Bad Blood

January 23, 2017
In British author Oldham’s action-packed 24th Henry Christie thriller (after 2015’s The Unforgiving), Christie has finally realized his dream: running a pub/hotel, the Tawny Owl, with his fiancée, Alison Marsh, in the tiny village of Kendleton in the wilds of Lancashire. Series fans will be delighted to learn that violence, corruption, and a touch of political intrigue have followed the former detective superintendent into retirement. Everything seems to be smooth sailing for Christie: Alison adores him, his business is thriving, and he enjoys an excellent relationship with Ginny, his stepdaughter-to-be. However, a ruthless and highly trained assassin is stalking him, intent not only on seeing Christie dead but also on destroying his budding family. Fortunately, his friend Karl Donaldson, a former FBI agent who’s now legal attaché at the American embassy in London, is staying at the Tawny Owl and is ready to lend a hand when the bullets start flying. While Christie suffers a serious loss, the ending suggests that he’ll be ready for further adventures in his next outing.

February 1, 2017
A former policeman's retirement is thrown off course by a deranged killer's deadly spree.Detective Superintendent Henry Christie is just starting to relish life as part owner of a pub in sleepy Kendleton. The Tawny Owl has just hosted its first wedding reception, and Henry's fiancee, Alison Marsh, looks forward to a raft of future bookings. Little does the ex-copper know that he's squarely in the sights of a skilled assassin. Even when an intruder breaks into the inn and tries to abduct Alison's 20-something stepdaughter, Ginny, the would-be kidnapper leaves no clue that Henry (Unforgiving, 2015, etc.) is his real target. Since Ginny spends the day after the attack in the hospital with Alison at her side, it's down to Henry to visit Lord Chalmers, who wants to host a birthday bash for his daughter at the Owl. When two thugs in Range Rovers turn up at Chalmers' estate, Henry begins to suspect something may be off. His suspicions are confirmed when one of his lordship's two security guards shoots the other dead. Then it's game on. The Range Rover guys take out Chalmers, shoot down his wife's plane for good measure, and chase Henry into the woods. With Henry gone, the body count starts its stratospheric rise. Pretty much everyone seems to be in the cross hairs, and it's not clear how the killings could possibly be linked except that two geeks from Whitehall Street want to shut down the local police investigation. Witnessing a bloodbath of this scope is like trying to develop rapport with individual ants: characters barely have time to show up before they're erased. This one is strictly for readers who want action without any stake in who's onstage.

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Starred review from February 1, 2017
Every one of Oldham's Henry Christie cop stories is guaranteed to take readers on a roller-coaster ride, and the latest installment is no exception. Now retired from full-time policing, Henry is settling down to a life of relative leisure in rural Lancashire, helping his fiancee, Alison, run the Tawny Owl pub. But unbeknownst to Henry, his life is about to change in the most nightmarish way. After celebrating the wedding of his sister to his old friend and colleague Rik Dean at the Tawny Owl, Henry is ready to call it a day. Instead, a man breaks into the pub, tries to kidnap Henry's fiancee's daughter, Ginny, and assaults Henry. When Henry's good friend, American FBI agent Karl Donaldson, tries to follow the man, a violent and tragic encounter follows. Further violence invades Henry's life, driving him to sort out how it is that his own life and the lives of those he loves are suddenly in terrible danger. Bloodshed, suspense, shocking twists, and a punch-to-the-gut ending make for a gripping, wrenching, sometimes uncomfortable but always mesmerizing read. One of the best in a consistently excellent seriesadd it to the growing list of mysteries starring retired cops (Harry Bosch, John Rebus) who can't stay out of harm's way.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2017, American Library Association.)