Blood and Wisdom    by Verlin Darrow Order:  USA  Can Wild Rose Press, 2018 (2018) Softcover, e-Book     Reviewed by Mary Ann Smyth While the cover of Verlin Darrow's Blood and Wisdom wouldn't entice me to place this new mystery on the top of my book pile, the plot kept me reading it. A headless corpse is discovered in a wishing well at Aria's New Age spiritual center in Santa Cruz, California. Enter PI Karl Gatlin, with Larry by his side, to help her with a very frightening situation. Did I mention that the corpse was also missing its hands – making identification almost impossible? Oh, you should also know that Larry is a large, well trained dog. Aria reveals that she has received threatening mail. With the help of a talented hacker, Gatlin is able to weed out the answers to a number of questions. Seedy as well as downright dangerous characters do their dirty work to chase Aria off the land her center sits on. This property is worth a lot of money to anyone interested in erecting high-end homes on it. Be assured they lurk in the background. Gatlin and Larry work full time trying to ensure that Aria's life is protected. Blood and Wisdom has a good plot and neat players to carry that plot. Suspense along with some very close calls make for good reading. Note: Opinions expressed in reviews and articles on this site are those of the author(s) and not necessarily those of BookLoons. Find more Mystery books on our Shelves or in our book Reviews