Better the Blood    by Michael Bennett Order:  USA  Can Atlantic Monthly Press, 2023 (2023) Hardcover, e-Book      Reviewed by Hilary Williamson Here's an excellent and engrossing debut thriller set in New Zealand. Better the Blood is written by Māori screenwriter/director Michael Bennett. It stars single mother, Māori Detective Senior Sergeant Hana Westerman in Auckland's police department. Hana's teen daughter Addison is a beautiful and talented rap artist. The story opens in 1863 with 'A Smudge on the Page of History', when an artist crafts a daguerreotype of six British soldiers below a naked, hanged, high born Maori leader. Fast forward a hundred and sixty years to meet Hana in a courtroom, where she watches a judge give a white law student who raped a Maori girl, a free pass. When the rapist threatens Hana's own daughter she lashes out, getting into serious trouble. Hana receives a phone video that leads her and her partner Stan to a hanged man. She finds a pattern of an inward-turning spiral at the crime scene, and at another one. Why is the perp sending videos to Hana? She finds a connection to the 1863 murder, which leads her to yet another victim. Complicating her investigation, many of her own people have shunned Hana since she was part of a police action to evict Maori protesters as a junior cop. As it becomes clear that the killer has more victims in his sights, it becomes a race against time. Meanwhile danger draws ever closer to Hana's own circle. Seeking a killer who has lost his way, Hana finally finds her own path and reclaims herself. I enjoyed Better the Blood, as much for its immersion in Maori culture and colonial history as for the thriller itself. Don't miss this one! 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