Review of A Venomous Love by Chris Karlsen

The killer whispered-“A pretty damsel...worth a pretty risk.”It’s 1890.A veteran, Detective Rudyard Bloodstone has fought a brutal battle and witnessed war horrors that haunt his nightmares. Now one of those horrors has followed him home from Africa.A vicious predator, the Cape cobra, can kill a man in thirty minutes. A suspect using the snake as a weapon in robberies is terrorizing London. When the crimes escalate into murder, a victim’s daughter, Honoria Underhill, becomes the focus of the killer. After several attempts on her life, Scotland Yard threatens to take over the high profile case. With few leads to follow, Bloodstone and his partner must now fight department politics and catch the killer before Underhill becomes another murder victim.


MY REVIEW:

A VENOMOUS LOVE IS BOOK 3 IN THE BLOODSTONE SERIES.  THE STORIES TAKE PLACE IN THE VICTORIAN ERA.  THE AUTHOR, CHRIS KARLSEN DOES AN EXCELLENT JOB IN DESCRIBING THE TIME PERIOD, THE CHARACTERS, CLOTHES AND THE PLACES.  THE POLICE HAD A LOT OF LIMITATIONS IN THAT TIME PERIOD AND HAD TO RELY ON LEGWORK, LOGIC AND PURE LUCK. 

A VENOMOUS LOVE IS BY FAR MY FAVORITE BOOK IN THIS SERIES.  I FELT THIS STORY WAS VERY UNIQUE AND INTERESTING.  YOU DON'T HEAR TO OFTEN THAT A SNAKE IS BEING USED TO COMMIT A CRIME.  THE AUTHOR HAS DEFINITELY CREATED SOME INTERESTING CHARACTERS AND YOU WILL LOVE THEM ALL.  DETECTIVE RUDDY AND ARCHIE ARE MY FAVORITE CHARACTERS.  THEY GET ALONG AND WORK SO WELL TOGETHER  WELL.  THE AUTHOR HAS SOME TWISTS AND TURNS THROUGHOUT THE STORY THAT KEEPS YOU GUESSING UNTIL THE VERY END.  WILL RUDDY AND ARCHIE BE ABLE TO SOLVE THE CASE BEFORE ANOTHER MURDER IS COMMITTED?

CHRIS HAS DONE AND EXCELLENT JOB WITH THIS STORY AND SERIES.  THE CHARACTERS AND STORY ARE TRULY BELIEVABLE AND REAL.  THE BLOODSTONE SERIES IS MY FAVORITE HISTORICAL READ.  IF YOU LOVE VICTORIAN MYSTERIES, I HIGHLY RECOMMEND THIS BOOK.  BETTER YET YOU SHOULD READ THE WHOLE SERIES.  YOU DON'T KNOW WHAT YOU ARE MISSING.  5 STARS






Biography
Chris Karlsen is a retired police detective. She spent twenty-five years in law enforcement with two different agencies. The daughter of a history professor and a voracious reader, she grew up with a love of hisotry and books.
An internationally published author, Chris has traveled extensively throughout Europe, the Near East, and North Africa satisfying her need to visit the places she read about. Having spent a great deal of time in England and Turkey, she has used her love of both places as settings for her books. "Heroes Live Forever," which is her debut book, is set in England as is the sequel, "Journey in Time," the third is "Knight Blindness." They are part of her Knights in Time series. All three are available as a boxed set on Kindle. She is currently working on the fourth in the "Knights in Time," series. "Golden Chariot," is set in Turkey and the sequel, "Byzantine Gold" is set Turkey, Paris and Cyprus. They are part of her Dangerous Waters series.

Her most recent release is called, "Silk" and is book one of a new series, The Bloodstone Series. It is a suspense set in Victorian London.
Published by Books to Go Now, her novels are available in digital, ebook, and Android App. and in paperback. "Heroes Live Forever" is also in audio format.

A Chicago native, Chris has lived in Paris and Los Angeles and now resides in the Pacific Northwest with her husband and four rescue dogs. A city girl all her life, living in a small village on a bay was a interesting adjustment. She'd never lived anywhere so quiet at night and traffic wasn't bumper to bumper 24/7.
Some of Chris's favorite authors are: Michael Connolly, John Sandford, Joseph Wambaugh, Stephen Coonts, Bernard Cornwell, Julia Quinn, Julie Anne Long, Deanna Raybourne and Steve Berry.