Book review: Blood Pact by Fiona McIntosh

Blood Pact by Fiona McIntosh is the sixth in the series featuring DCI Jack Hawksworth. I’ve mentioned in the past that Aussie author McIntosh sets this in the UK with Jack working for New Scotland Yard but there’s always an Australian connection or two. This is another outstanding addition to the series and McIntosh is doing a great job, mixing up the cases on offer and balancing regular players (like Jack, his boss Carol and work partner Kate) with newcomers, often bringing new skills into the mix.

Detective Superintendent Jack Hawksworth is seconded by counter-terrorism to investigate a spate of domestic events. First it was needles in strawberries, then tampering with lipstick samplers and baby formula. But when toxic mushrooms enter the market system and a death occurs, a wave of terror is set to sweep the country. Breaking news of a possible serial killer only heightens the alarm.

There are no leads, no DNA, no witnesses, no CCTV footage. Jack and his team must work on instinct to figure out why someone would want to harm innocent victims, each of them curiously linked to a single blood transfusion.

I’ve commented before about the fact I like that McIntosh doesn’t give us the usual cop-station tensions, between Jack and his boss, or with other teams. Here Jack’s seconded to lead a domestic counter-terrorism and working with a new Commander, and then his team partners with another (with Jack working alongside another DCI, who’s also a friend and Kate’s partner) to resolve a series of attacks which may (or may not) be connected.

We’re introduced to a limited suspect pool here so this feels as if it will play out in a pretty obvious way. Until it doesn’t. McIntosh references the child victim’s extended family who we later meet, but spending more time with them earlier might have widened our feasible suspect pool; nevertheless we’re taken in an unexpected direction which I liked.

There’s a very real sense of tragedy here – first in the accidental death of a young boy (through human error), but then in the retribution doled out to those who were mere bit-players in that event. Eventually the killer is confronted with the lack of logic they’re employing in their punishment, but McIntosh allows us to see how emboldened (bitter and twisted) they are by then and as a result of other life events.

This is another excellent instalment in this (slightly) historical series (this investigation is set in 2011). As mentioned earlier I like that McIntosh is giving us very different cases each time and she also proffers a good balance between police-work and the private lives of our characters. Jack becomes engaged here and I very much like Lou, his betrothed but of course he’s had a heart broken before and is aware his job puts himself and those he cares about at risk… and it seems there are some changes afoot for Kate, so I’m interested in where McIntosh will take this series.

Blood Pact by Fiona McIntosh will be published in Australia by Penguin Books in early January 2025.

I received a copy of this book from the publisher for review purposes.