The Wrong Kind of Blood: An Irish Novel of Betrayal    by Declan Hughes Order:  USA  Can William Morrow, 2006 (2006) Hardcover Read an Excerpt      Reviewed by Mary Ann Smyth Private Investigator Ed Loy returns to Dublin to bury his mother, possibly to bury his past. Can that be done? The past is always there, lurking around every corner, and Loy finds out more than he wished for. His mother buried, Linda Dawson pleads with Ed to find her husband. This leads him back into a brutal era in his mother's life when his father disappeared. Drugs, corruption, mayhem, murder all play a part in his discoveries. Ed begins to doubt he is his father's son. And was his mother really the type of mother he wanted her to be? The Wrong Kind of Blood is Declan Hughes' first novel, a departure from his twenty years as a director and playwright in Dublin. He writes of the streets he knows, though the corruption that makes such an impact on his book is, hopefully, fiction. Action gallops with heavy hooves through the plot, making this a real page-turner. Ed Loy takes more of a beating than it seems possible a human can stand. But then he is able to dish it out also. The players are well fleshed out, with believable traits and foibles as well as cruel streaks. Ed Loy had already come to grips with his life before he returned to Dublin, hard as that may have been. The past that plagued him since he left Dublin many years before left so many unanswered questions that he found it emotionally difficult to uncover the layers of deception he waded through. The Wrong Kind of Blood is action packed, hard hitting, fast paced - a compelling story that leaves the reader wanting more. 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