Blood price by Tanya Huff

It has been eight months since Vicki "Victory" Nelson left the police force, giving up her career as a homicide detective because her world view is slowly shrinking away due to an eye condition with no cure and no real treatment.  Her night vision is pretty much non existent, she has tunnel vision (literally), and her reduced vision means she has to wear glasses - all these limitations mean nothing when she witnesses an attack on a subway platform and rushes to the aid of the victim.  All her skills as a homicide detective may not have abandoned her, but as a private investigator she no longer has the badge to investigate the crime.  When witnessing the crime brings her a little too close to her past Vicki finds herself being drawn into her past once again.

When a client asks Vicki to investigate the death of her boyfriend, it seems like Vicki may have a way back into the case - even if the client does believe that the murderer is a vampire.  As the bodies start to pile up the whole city starts to believe in vampires and as tensions rise there is the chance the city will boil over with vampire fever.  The last thing Vicki expects to find in her search for the killer is a real vampire, but that is just what she does find - and he is nothing like she expected.

Blood price is the first book in the Blood series and acts as a perfect introduction to Vicki, Henry, and Mike - characters that grow on you throughout this first book and more throughout the series.  I have owned more than one copy of this book (the covers were changed with a re-release a few years ago and I had to get the set rather than just getting the books I was missing).  I really enjoy Huff's work, and own several series - the Blood series and the Summoning series.  There is an element of horror (but it is not over the top gory), there is an element of suspense (but it is not long and drawn out), there is an element of fantasy (but it doesn't take you too far out of this world), and there is just a smidge of romance thrown into the mix (just not always where you would expect).  The world is richly imagined, and even though it was written in the 90's it has dated well - apart from the odd slang term but that could also just be Canadian slang.

This series has a lot in common with the Diana Tregarde mysteries from Mercedes Lackey, and I can remember having a conversation with someone years ago who insisted they were in fact the same person!  I love this series and tend to re-read the books every few years, hence why I purchased my own copies (you can't always trust the library to keep copies of classic fantasy series).  If you are after something a little dark, but a little light, with a good plot, relatable characters, and some little plot twists to keep you guessing then give this series a try - there are five to enjoy and if you really like them then you can also read the Smoke series which follows one of the other characters.

If you like this book then try:

• Blood trail by Tanya Huff
• Summon the Keeper by Tanya Huff
• Children of the night by Mercedes Lackey
• Burning water by Mercedes Lackey
• Spiders bite by Jennifer Estep
• Dead witch walking by Kim Harrison
• Angel's blood by Nalini Singh
• Cast in shadow by Michelle Sagara
• Kitty and the midnight hour by Carrie Vaughn
• Moon called by Patricia Briggs
• Cry wolf by Patricia Briggs

Reviewed by Brilla