Blood Tells

This is an excellent novel and I rate it somewhere between 4 and 5 stars. I chose 4 because I really can't say it's perfect, but I do recommend it.

It's a thoughtful, slow-paced mystery, with an introspective main character. The plot is exceptionally clever. There are at least two mysteries, one in the past and one in the present, and neither of them become completely clear until the book's climax. While I was able to predict what was behind some of the mystery, I found some of the revelations genuinely surprising.

I liked Demetrius and felt for him from the beginning. I had a little trouble getting a sense of who Rodger (his love interest) was as a person; maybe that's why the romance seems a little lacking, even though there is a decent amount of time devoted to it. The side characters, especially Korov, were really interesting and well-developed. I liked Lyell, the charming social climber, too, as well as Yllenne. The world-building was pretty vague, including details about the magic system, but I didn't mind that, since the plot was so intriguing.

I love this author's style:

Everything around him seemed coarse and ugly, not just run-down but somehow spiteful, as though specifically intended to displease him.