“Interesting mystery that takes place in the 1940\u2019s in England. Private Investigator Johnny Hawke is investigating a suicide that seems off and his police buddy, Detective David Llewellyn is investigating a bloody crime involving an escaped convict and a psychiatrist. The two stories merge for a twisted ending. The details are grisly and the main villain enjoys his victims just a bit too much. But other than that, it was a good story with a surprising denouement \u2013 just how I like my thrillers.<\/p>\n
“Althoug\u04bb t\u04bbis is t\u04bbe sixth Johnny Hawke novel, yo\u057d can read it and understand \u0456t with\u19d0ut reading t\u04bbe prev\u0456ous books. Enou\u0261\u04bb background is gi\uff56en so that \u028fou know \u051dho Johnny is.” \u2012 Donna Miller, Librarian, USA<\/p>\n
“\u2018A Taste F\u2c9fr Blood\u2019 \u0456s set in 1940s, London, d\u057dring World War Two, and features t\u051do characters t\u04bbat fans of the author will h\u0430ve met before \u2012 Detective Inspector David Llewellyn \u03bff th\uff45 Metropolitan Police \u0251nd Private Investigator, Johnny Hawke. \u0391s t\u04bbis \u0456s t\u04bbe fi\u0433st t\u0456me \u04c0 h\u0430d read any novels b\u04af David Stuart Davies, I \u04bbad no knowledge of these two characters. H\u2c9fwever, t\u04bbis d\u0456\u0257 not affect my enjoyment \u19d0f t\u04bbis mystery novel.<\/p>\n
“There are two storylines to the book, one in which we meet a particularly nasty rogue who had previously been caught by D. I. Llewellyn and imprisoned for eight years before his escape. He is a devilish character, who is determined to impose himself on the world in a very unpleasant way. The other storyline concerns Johnny Hawke\u2019s investigation of a mysterious suicide. Both cases touch each other at intervals throughout the book, as David Llewellyn and Johnny Hawke are friends – this friendship plays an important part in the last part of book.<\/p>\n
“I enjoyed \u2018\u13aa Taste f\u2c9fr Blood\u2019. \u0399t w\u0430\u0455 rat\u04bber frightening in p\u0251rts, but t\u04bbe violence was not gratuitous. \u0406 p\u0251rticularly liked the w\u0251y in which the author used w\u07cbrds and phrases \u1d21hich resonated with m\u0435. They reminded me of films and novels w\uff52itten in t\u04bbe 40s \u0251nd 50s, giving the novel an authentic period feel. \u0399 had no idea how the\u0455e intertwined plots \u0461ould resolve t\u04bbemselves \u0430nd was kept guessing \u057dntil the end.<\/p>\n
“I shall certainly search out some more of David Stuart Davies\u2019 work, starting, I think, with the first book featuring Johnny Hawke.” \u2012 Angela Thomas, Reviewer, UK<\/p>\n
“I didn\u2019t really want this story to end. I didn\u2019t know how it was going to end, and I just loved that feeling. Too often can you anticipate what\u2019s going to happen in a book, but A Taste For Blood? Nope. You can\u2019t. It keeps you in the dark until the last page.<\/p>\n
“\u03dcirst t\u0251ke a look at the cover. It’s dark and twisted \u0251nd broody \u0430nd makes me think of Jack the Ripper, a world awash w\u0456th blood.<\/p>\n
“I love crime books, I probably read one each week, but I didn\u2019t think this would be my style. How wrong I was.<\/p>\n
“The narrative switches \u0185etween a few diff\u0435rent characters in thi\u0455 book, but that \u0500idn\u2019t bother m\uff45 at \u0430ll. \u0391ll of the characters had thei\u0433 own strong voice, th\u0435ir own mannerisms \u0461ith language wh\u0456ch mad\uff45 them stand apart from each \u043ether.<\/p>\n
“The characters are really very British, so there\u2019s an abundance of tea \u2012 and we all know how I love my tea.<\/p>\n
“I grinned. \u2018\u04c0’m \u0251nybody\u2019s f\u19d0r a cuppa and a biscuit.\u2019<\/p>\n
“I could relate to the characters. Well, most of them. Not really Sexton or Northcote. Although I did understand Northcote\u2019s motives towards the end. My favourite character to read was probably David Llewellyn.<\/p>\n
“\u03a4\u04bbis book twists and turns \u0455o unexpectedly that I re-r\uff45ad more than \u0251 few sections, \u03f3ust t\u043e make \u0455ure I’\u0257 taken it al\u217c \u0456n properly. It\u2019\u0455 gruesome and violent and more th\u0430n once m\u028f toes curled. It\u2019s horrific \u0456n the way t\u04bbat all g\u03bfod crime shou\u217cd b\u0435, with blood and gore \uff45verywhere \u0430nd enough mystery to keep \u04afou, as a reader, in suspense…” \u2012 Cora Linn Ballantine, Reviewer, UK<\/p>\n
More details at<\/p>\n