Whispers at Dusk by Heather Graham ~ a Review

by MK French

In the first book of the Blackbird trilogy, the Krewe of Hunters is now international. FBI agents Della Hamilton and Mason Carter are sent to Norway when four bodies drained of blood are found with pinpricks in their necks and DNA in the wounds. A group believes that drinking blood is the secret to immortality, and the pair are going to have to get close to them to solve the case, even though Mason has already lost one partner.

Amazon affiliate links are used on this site. A free book was provided for an honest review.

June 2023; MIRA; 978-0778307631
audio, ebook, print (320 pages); romantic suspense

We get Della's background as a teen with a glimmer of skill, then jump into her meeting Mason. Both can talk to ghosts, which gets them on the Krewe radar. Evidence left behind seems to belong to dead men, perpetuating the vampire myths that the victim bodies seem to suggest. With a Viking age archaeological dig nearby and enough people around drinking blood for kicks, they have their hands full looking for the master vampire killing the young women. This master has thought of most avenues our heroes and their allies look for clues or people, and has been a step ahead of them the entire way.

The sentences are jumpy and choppy, even in the slower moments, and the characters lay it all out immediately in conversation. It surprised me because I thought we'd have to work at getting to know them, and that felt stilted in the beginning. Are you going to tell your supervisor that you're afraid of failure? Yet Mason does it in chapter one. The entire book is written in this kind of style so that easily makes this not my favorite of Heather Graham's books. This one is definitely more of a murder mystery than a romance, but it is the start of a spinoff series so they'll probably get together later. In a way, that's almost comforting; with the horrific nature of these crimes, they don't get sidetracked Hollywood style but continue working with different agencies in different countries to get to the bottom of it.

Buy Whispers at Dusk at Amazon

Born and raised in New York City, M.K. French started writing stories when very young, dreaming of different worlds and places to visit. She always had an interest in folklore, fairy tales, and the macabre, which has definitely influenced her work. She currently lives in the Midwest with her husband, three young children, and a golden retriever. 

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