Customer Reviews

Blood Guilt: A Kit O'Malley Mystery (Kit O'Malley Mystery Series)

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This sort of thing has been done before, but it has rarely been done this well. Blood Guilt is an entertaining and engrossing tale of a wise-cracking private eye, quickly embroiled in a what should be a simple job of following a cheating husband around but of course becomes something much more complicated and dangerous, a setting in Australia, not one but two attractive women for distraction, and enough plot to tangle yourself in for a good long while. The blurb on the Bywater Books edition warns, "Don't start this book if you have someplace to be." Go ahead and block off some time, because you really won't want to put this one down until you've finished the last, very satisfying, twist and turn.

It moves quickly, carrying the reader along at a good brisk pace. It stays interesting, and it is also funny. This first in a series introduces Kit O'Malley, former police officer, now a private investigator, and a group of characters as eccentric and vague as her mother, who tends to begin and end conversations rather abruptly. Kit is both smart and smart-mouthed, and both qualities get her in trouble of various kinds. She's also a bit clumsy. Everyone in this novel is a bit quirky, so go ahead and enjoy. The plot deepens and gets more complicated, but there are no darker overtones other than solving the crime and falling head over heels (almost literally) in love with a beautiful woman along the way.

Blood Guilt is the first book of Kit O'Malley Mystery. Katherine (Kit) O'Malley, an ex-police official, was a private eye at day and a wannabe mystery writer at night. She took a job of following the husband of the wealthy owner of Orlando House Publishing, but she didn't expect such a tedious tailing of an unfaithful husband could lead to a conspiracy that ...

I think that's enough. You shouldn't read more than that to avoid the spoilers.

Even though the story was told in the third person, it's almost like that you look at the whole thing through Kit's eyes. The story doesn't give you a detailed description about how Kit looked but you can get quite a great deals about what kind of person Kit was. The sarcastic tone, which often showed up in the story telling, is just like one of Kit's characteristics.

Personally, I enjoyed very much in reading the romance plot like the one depicted in this book. It did make me ponder, just like solving a mystery.

For mystery, it's not like the classical mystery, but it was well plotted. You can feel that the author did do her homework and pay great attention to make the logic right.

Another good thing in this book is it has many interesting characters, main or minor, which you are able to distinguish their personalities. Good dialogs, too. The story isn't fast-pacing, considering a book of 386 pages covered barely over three weeks (and mostly at the last week). It's also kind of slow to go into the main part of the story. You need a little bit patience in the beginning. You'll find it's worth your time in the end (at least for a mystery/adventure reader).

Lindy Cameron is a terrific writer, as smart and funny as the charming, goofy, danger-prone heroine of her book, Kit O'Malley. Blood Guilt is a great read; I finished it in a single sitting because I couldn't put it down. I am very much looking forward to the sequel, which is due to be published in August.

Do yourself a favor: buy this book, pour yourself a cup of coffee, settle in a comfortable chair, and enjoy the ride.

Lindy Cameron's debut novel is wonderful. I enjoyed Kit O'Malley's character. She was down-to-earth with a sense of humor and integrity. This novel covered all the bases: romanace, mystery, intrigue.

I can't wait to read the next two she has coming out.

Lindy Cameron hails from the beautiful Mornington Peninsula outside of Melbourne, Australia. She is a freelance editor and enjoys golf. BLOOD GUILT is her first Kit O'Malley mystery. BLEEDING HEARTS and THICKER THAN WATER follow. She has also published a novel entitled GOLDEN RELIC.

Kit O'Malley is an ex-cop who has taken on the cloak of a private eye. Her mother is a society maven whose school chum, Celia Robinson, hires Kit to tail her husband and catch him in a compromising position. Kit complies, follows the rotter, and catches him in the act. But her final meeting to finish the case instead turns into a murder investigation of Celia Robinson. Kit meets Celia's independent daughter and her friend, the prickly lawyer Alex Cazenove, and Kit falls head-over-heels, so to speak:

"Despite the volume, however, she could still hear the warning bells going off in her head. After all there was nothing as ridiculous as someone whose nerve endings were going completely gah-gah over a person who didn't particularly like that someone at all, at all. And there was also absolutely NO point in allowing herself to become interested in a person whose interests lay elsewhere. And Kit was NOT thinking about Alex's impending marriage. In fact the way Alex was watching over Quinn-correction, make that 'watching' full stop-Kit was beginning to wonder if Alex knew whether she was on the right path by intending to plight her troth to the divine Enzo."

Lindy Cameron takes the reader down what initially seems a straightforward path of murder and mayhem only to tweak the journey over and over. This tale is expertly told; passionately portrayed; and properly plotted to make for a rollicking romp through a sinister world of complete psychopaths. But Kit O'Malley is up to the task. She is full of courage and insecurity, and is a lovable character whom the reader can fully support. Kit's discovery of real love is touching and astonishing. Cameron's characters all stand out, although the bad guys all seem to jell together into a gooey abyss where they belong. BLOOD GUILT is an excellent introduction to the indomitable Kit O'Malley, and Cameron scores on her first shot with this compelling read.

Shelley Glodowski

Senior Reviewer

The book was delightful. It had murder, mayhem, humor, and a very good romance thrown in. Plus, as another reviewer pointed out, it was not "dark". And you know the best part...it was not warrior princess and sidekick. I commend the publishers for putting out books with substance, both in story and length. It is refreshing to read a book with 300+ pages as opposed to the skimpy ones that B**** (rhymes with Ella) puts out. Thank you to the author for a great book. I look forward to your next.