Blood Country by Dan Jewell Reviewed - an entertaining detective mystery with an intricate plot and complex cast of characters

Dan Jewell has written an entertaining detective mystery with an intricate plot and complex cast of characters and delivered it to us via Outskirts Press. This gripping novel was just released January 31, 2011 and is bound to become one of those rare books you just can’t seem to put down!

Guitarist Joe Rose works as a sideman in the music industry but to make a living he has a day job. His business card reads “Sideman Investigations, Put Someone on Your Side”. Country music star, Vern Hamlin, hires him to look into the 20 year-old murder of his father. Twenty years is a long time but Joe finds no shortage of suspects or lack of  questions to ask them.

As Joe begins his investigation that list of suspects doesn’t seem to include the name of the man who was accused and died. There is though the Desert Storm vet, Vern’s promiscuous stepmother, now married to a TV evangelist and his Uncle Claude, also known as C. C., who is CEO of Hamlin Enterprises which includes Vern’s Great Axe Music. C.C. has even hired a violent scoundrel of a PI to keep Joe from getting to the truth. Oh, we mustn’t ignore Allen, C.C.’s longtime ‘friend’ and doer of dirty deeds or Allen’s father, police Chief Taggert. Vern’s ex-wife, country star Roxanne Hamlin and his assistant, Jessica Apple, add their own brand of confusion to the entire plot.

Nashville native, Dan Jewell, was a college professor and Dean prior to starting his writing career. He is also a fan of film noir and mystery novels and grew up listening to country music. Find out more about Dan and Blood Country at OutkirtsPress.com .Reviewed by Lynnette Phillips, Avid Book Reviews