Review: Rich Blood

Rich Blood by Robert Bailey
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I love reading books set in places I've been and this one takes place around Lake Guntersville in Alabama. Well, let me just say, things around the Lodge in the State Park were quite sedate in comparison with the activities taking place on the Island and in town. While there may have been some alcoholics and drug users at the Lodge they were not noticeable. Certainly, one of them wasn't an alcoholic attorney ( Jason Rich ) in town to defend his druggie sister,( Jana Rich Winters), who has been accused of paying a drifter felon to murder her husband, a local physician.

Jason is that attorney that you see on billboards all over the South, particularly in Alabama and Louisiana in my experience. He has a big smile, uses lots of toothpaste, impecable hair cut, well cut clothes with a snappy catchprase: In an accident? GET RICH Personally, one of those guys would be the last one I'd call but Jason seems to be doing quite well, although he's never been to court or defended a client in a capital murder trial. Did I mention, he's an alcoholic pretty much being watched very closely by the Alabama Law Board.

Jana is his older sister--two daughters, a husband who was about to divorce her and leave her penniless and oh, yes, a drug addict---meth is high on her list of treats. The local drug czar is often a bedmate, primarily because she owes him lots of money, which she doesn't have.

Another of her bedmates is a guy who does odd jobs on the Island and who has confessed to shooting the deceased Dr Winters three times in the head. But, more than that, Mr Pike claims Jana paid him $15,000 to do it. Just so happens Jana withdrew exactly that much from her joint account on July 3 and the Doctor was murdered July 4. Jana claims the money is stashed in her car, but nope, can't be found.

All info seems to point right at her. She had motive--Dr dearest was playing around on her and divorcing her, she had the means taken out of the bank and she had the method, a felon willing to do the job!

How is jason going to get her out of this mess? Bailey has us going and there are plenty of pitfalls and curveballs all of which are great fun. I really like this guy--this is the fourth book of his I've read. He's as good as Grisham. But wait until you get to the end--Whammo--didn't see that coming.

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