Precious Blood

By Jane Haddam

In high school, Cheryl was an outcast, tolerated only because the boys considered her easy. But one night at Black Rock Park, the popular kids were strangely kind, and for the first time in her life, Cheryl’s future seemed bright. Twenty heartbreaking years later, Cheryl is dying of cancer, and wants to return to the one place where she ever knew true happiness. But there is something she doesn’t know about that night in Black Rock Park-and the classmates who once pretended to befriend her will kill to keep the secret buried. After Cheryl is found poisoned, the case falls to Gregor Demarkian, a former FBI agent with a knack for solving small-town murders. To discover who killed this terminally ill woman, Demarkian will have to peer into the mysteries of the local Catholic church-and find the killer who is hiding behind a pious facade.

• Language: English
• Publisher: mysteriouspress.com
• Release date: Jul 1, 2017
• ISBN: 9781786698698

Jane Haddam

Jane Haddam (1951–2019) was an American author of mysteries. Born Orania Papazoglou, she worked as a college professor and magazine editor before publishing her Edgar Award–nominated first novel, Sweet, Savage Death, in 1984. This mystery introduced Patience McKenna, a sleuthing scribe who would go on to appear in four more books, including Wicked, Loving Murder (1985) and Rich, Radiant Slaughter (1988).   Not a Creature Was Stirring (1990) introduced Haddam’s best-known character, former FBI agent Gregor Demarkian. The series spans more than twenty novels, many of them holiday-themed, including Murder Superior (1993), Fountain of Death (1995), and Wanting Sheila Dead (2005). Haddam’s later novels include Blood in the Water (2012) and Hearts of Sand (2013).

Reviews for Precious Blood

[joycepa_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

In this, the second in the Gregor Demarkian series, Demarkian travels to Colchester, NY at the request of John Cardinal O'Bannion. Originally, the Cardinal archbishop wanted Demarkian to help him get rid of a maddening marverick priest, Father Andy Walsh. But after the death of a former parishioner to whom Fr. Walsh had personal ties, the archbishop now wants Demarkian's help in investigating the death, which the local police have decided is suicide, a conclusion with which the archbishop is uncomfortable. Before Demarkian can truly get started on the investigation, Fr. Walsh is murdered, at Mass, right in front of Demarkian's eyes.We meet the Sisters of Divine Grace, a "modernized" order of nuns who have an integral role in the plot. In addition, we also get a good-humored, affectionate look at the Roman Catholic church, its very human clergy and religious and its often chaotic functioning. All this enlivens the story enormously.The plot is good and at times ingenious. The characterization is also good, especially that of the domineering archbishop and one of the nuns, Sister Scholastica. Other supporting characters are believable. The main subplot is full of humor in its look at the not-so-subtle art of political practice. Ex-FBI agent Demarkian is a believable and refreshing protagonist.The post Vatican II split between liberals and conservatives in the Roman Catholic Church as well as fundamentlist Evangelical Protestantism are given sympathetic but realistic treatment as part of the texture of the story.Well written with a light hand and a nice comic touch. This is no hard-boiled police procedural but a quick and entertaining mystery read with likable recurring characters. Highly recommended

[chinquapin_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

In this second book of Jane Haddam's long-running series, retired Armenian-American FBI investigator Gregor Demarkian goes up to Colchester, New York during Easter week at the request of Cardinal O'Bannion, who is a friend of his Orthodox priest, Father Tibor Kasparian. O'Bannion originally wants him to come and help him investigate Father Andy Walsh, a troublesome liberal Catholic priest. A woman with ties to Father Walsh's murky past is found dead in an alley behind a hotel and the Cardinal wonders if Andy could have had anything to do with it. When Gregor arrives, however, he witnesses the murder of Father Walsh during the Ash Wednesday service at St. Agnes Church in full view of hundreds of parishoners. What follows is a lucid, fascinating investigation into these murders. Precious Blood had great characters...the Irish Cardinal O'Bannion; the nun from the Sisters of Divine Grace, Sister Mary Scholastica; Barry Field, the bad boy Catholic turned into an anti-Catholic radio talk show host, etc. The plot was intricate and ingenious with many twists and turns, and it was well-paced throughout. I enjoyed the detailed setting at the St. Agnes parish, and the interesting information on the Catholic Church and its practices and politics.

[eadieb-1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Book Description:
Ash Wednesday, Holy Thursday, deadly Friday
Former FBI agent Gregor Demarkian is doing a friend a favor when he shows up in Colchester, New York. The Cardinal Archbishop has a problem: a young woman has been most mysteriously murdered, and one of his parish priests had the strongest of reasons for wanting her dead. But Father Andrew Walsh isn't the only one with a motive. It seems that quite a number of parishioners shared a damning past with the deceased.
Some suspicious saints, a heretical holy roller, and two consecrated corpses. . . the Easter hunt is on for a clever killer!
Something happened here twenty years ago. Something that's leading a desperate soul to break the deadliest commandment. And when the good Father himself keels over in the middle of High Mass, Gregor knows he needs a miracle.

Loved the characters and the plot. Very entertaining and I am looking forward to the next book in the series.

[reannon_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Second in the Gregor Demarkian series. I read the last in this series and enjoyed it so much I'm working through the whole series. Gregor is a retired FBI profiler of serial killers. He retired during his wife's final illness and now, being retired and a widower, he is at loose ends. A Catholic Cardinal asks him to investigate a case in a parish in Colchester, New York. A woman died there, apparently a suicide, but the Cardinal and one of the homicide detectives think it was murder. Demarkian attends a service the day after he arrives, and the priest, Andy Walsh, a rebellious stirrer of trouble, drinks from the chalice and dies in front of the large congregation.Well-written book, both in plot and characters, but not as much my cup of tea as the other two in the series I've read.

[bookconcierge · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

A 20-year-old teenage indiscretion comes back to haunt the central characters of this murder mystery that takes place at Easter. Haddam would have us believe that Gregor Demarkian is “the Armenian-American Hercule Poirot.” I’m not so sure. It’s poorly plotted, with lots of red herrings. I think the author is trying too hard.