Avengers of Blood is the kind of books in a series I love. It has the same characters from The Devil of Light, the previous novel, who I had gotten to know and love; or hate. This one had a different engaging plot with aspects of the previous book’s unsolved mystery threading its way through the story. It also had a satisfying ending that left some questions unanswered telling me that soon I would be spending more time with my friends. It was written so that a reader who hadn’t read the first one wouldn’t feel lost.

Ms. Wood’s gift is creating small town characters that ring true. It’s apparent she’s spent some time observing people and storing their interactions for fodder for her stories. All of the characters in the story are flawed, some more than others, just like the people in our lives. Even the characters you root for you’ll wish could get over their insecurities and move on. But they would not seem realistic if they shrugged off what’s been a part of their life.

This story’s premise could have come straight from almost any southern newspapers headlines. There’s a gruesome murder in the first chapter discovered by a murderer denied the revenge they’ve been waiting all their life to seek. That engaged this reader as I knew the denied murderer would seek their revenge on those that stole it from them.

Maxine, a new character, was introduced in this story and made for smile evoking reading with her interactions with Cassie, the protagonist.

The only issue I had with the writing was the author occasionally spent too much time showing character actions to avoid dialog tags. Sometimes a simple said, or asked would have let the conversation flow better than showing a character doing something that didn’t add to the scene as a way to identify who spoke.

That was a minuscule issue that won’t stop me from looking forward to reading more from this author.

I recommend this novel to anyone who loves crime/mystery novels.

Here’s a link to learn more about this author and her books: Gae-Lynn Woods