TITLE & AUTHOR: Blood Red Roses by Lin AndersonAUTHOR WEBSITE AMAZON.UK AMAZON.COM WHAT'S IT'S ABOUT EXTRACT PUBLISHER: Sandstone PressWHAT I THOUGHT
EDITION: KoboRELEASE DATE: 5 January 2005
PAGES: 104
SOURCE: Digital Library
A hen night in Glasgow leaves the bride-to-be dead on a toilet floor, her body twisted, her face stretched in a macabre grin. With no suspect and no motive the police hit a brick wall. But the murderer has left a hidden trail of forensic evidence for Dr Rhona MacLeod to find. A trail that leads to a world of exploitation and sexual obsession. "The green baize walls and heavily carpeted hallway smothered all sound. She passed four doors and stood outside number five, waiting for the double vodka to swim through her blood stream. There were four of them. Spiked hair, designer stubble, muscled bodies under patterned short-sleeved shirts. A stag night maybe? Or just guys who liked working out on girls like her.
She smiled and he wanted the smile to be for him.
Blood Red Roses is an okay crime novella but it's nothing special. I read the author's novel Dark Flight years ago and have never read any more of her books so I was intrigued when I recognised the author's name. The novella stands on its own. You really don't need to have read any of the author's books or know anything about the characters. The plot is a bog-standard stalker turns murderer so there's nothing particularly original. The method of murder by strychnine poisoning is quite gruesome and not something I've come across before so it was quite interesting. I didn't know who the killer was so his identity was a revelation I didn't see coming. Overall, Blood Red Roses wasn't bad and I read it in one sitting but the novella didn't seem to have much point which was disappointing.
