A MEASURE OF BLOOD

A murder sends a child into foster care and drags a detective into a feverish hunt for justice.

Nadal watches for weeks before he first approaches the boy. No matter what Maggie Brown says, he’s sure Matt is his son, and a boy should know his father. After their first confrontation, Maggie should have run. She should have hidden her child. But she underestimated the man who was once her lover. With self-righteous determination, Nadal goes to her house. He demands to spend time with the boy. When she refuses, he reaches for a knife. By the time homicide detective Richard Christie arrives on the scene, all that remains of Maggie Brown is a bloodstain on the floor. The killer has vanished, and Matt is too scared to remember anything but his mother’s fear. As Christie looks for the killer and Maggie’s friends fight to keep Matt out of the hands of Child Services, Nadal watches the news and waits. A boy should be with his father. He’s going to get his son. Kathleen George is an author of thrillers and a professor of theatre. Born in Johnstown, Pennsylvania, she completed a doctorate of theatre at the University of Pittsburgh, where she has taught for many years. In 1999, she published The Man in the Buick, a collection of short stories that she followed up with Taken (2001), a well-received thriller about a child’s disappearance. She continued writing police procedurals starring Pittsburgh homicide detective Richard Christie, including Fallen (2004), Afterimage (2007), and Hideout (2011). In 2009, she published The Odds, a thriller about the drug trade in Pittsburgh, which was nominated for an Edgar Award. Besides writing thrillers, George is the editor of Pittsburgh Noir (2011), an anthology of crime stories set in the Steel City, and several books about theatre, including Rhythm in Drama (1980), Playwriting: The First Workshop (1994), and Winter’s Tales (2005). She is married to writer Hilary Masters.