D.H. Dublin Blood Poison

Blood Poison

D.H. Dublin

Berkley, Sept 2007, $24.99, 304 pp.

ISBN 9780425216880

Medical Intern Madison Cross dropped out of her residency and became a police officer working for the Philadelphia Crime Scene Unit (CSU). She is a very good investigator but as a newbie she still has a few things to learn including detaching herself from a crime and keeping a distance from the victims.

She is called to David Grant's home and finds him dead, the victim of an apparent suicide. She is stuck waiting for the ambulance to arrive to take the body to headquarters when a man in a wheelchair arrives claiming he is Horace Grant. He left the assisted living center where he stayed for a week and come back to David. Madison's heart goes out to him and she finds herself doing stuff and running errands to make life easier for him. The autopsy affirms Madison's initial reaction, but since meeting Horace she has doubts and believes that there are questions left unanswered. She begins an intensive investigation, unaware that a killer who has murdered many times, watches her every step, and will not hesitate to extinct one nosy cop.

D.H. Dublin gives readers a fascinating look at how CSU works and shows how crime scene investigations find the bulk of the evidence that can be used in trial. Madison is a complex person who when believes she is right about a case so goes her own way, refusing to heed anyone's advice (not sure how long she will survive the law enforcement bureaucracy). Interestingly enough she is often proven right and it helps that she has the backing of her lieutenant who is a loving uncle to her. This book takes off at mach speed and accelerates into light speed, giving the audience a fantastic thrill ride.

Harriet Klausner