Blood Will Tell

by Jean Lorrah

Benbella Books, 2001, Trade Paperback, 278 Pages, $14.95

Murphy, Kentucky is a town located on the same site as the author’s home town of Murray, Kentucky. She says that the police department is based on Kentucky small town police departments but that the characters and events are fictional. The story begins on the campus of Jackson Purchase State University in Murphy. The author, Jean Lorrah, is a professor of English at Murray State University in Murray. She has used what she knows well to build a backdrop for her story. Her references to drug problems in the High School and young women hooking to get money to cover costs show a knowledge of current life and problems in her town. She weaves all of these and many more elements of current small town America into her story.

The dead body of an incredibly elderly man is found in the office of middle-aged Classics Professor, Everett Land. Detective Brandy Mather is called on the case. Who is this man? Where is Professor Land? She is aided by the university’s computer scientist, Professor Dan Martin, in getting information from Professor Land’s computer drive which someone had erased incompetently. It turns out to contain part of a document about vampires in an obscure dialect. Brandy’s investigation is complicated by her attraction to Dan. To further the mystery, the body of the elderly victim turns out to be that of the 40-something Professor Land. What aged him?

The clues lead Brand to a horrific discovery of a centurie-long project by a Master Vampire who has slain hundreds and will destroy Brandy and those she loves if she can’t figure out a way to stop it. Only Dan Martin would believe her because he is himself a vampire - destined to be the victim of the “Harvest” of the Master Vampire.

The novel is well developed and has all the Suspense, Horror and Fear that should be present in a good Horror Novel. I recommend it highly. – Gary Swaty