With this heat that we’re having, I would imagine we all have complaints. Stay inside! Read! Or, listen to an audiobook. At least we all have a hobby that can keep us indoors.

Yesterday, when I reviewed Connie Willis’ The Road to Roswell, I agreed with Jeff that his wife Jackie would like the book more than he will. Here’s another one Jackie will like when she gets around to it. Whispers at Dusk is the first in Heather Graham’s new Blackbird Trilogy, a spin-off of her Krewe of Hunters series. The Krewe of Hunters is a “specialized FBI unit that uses its members unique abilities to bring justice to strange or unorthodox cases”. Their unique abilities? They can all communicate with ghosts, in some form or another. The Blackbird Trilogy sends them to Europe as the Euro Special Assistance Team, nicknamed Blackbird. I’m a big fan of Graham’s Krewe of Hunters books that combine murder, suspense, history and a little romance.

Since I’m halfway through Whispers at Dusk, and don’t want to spoil this weekend’s review, here’s the blurb.

Four bodies have been discovered along Europe’s riverbanks, placed with care—and completely drained of blood. Pinpricks on their throats indicate a slender murder weapon, but DNA found in the wounds suggests something far more sinister. Tasked with investigating, the FBI recruits Agents Della Hamilton and Mason Carter to Blackbird, an international offshoot of the Krewe of Hunters. If you want to catch a vampire killer, you need agents who can speak with the dead.  

The pair travel to Norway, where the shadowy forests of Lillehammer reveal a gruesome scene. The killer is thirsty for more victims, and the bloodless trail soon leads Della and Mason to a group that believes drinking blood is the key to immortality. To catch the culprit of such an intimate crime, the agents will have to get close. Mason’s already lost one partner; he’s not ready to risk Della as bait. But sometimes justice requires a sacrifice…

I like the set-up for Blackbird, and the cast of characters at the beginning of the book. I’m enjoying this spin-off. And, in checking the two forthcoming books in this series, I see Della Hamilton and Mason Carter will appear in all three books. A little different than the usual format in the Krewe of Hunters series.

What about you? What are you reading this week?