A Matter of Blood by Sarah Pinborough - a review

It is the near future but not so different to the one we live in now. Everything and everyone seems to have links to The Bank - the massive, often mysterioeus institution at the heart of all things financial and possibly otherwise.

Our hero, Cass Jones, is investigating two crimes - a botched gangland hit that resulted in the death of two young schoolboys, and the murders by a serial killer 'the man of flies'. Then, just when things can't get any worse Jones gets the news that his brother, who works for The Bank has killed himself and his family in an apparent murder suicide.

As bad as it can get? No, no,no, no, no - On investigation Cass Jones finger print is found on the gun used to kill his brother and family (along with other incriminating evidence).

This is a very dark, sinister and quite gritty crime story which pitches somewhere between horror and urban fantasy but is probably closer to urban fantasy. As the first book in the Dog-Faced Gods trilogy it tells a good story but leaves you with more questions than answers and sets things up nicely for book 2.

The hero character is flawed, as you would expect but is also, I believe, a lot more than he seems to be (more than even he knows). How this series is going to pan out, I wouldn't even want to guess but I can assure you of one thing - it's gonna be a hell of a lot of fun finding out!