A well crafted crime story, very detailed police procedural aspects from the author's experience and that of her partner, lends authenticity. Good use of real locations in Northumberland, Durham and Tyneside. ( )

This is a new author to me but I want to read more by her now. Her main character is a fully realized woman. DCI Kate Daniels has been a detective for many years and has just returned to work after a leave she was required to take after killing a dangerous psychopath. She has also just broken up with her lesbian lover, a police profiler. Despite her heartache and the continuing psychological problems from the previous case, Daniels jumps right back into work on a new case that will sorely tax her both emotionally and physically.

She is dropped by police helicopter beside Hadrian's Wall where the fully dressed body of a young woman has been found. You may remember this wall from history. The Roman's built it to protect the part of England they had firm control of from my ancestors, those darned Scots who insisted on invading to attempt to drive them off the island. Anyway, a retired cop found the body while hiking the wall. It turns out she was a university student and every bone in her body is broken; was she dropped from a plane?

Meanwhile, wealthy but coldly disciplined Adam Finch has reported his daughter Jessica, a student at the same university, has gone missing. Could the body from the wall be hers? There will be two other students missing who look like Jessica. Is this the work of a deranged serial killer? They uncover information about students being forced into prostitution. Is that what's going on here? After all, these young women are tall, pretty blonds.

I loved the way this investigation went on, meanwhile entertained by the relationships between the members of the murder investigation team. They are uniquely individual but also a cohesive team. Clues come about naturally and are followed as such a team would. I never had a "come on" moment in the story.

This is a real nail-biter because of the unfeeling cruelty of the bad guy. I was surprised by his identity but there was a logical (in his mind) reason for his actions. Daniels is frustrated but has dogged determination to solve the mystery no matter what.

Great characters, great plot, a great read.

Highly recommended e-book
Source: publisher, Witness/Impulse Imprint, HarperCollins ( )

Disclosure: I received a review copy from the publisher

While I was a little leery about jumping into this series with book two, I don't think I missed too much information about DCI Kate Daniels's personal and professional lives in order to enjoy this novel. Hannah is good at not dumping too much exposition into the first sections of the book: she doesn't slow things down. Daniels is a closeted lesbian detective in Northumbria, and this particular case involves the murder of a young woman found at Hadrian's Wall and the disappearance of another young college student within days of the murder. The plotting was very good, and the characters were interesting: everyone on the police team has plenty of backstory, from Daniels's mentor Bright to her team members. Daniels herself is recovering from the trauma of her last case, the focus of the book The Murder Wall, and her break-up with police profiler Jo Soulsby. My only reservation about the story is that it centered on a murdered young woman and an abducted woman in harm's way, and I've read and seen that story too many times. I enjoyed this book, but, to be honest, I prefer Anne Holt's Hanne Wilhelmsen series a bit more.

Settled Blood is the second in the DCI Kate Daniels series. The book seemed to be a little too much of an attempt to be an all inclusive genre. This mystery, thriller, suspense, police procedure and lesbian romance instead ended up a little muddled. There are very descriptive crime scenes, and the high suspense tension lasts until the end of the story.

I usually enjoy a methodical police procedure, but in this book, it seemed the details were too repetitive. How many reports does the DCI Kate Daniels need to receive ( and seem surprised about) stating the fall victim was alive when she hit the ground. It did nothing to add to the horror of the crime. Also, the pining over her ex-girlfriend seemed out of place in the middle of a tense drama.

This is a British author so there were quite a few terms and British slang that I was not familiar with, but that was not a big drawback because it just took a quick search online to find definitions. It did break up the flow of the story though.

A copy of this e-book was provided by Edelweiss, Above the Treeline. ( )

One co-ed is dead and another is missing. Both bear a striking resemblance to each other. Can the missing girl be found in time?

A plot with multiple focuses does not detract or distract from the main story line. In fact, some parts add to the growth of the characters. Vivid scenes and an action packed narrative help to drive this somewhat serpentine narrative.

Some portions of characters' home lives were only partially explored, but to explore in full detail would have added much length, and changed the direction of, the book.

The dialogue is crisp, aids in character and plot development while adding humor at times.

Overall, a thrilling read! ( )