Thank you Netgalley / Recorded Books, for the ALC and Minotaur Books, #partner, for the advanced copy of Blood Betrayal in exchange for my honest review.
Publisher: Minotaur Books / Recorded Books
Published: November 7, 2023
Summary:
A complex and timely mystery, Blood Betrayal proves once again that Ausma Zehanat Khan is a writer at the peak of her powers.
In Blackwater Falls, Colorado, veteran police officer Harry Cooper is hot on the heels of some local vandals when the situation turns believing one of them has a gun, Harry opens fire and Duante Reed, a young Black man, is killed. The “gun” in his hands was a bottle of spray paint. Meanwhile, in nearby Denver, a drug raid goes south and a Latino teen, Mateo Ruiz, is also killed.
Detective Inaya Rahman is all too familiar with the name of the young cop who has seemingly killed Kelly Broda. Kelly is the son of the police officer John Broda, who led a violent attack on her when they were both in Denver. No one is more surprised than Inaya when John turns up on her doorstep, pleading for her help in proving the innocence of his son.
With the Denver Police force spread thin between the two cases, protests on both sides of the cases begin. Inaya and her boss Lieutenant Waqas Seif have their work cut out for them to consider the guilt of the perpetrators and their victims. Harry was by all accounts an officer dedicated to the communities he was this shooting truly a terrible mistake? Duante was, to some, a street artist with no prior record, but to others, he was a vandal. Mateo was either in the wrong place at the wrong time, or a dangerous drug dealer. In either case, was lethal force truly necessary?
Forced to reckon with her own prejudices and work through those of her colleagues around her, Inaya must discover the truth of what really happened on one fateful night in Blackwater Falls.
My thoughts:
This is the second book in Ausma Zehanat Khan’s Blackwater Falls series. I really liked the first book in this series, Blackwater Falls and this second installment is just as good.
What I love most about this series is that not only do we have a strong police procedural/mystery that drives the story, but once again the book tackles timely social, racial and small-town political issues. Again, it’s an uncomfortable read with what is happening but given the subject matter, these topics should make you uncomfortable because they aren’t quite right and wrong issues. And that’s what I love about the way the author crafts her story. She doesn’t take sides, she doesn’t point fingers on these very hot button issues, but rather shows both sides and forces the reader to really think things through. Might there be a case for each side?
I also love that, as with most of the series I read, there is continued character development for our main characters. This is what attracts me most to reading series and we see that happening here, with relationships continuing to build and characters growing. I felt that we had only just gotten to know Detective Inaya Rahman on the surface level in the first book and here in this second book, we are starting to peel back some of the layers of just who she is. I feel that as the series goes on, those layers will continue to peel away.
I really enjoyed this book. The twists and turns kept me engaged throughout, keeping me guessing all the way to the end. There are a lot of moving parts to this story, but I had no issues keeping it all straight and that’s a testament to the author’s skill as a writer. I am quite eager to continue reading this series and in the meantime will certainly be checking out her other series.
Audio thoughts:
I was able to listen to this one and loved the narrator, Fareeda Pasha. She did a great job bringing this story to life, giving all the characters their own unique voice and characterization.
Books in this series:
- Blackwater Falls
- Blood Betrayal
