Drawn in Blood by Andrea Kane, a Mysterious Review.

Review: Drawn in Blood by Andrea Kane marks the return of attorney and former Federal agent Sloane Burbank and her lover, FBI Special Agent Derek Parker. And her current case is personal: her parent's apartment has been broken into and a valuable painting stolen.

Sloane's father, Matthew, and four good friends from college are highly respected art dealers, buying and selling notable paintings and becoming wealthy in the process. After a Monet hanging in her parent's apartment is taken, Matthew's convinced the incident isn't about stealing art, but leaving a message. He reveals an incident to Sloane (as both a father and a client) that happened over a decade ago in Hong Kong, where he and his friends witnessed a murder during the theft of a painting. And they could identify the killer. At the time they, unwisely, agreed to keep silent and forget about it. Now it looks like the past is turning into the present. The FBI is involved in the theft of the Monet and will certainly want to know the details of what happened 10 years ago. But Sloane, in her capacity as her father's lawyer, cannot tell them. She also wants to prevent Derek from being assigned to the case, believing it will damage their relationship. But then Matthew's friends and associates are killed, one by one, and Matthew knows he's next on the list. What personal and professional compromises must Sloane make to save her father?

Kane packs a lot of action and adventure into Drawn in Blood. The highly profitable transaction in forged artwork is only one of the subplots here that also include the organization of Albanian and Chinese gangs dealing in other illicit trades. Retaliation and revenge, and truth and justice, are key elements too. But the heart of the story, as it were, is the relationships between Sloane and her father, and between Sloane and Derek. It's sensitively and thoughtfully handled, especially within the midst of an exciting suspense thriller.

Special thanks to guest reviewer Betty of The Betz Review for contributing her review of Drawn in Blood.

Twisted
William Morrow (Hardcover), April 2008
ISBN-13: 9780061236785; ISBN-10: 0061236780

Drawn in Blood

A Sloane Burbank Mystery by Andrea Kane