Blood Trail

Blood Trail (1992) Tanya Huff

Okay, I did have a very strong drink to celebrate the end of the semester, so that may have been part of the reason why I laughed out loud several times last night while reading this book. Or, it could be that the book was actually amusing. Your call.

Vicki receives a call from Henry, asking her if she would be willing to take on a case for some friends of his. What he fails to mention is that those friends are werewolves, and that someone with a high powered rifle has been killing the family off one by one.

This one reads more like a traditional mystery, although we do learn who the killer is before our heroes.

What I really liked about this story was the nature of the wers. Although they pass for human, they aren’t quite, and I found those differences very interesting. Especially, their attitude towards nudity. It makes sense, after all, for a being who can’t wear clothes in one form, to not be hung up on nudity the way humans are. After all, all the other creatures on the planet go about nekkid (except for those unfortunate pets whose owners insist on dressing them up) so what’s the big deal?

Of course, I have no interest in going about with much more than 10% of my flesh exposed to the air, but if it makes other people happy, good for them.

I also very much like Henry, and how from his birth (death? rebirth?) as a vampire he doesn’t kill, except as a necessity. I like the idea that at least some vampires has control over their natures to some degree, and can choose to kill or merely to feed. But then I’m a big fan of free will, so I like the idea that all creatures, even magical ones, have free will. And also like that Henry is very religious. It makes sense, of course, considering that he’s something in the way of an ethical vampire, but I like it very much.

I’m also fascinated by what the different authors who write supernatural fantasy choose to keep as cannon for their magical and creatures, and what they choose to discard as mythical. It is of course reasonable that humans would get some things right and some things wrong regarding creatures we don’t really believe in, but different authors choose to keep different things.

Meanwhile, this story. I liked it. Very much. It was dark, of course, but it was also highly amusing at times, primarily in the dialog, or in Vicki’s thoughts. It was also a lot of fun to read. Nothing deep, but very enjoyable.

If you liked Blood Price, then you’ll almost certainly like Blood Trail. If you have not read Blood Price, you should be able to read Blood Trail anyway, and not lose anything. (Let me mention one more time how much I love authors who can write a series, while finishing a plot in a single book. Yay!) So if you think supernatural fantasy, you should enjoy this. It is dark and a little gruesome, and there is some sex. But it’s not extremely gruesome, and there isn’t a lot of sex. And it’s good. Probably even without the whiskey.
Rating: 8/10

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