Blood Country (Clare Watkins Mysteries) [Hardcover]

Mary Logue (Author)

Book Description

Series: Clare Watkins Mysteries | Publication Date: November 1, 1999

Police officer Clare Watkins moves with her young daughter to Wisconsin to get away from the past and it's bad memories. But Clare doesn't know that her ten-year-old daughter Meg not only witnessed the hit-and-run accident that killed her father, she had also seen the man who was driving...and had been seen by him.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Set in the scenic bluff country along the Mississippi River of western Wisconsin, this first in a series launch introduces Claire Watkins, a deputy sheriff for the Pepin County Police Department. Claire, a former Minneapolis police detective, and her 10-year-old daughter Meg fled the Twin Cities after her husband, Steve, also a cop, was killed. When Landers Anderson, an elderly neighbor who befriended Claire and Meg, dies of a heart attack after being sideswiped with a shovel, Claire determines to find the culprit. This involves delving into Landers's family history and investigating the machinations of a right-wing group, Homeowners of America, that is buying up property to build an environmentally unsound development. At the same time, Meg fearfully admits to Claire that she saw the man who killed Steve. Claire contacts her former partner, Det. Bruce Jacobs, and prods him into accelerating the investigation into Steve's death. The murderer, who has a mysterious police informant, tries to kidnap Meg but instead grabs Claire's pregnant sister Bridget, who gets away. Meanwhile, Claire's complex relationship with Bruce (they slept together once, he carries a torch for her, she's not sure she's ready) is challenged by her attraction to a neighbor, Rich Haggard. While the Anderson case has a satisfying solution, the mystery surrounding Steve's murder concludes with a killer most readers will have identified long before he's revealed. Although the plot development is heavy-handed and the dialogue often stilted, Logue has created some appealing characters in an attractive, offbeat setting.
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal

In this new series start, Claire Watkins, a deputy sheriff in Fort St. Antoine, WI, investigates the murder of her next-door neighbor, a pleasant, aging gardener with no apparent enemies. When she encounters the man's bitter brother and community controversy surrounding a new townhouse development, however, she begins to think otherwise. Then, too, there's the hit-and-run driver who killed Claire's husband a year ago and may be tracking her daughterAwho just happened to witness the incident. Surly suspects, small-town surroundings, and solid prose make this a welcome addition to most collections.
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 256 pages
• Publisher: Walker & Company; 1St Edition edition (November 1, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0802733395
• ISBN-13: 978-0802733399
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.7 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,866,746 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

28 of 29 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Very entertaining, October 14, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Blood Country (Clare Watkins Mysteries) (Hardcover)

In the Twin Cities, Clare Watkins was a detective until a driver deliberately ran his car over her husband killing him. Their ten-year old daughter Meg witnessed her father's death. The two females decide they need a radical change. They move to St. Antoine, Wisconsin, hoping that small town living will benefit both of them. Still, Meg remains insecure because she saw her father's killer and realizes that she can identify him and he can recognize her.

Nine months later, the fragile peace of the Watkins women ends when Meg finds their neighbor dead. The autopsy revealed that someone murdered the kind victim. Clare decides to find out who would kill such a nice person. However, a personal problem soon surfaces as her spouse's killer arrives in St. Antoine. Clare knows he came to silence the only witness who can link him to her husband's murder. She risks her life to keep Meg safe even while she uncovers the full truth behind her spouse's death.

The exciting BLOOD COUNTRY is the first Clare Watkins mystery and it appears to be ready for a long and popular run. The characters are everyday people coping with terrible things that have occurred. Readers will cheer on the efforts of mother and daughter to more than just survive. The enthralling mystery is entertaining due to a sleight of the hand twist that makes it nearly impossible to identify the real culprit. More novels like this will brighten the world of the audience and Mary Logue will have an even brighter future ahead of her.

14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Outstanding Crime Fiction, February 1, 2001

By 

Carl Brookins (St. Paul, Minnesota, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Blood Country (Clare Watkins Mysteries) (Hardcover)

Claire Watkins is a damaged ex-Minneapolis police detective. She's also the protagonist of Mary Logue's new crime novel, following "Red Lake of The Heart," and "Still Explosion."

In "Blood Country," Watkins and her partner are moving toward arresting members of a major drug ring when Claire's husband, Steve, becomes the victim of what appears to be a hit-and-run accident. Shocked and desolate, Watkins abruptly resigns from the department, takes her young daughter, Meg, and flees to the small Wisconsin town of Fort Antoine. To support herself and provide a protective environment for Meg, Claire joins the county sheriff's department which hasn't seen a murder in at least a generation.

Then, Claire's neighbor is found face down in his garden. Greed has raised its ugly head, generating conflict over a real estate development. Citizens are split over maintaining traditional values, and the prospect of substantial new money.

Logue sets a consistent pace, entwining the major plot elements with other developments in a pleasing manner and, through shifting points of view and realistic action, continually raises the feeling of mystery and danger.

Logue's background as a successful poet shows in her narrative style which flirsts with free verse, providing a meter of starts and pauses. One of this novel's strengths is its thoughtful incompleteness. The main plot ans some subplots are carefully resolved by the end, but other questions posed by characters to themselves and others are left unanswered. It's an invitation to the reader to speculate about their own future.

14 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Small Town Secrets=Big Time Trouble, December 15, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Blood Country (Clare Watkins Mysteries) (Hardcover)

Mary Logue has the gift of keeping the reader turning pages. In reading Blood Coutry you soon discover that there are a lot of secrets being kept in this small fictional town. Like peeling layers of an onion, the story unfolds to a surprising climax. The story is told from several points of view but the characters are well-developed and Ms. Logue gives each one a unique voice. Highly recommended!