There was a huge outpouring of anger and grief last year, when a mindless yob cut down a beautiful
tree which had stood next to Hadrian’s Wall for many years, in an act of vandalism. The sycamore
which grew adjacent to the wall near Crag Lough was the subject of many photographs and had won
Tree of the Year in 2016. This competition is organised by the Woodland Trust. Residents of the
countries which make up the UK are encouraged to nominate their favourite tree and one of those is
subsequently selected as the overall UK winner. The Sycamore Gap was one of those iconic vistas
that we all hope to see. Maybe I passed it when I visited Hadrian’s Wall on a school trip eons ago,
when we were both saplings – LOL?

Anyway, Hadrian’s Wall was on my mind when the Chief Inspector Kate Daniels series was suggested
to me. The books are set in Northumbria, Kate being a youthful version of Vera, the well-known
titular heroine, of the televised novels of Ann Cleeves. Mari Hannah’s second book, Settled Blood (published 2012 by Pan Books www.panmacmillan.com ),
begins with the body of a young woman being found at the base of Hadrian’s Wall. Cover illustration
aside, the premise of this was enough to fire my enthusiasm.

It doesn’t take Detective Chief Inspector Kate Daniels long to realise that the woman’s death is no
ordinary homicide. She was thrown from a great height and was probably alive when she hit the
ground. Then a local businessman reports his daughter missing. Has Daniels found the identity of her
victim or is the killer playing a sickening game?

This is the second book in the Kate Daniels series. I wanted to start with this book but found a lot of
references to what had happened in the first book, The Murder Wall. Generally, I’m one of those
people who prefers to read books where there’s an ongoing history in order, so I admit I purchased
the first book and enjoyed that before restarting this. I’m not saying you couldn’t read them as
standalone novels; this was just my preference (but also AN POST, the Irish postal service held up the delivery of first and third books for almost twelve weeks, forcing us to miss the tour).

It was no hardship to read two books to review one as I thoroughly enjoyed both. This is a
procedural police detective novel, so the cast of characters, setting and the way police work is carried
out are familiar to both fictional and true crime readers. Kate Daniels is an interesting and rounded
character with her fair share of family, relationship, colleague, and boss issues to work through, but
she seems very real. She has human reactions to situations without making the reader feel she is
paranoid or clinically depressed or thinks she is superior to everyone around her.
The cast of supporting characters are a little predictable, the loyal sergeant with marital problems,
the junior detectives snapping at her heels and the difficult boss, but all are engaging and rounded
enough to promise deeper involvement in future stories. No fictional detective seems to have a
straightforward love life and Kate’s is no exception, adding another dilemma for her to juggle in her
professional life.

Mari Hannah ( www.marihannah.com/ ) , is an English crime fiction writer who has written 14 books to date, with her 15th, The Longest Goodbye, due out this month. As well as the DCI Kate Daniels series, she has written the Stone & Oliver series, and Ryan & O’Neil series. Before becoming a writer, she was a probation officer, but an assault while on duty prompted a career change. she now lives in Northumberland with her partner a former homicide detective,

The plot of This Settled Blood is pacy and wonderfully twisty. It kept my interest, with me staying up
late to finish it as I had to see what happened. I’m now looking forward to reading books three and
four after a short hiatus. I’m looking forward to what Katy did next. Will it be another serial killer?
Between Mari Hannah and Ann Cleeves, Northumbria is looking like a dangerous place!

Reviewed by Georgina Murphy

This book review was supposed part of a Compulsive Readers Blog Tour. But owing to Brexit and An Post customs irregularities, it was delayed. For that we are sorry to Tracy, Mari, and the team at Pan.