Blood Debt
Review by Harriet Klausner, submitted on 28-Oct-2001

Excerpted from Klausner's Bookshelf.

Blood Debt
Tanya Huff
Daw Books
$5.99, 336 pp. ISBN: 0-88677-739-9

Toronto Detective Sergeant Mike Celluci has had the past two years to come to terms with the fact that the woman he loves, private detective Vicki Nelson, is a vampire. For the most part, Mike has succeeded in his adjustment. When Henry Fitzroy turned Vicki into a vampire, he did it to save her life. However, when the four century plus old creature of the night calls on Ms. Vicki to help him, Mike's hard earned equanimity instantly crumbles. He hates working with Vicki and Henry on a homicide investigation and that is what Henry has asked Vicki to do.

This time the threesome is called upon to avenge the deaths of homicidal ghosts who will continue to kill until their murderer is brought to justice. Mike, Vicki, and Henry follow a trail that leads them to the crime lords of Vancouver and eventually to a business-person who is regarded as a great humanitarian. Solving the case is the only way to stop the ghostly serial killers, even if it means placing themselves in danger of being exposed or in Mike's case, killed.

Lovers of dark fantasy will not want to miss reading the fifth and final novel of Tanya Huff's magnificent vampire series. Although the tale is clearly aimed at the fantasy audience, Blood Debt has cross over appeal for fans of the mystery, horror, and romance genres as well. The mystery story line is deftly interwoven into a novel that is populated with many "realistic" supernatural characters (as oxymoronic as that seems). The resolution to the love triangle of the three protagonists is believable and satisfying, completing what makes for a gourmand reading experience.

Harriet Klausner
Reviewer