Confession: I have a little...er...pirate obsession affliction.



It's a thing.

I waited a checked everyday to when this was going to be released. And when it finally was...I quelted hard. Look at it, mateys! I love this cover. Yawr har har!



Always.

Blood in the Water did not disappoint. This stayed true to pirating, no lily-livered land lubbers found in this crew. Pirate bad asses! Lying, double crossing, fighting, stealing, killing anyone that gets in their way!

Blood, grit, demons and spirits...this author weaved quite the tale. The amount of research and story-telling is recognized in every inch of this story. Enemies? Lovers? Hmm...Kyros and Eric, pirate captains of their own ships have been dancing around each other from sometime. When we meet the two in this story, they are finally doing something about the sexual tension.

Nothing better than two hot pirates together, in my book.



But Eric has a secret of the paranormal kind and it's breaking him down slowly. Kyros is always a step behind trying to solve the puzzle. Eric finally lets Kyros in but it has major consequences.

Without giving away any of this juicy plot, the two pirates join forces on a wild adventure that stays true to pirate form. They island hop in the Caribbean searching for clues and answers and have some steamy moments in between.

The story is suspenseful, action packed and gritty. Baby likes a lot. :D It does not hold back nor pulls the punches. Each scene was descriptive, so much so that I could see all the characters and settings vividly in my mind. Historical mixed with fantasy! It ends with a cliffhanger but there's promise of more. and for less than 100 pages, it read like it was longer. I like when that happens.

A treasure this story. I found some pirate treasure. Arrrgh!

My rating? 4.5 stars.

I am holding the last .5 stars hostage in true pirate form. It will not be released until I read the next bit of this series and I hope it will be expanded to fully explain some bits because this pirate has questions, luv. (WTF? Araceli? Ghalil? A HEA? I need to KNOW!)

Many thanks to the author and the team behind this story and event. *waves pirate sword in glee*

( )

At thirty-five years old, Alice Rice is a police detective with the Edinburgh Police Department. She is smart, savvy and eminently capable at her job. When she first entered the police department, Alice was a fresh-faced optimist, convinced that she could make a difference in the world. These days, while she remains optimistic, that feeling has dimmed somewhat in the face of all she has seen, leaving her severely disillusioned and very lonely.

Amid her own personal and private battle, Alice must solve several grisly murders of professional people in Edinburgh. As the body count begins to rise, she races against time and matches wits with an implacable, faceless killer; someone who is targeting the affluent area of New Town, and who seems determined to make certain members of Edinburgh's professional elite pay dearly for what they've done.

Blood in the Water is Gillian Galbraith's debut novel and what a debut it was! This story was very well-written, and I really liked the character of Alice Rice. The plot was surprisingly refreshing and very Scottish. When I was younger, I often visited Edinburgh and reading this book just brought back such good memories of my travels. I thoroughly enjoyed this mystery and give Blood in the Water by Gillian Galbraith an A+! I certainly will keep my eyes open for more books to read by this author. ( )

"Blood in the water. The sharks were circling the Pearson's exit, waiting for a tidbit of flesh, alert and active but not yet frenzied. Alice caught sight of the re-lipped giantess at the back, jostling with the rest of them, elbows raised, craning for a view of any of the members of the 'grieving family' as they emerged."

Nice description of the press, isn't it? ;-) Galbraith has provided in Detective Sergeant Alice Rice a female equivalent to Stuart McBride's Logan McRae.... in other words, a likeable, well balanced police detective. Yes she has her weaknesses but they are not of the moody, alcoholic imbued or attitude-projecting types. The mystery is another race against time to find a multiple killer in the lead up to the Christmas holidays - what is it with Tartan Noir books, the cold month of December and a city with a possibly related death every couple of days to be investigated? Do any of these stories take place in the summer time when Scotland is thronging with tourists and festivals? Just curious.

Galbraith has taken her real life experience as an advocate (similar to a barrister, public defender or prosecutor) practicing at the Scottish Bar, specializing in medical negligence while writing this story and her knowledge of the field really shows. I could have done with out the inclusion of what would have been the written judgement but I can see why Galbraith chose that route when writing her story, as opposed to providing a summary of the judgement. The case is as good one but for some reason it lacked the page turning effect I would have expected for a police procedural trying to track down a murderer over the course of 17 days and a climbing body count. It is good, and I do want to continue reading more books in the series, but it just wasn't a riveting read for me. Maybe I am starting to experience Tartan Noir burnout. ( )

An interesting plot set in authentic Edinburgh locations which would be very familiar to fans of Rebus. Encouraged me to find more of her novels. ( )

A very good debut for DS Alice Rice. The narrative isn't padded out unnecessarily and the characters avoid most of the usual stereotyping of police and the downtrodden masses. Edinburgh is in the background rather than forced on the reader. ( )