Alan was invited to speak. Dorothy agrees to meet him and loses her way, wandering into a lab where she discovers a large puddle of blood. She hurries to drag her favorite detective to the scene of the crime, only to find the evidence has disappeared. This leads us on quite the merry go round of secrets and motives most unkind. Alan and Dorothy, with old friends and new will capture your imagination with their quirky ways and endear themselves to your heart. The author will keep you entertained from beginning to end but the pace is relatively relaxed. The plot is just complex enough and the story line moves smoothly as the subplots connect. The book is complete in of itself but drew me to want to read more of the series, both those preceding and adventures to come. Thank you Severn House and Netgalley for introducing me to the works of Jeanne M. Dams. The above observations and comments are freely offered and expressly my own.

I received a copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for my review. Dorothy Martin is referred to as an American Miss Marple. She displays the same curiosity, inquisitiveness and sensitivity that you find in Agatha Christie's amateur detective. She is assisted by her husband Alan, a retired Chief Constable, and they work together well.

In this outing, Dorothy discovers a pool of blood on the floor of a laboratory at St. Stephens College in Cambridge, where she is attending a conference with her husband. On investigating, Alan and a colleague find no blood and there is nothing more to be done. However, Dorothy knows what she saw and begins to investigate on her own. What ensues is a kidnapping, an attack on Dorothy and a number of unexpected twists. Help comes from Elaine Barker, Superintendant of Cambridge's police, and a number of students. Traditions at Cambridge, punting on the river and drives through the fens provide a wonderful atmosphere for Dams' mystery and any fan of Agatha Christie or Dorothy L. Sayers will be happy to spend time with Dorothy Martin.

Dorothy Martin can get in trouble no matter where she goes. She and her husband are at Cambridge. Alan is at a police conference and she's free to wander around. She finds a door open and goes into a lab. She can smell the taint of fresh blood and sees some spilled on the floor. She also saw a small piece of white lab jacket. She scoots back out the way she entered so she won't be the next victim.

Severn House and Net Galley allowed me to read this book for review (thank you). It will be published February 1st.

I enjoy Ms. Dams books and this one was good, too. If you haven't read any of her others, try them while you wait for this one to be published.

She runs to Alan and shares what she saw. By the time they return, there's no blood. The locals think she might have misunderstood what she saw, but Alan knows better.

The mystery moves a bit slowly as Dorothy and Alan piece together what happened. They have to think about it from the right angle. They talk to a lot of people and get snippets of truth. The story is intertwined with the students, the adults, and a bad decision years ago. One student doesn't want to tell the whole truth. Another disappears. You'll keep turning pages to see what happens next.

The solution wasn't something I saw coming which pleases me as a big mystery reader. Dorothy has made some new friends along the way, too. I'm sure they may have cameo appearances in future books. It's like visiting old friends again and that's a lot about how I feel about Dorothy and her husband when I read these books.

Blood Will Tell is the seventeenth book in the Dorothy Martin Mystery series.

It is always a joy to visit with Dorothy Martin and her husband, Retired Chief Constable Alan Nesbitt.

In this adventure Dorthy is heading to Cambridge as Alan has been invited to attend a police conference. Dorothy is planning on joining Alan and steps into a building it an attempt to get directions and enters a laboratory. The lab is vacant, but she sees someone in a lab coat leaving and soon discovers a pool of blood on the floor. She has no idea where the blood came from. She soon finds Alan and convinces him that she knows what she saw. When they arrive back at the lab, there is no evidence of blood. The police are called in and Superintendent Barker says there is not much she can do without the evidence that Dorothy claims to have seen. Once a student goes missing and Dorothy is pushed down a flight of stairs at a museum, Barker starts to believe in Dorothy's story.

Barker then enlists her nephew, Thomas Grenfell, who is a student and uses that particular lab, to help in finding out who or what the blood was from. Then when Grenfell goes missing, not only is Barker sure that something sinister has happened, but it has become personal.

This leads Dorothy into the countryside of Cambridge and for the river, searching among the punters looking for, the much valuable clues to solve this mystery.

Dams provides the reader, once again, with an insight to life in England, its beautiful countryside, historic cities and an enjoyable and believable cast of characters.