Susan Handley – Paid In Blood

‘Paid in Blood’ by Susan Handley is a brand spanking new series featuring DI Matt Fisher. I thought this book sounded intriguing and when I was invited on the tour I jumped at the chance.

A socialite and a famous athlete are both murdered at a charity fundraiser event we see detectives Matt Fisher and Beth Nightingale on the case. Matt is a blind detective who lost his sight by jumping in front of a woman who was about to be the victim of an acid attack. This resulted in Matt being the recipient of the acid attack and losing his sight. This case is important to him on two levels; One: he needs to solve it and the other is to prove himself no less of a detective without his sight. He does have his dog Luna at his side and the help of Beth.

As I said I was intrigued. This is the first time I have come across a blind detective who is the main character too, it raised so many questions for me. I was eager to see where Susan Handley would take this story. Matt himself seems a rather disgruntled man and then you think of his disability and how hard he must have to work to be as efficient as a sighted person, so I got him. The constant undermining he experiences from his superior was another issue for him too. Beth Nightingale takes the brunt of his frustrations and it is clear it is all rooted within his psyche and how much the loss of his sight affects this. I enjoyed getting to know the Fisher/Nightingale and Luna team and we also see Matt’s personal life issues with his family issues too.

I found it a pretty fast-paced read with unique takes on the characters and a challenging case to be solved along the way. I particularly loved the twists in the investigation, this made the story an interesting one aside from Matt and his health issues.

I was truly gripped from the beginning. I am eager to read the second instalment to see how Matt and Beth develop as a team as well.

Thanks to ZooLoo’s Book Tours and Susan Handley for the copy of the book.