Ziba MacKenzie is a criminal profiler who consults with Scotland Yard. On her way to dinner one night, the train she’s riding collides with a derailed tanker car, killing more than a dozen and wounding several hundred. Though injured herself, Ziba comforts a dying woman who with her last breath whispers an enigmatic confession: “He did it.” Who did it? What did he do? And why? are the questions Ziba asks herself.

But these questions get pushed to the side as Scotland Yard requests her services to help them catch the London Lacerator, a serial killer who’s started murdering again after a two-decade hiatus. The catch? While she’s profiling him, it turns out he’s profiling her too. Now the question is: Who will get to the other first?

Eventually, both sets of questions collide in Blood for Blood, the first book in a new series featuring Ziba MacKenzie and penned by Victoria Selman. It’s a page-turner with a likable protagonist, a plot with several twists, and a backstory and ensemble of secondary characters that grow on you. As a devoted reader of Sue Grafton and Michael Connelly, I’m always on the lookout for a new murder mystery series, and this one fits the bill. I’m looking forward to Nothing to Lose, the second book in the series, which releases March 26, 2019.

Book Reviewed
Victoria Selman, Blood for Blood: Ziba MacKenzie Book One (Thomas & Mercer, 2019).

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