
Matters of the Blood by Maria Lima
Maria Lima rings some refreshing changes on the urban-fantasy formula in Matters of the Blood. The two most striking departures from cliché, to my mind, are the heroine's age (37, rather than early twenties), and the story's vividly-drawn rural-Texas setting. I loved the locale. Lima does a great job of making the lonely town of Rio Seco real to the reader.
Our heroine, Keira Kelly, comes from a long supernatural line; there's a brief passage that suggests she's one of the Sidhe. Members of her family come into their full power during what would be middle age for a mortal. Keira is going through her "change" early, while trying to keep her family from finding out and drawing her back into their internecine politics. The surge in Keira's power results in disturbing premonitions, and soon, Keira's quiet life is shaken by a murder mystery, a meddling broth... Read More