Suzanne McLeod – The sweet scent of blood

The first book in the Spellcrackers series, published April 27, 2008. My book has a different cover, I like it better than this one. I have won this book at “Housewife Blues and Chihuahua Stories Blog”, really nice blog worth visiting.



My name is Genny Taylor. I work for Spellcrackers.com. It’s a great job, pays the rent, lets me do the thing I’m good at – finding magic and cracking it – and the bonus is, it’s run by witches, which stops the vamps from taking a bite out of me.
Not that vampires are the big bad any more, not since they launched a slick PR campaign – oh, and they brought the goblins on board. Now the vamps are sought-after celebrities, and Getting Fanged and taking the Gift are the new height of all things cool. But only if you’re human.
And I’m not.
I’m Sidhe Fae.
And I know firsthand just how deadly a vampire can be.


I had read the first three pages, when I knew this would be a good one. The writing style was really my kind of thing. The premise very interesting. So I got up, went to the computer, and ordered and pre-ordered the rest of the series. Well, I did have only 2 days left to profit from the discount at Bookdepository.com.

This book certainly is an original. I loved it, even though I am a bit confused about certain things. The ending was very good, I did not expect it, and it was awesome. I’ll try to tell a bit of the overall story, without spoiling it. One of the best things, this book takes place in London, England, and not in the usual US of A. A really nice change of scenery. Not that I have ever been to London, but I will, someday in the future, and visit all those touristy places that also pop up in this story.

The world is filled with all kind of supernatural beings. Good and bad. But here we have trolls for police officers, and witches, vampires, brownies, naiads and all kinds of Fae. Our heroine Genny is Sidhe Fae, but that is only partly true. She is also half vampire, which makes life really difficult. If a vampire bites you, you get a virus in your blood, that makes you crave the next bite, thoroughly addicting you. Of course, you have to be of legal age before you can choose this destiny. And you have to be 21 before you can get The Gift, and turned into a vampire yourself. Of course, not many people do get The Gift, otherwise the world would be overrun with new vampires. To a vampire, the blood of the Fae is much tastier and more powerful than that of a normal human being, meaning that all the Fae are in danger of being “persuaded” to volunteer their blood. Lots of vampires are after Genny to become their bloodpet, but Genny wants nothing of it, her life and her blood are her own, thank you very much.

Genny works for a witches company, called Spellcrackers.inc. Her work is to look for magic, and defuse it. Somehow absorbing the magic into herself. But she is not good at casting spells herself. She is working together with Finn, who is a satyr, and he really wants to have sex with Genny. But it is too dangerous for Genny to become close to him, as she is craving to bite him, and she cannot reveal her true self to anyone. There is a very old hostility between the Witches and the Vampires, and working for the witches, gives her a kind of sanctuary and protection from the vampires. If they kick her out, she has nowhere else to go.
So even though it is hard for Genny, she is keeping Finn at armslenght, but he is not the sort to take no for an answer. He keeps pushing her (which is something I dislike). Just because they are both Fae and can make some beautiful magic together.

The story starts with a vampire killing his human fiancée. The vampires’ human father wants to hire Genny to investigate the case, but she really doesn’t want to. Until he tells her something, something important from her past, and she is out of a choice. A Fae never breaks her word. But other parties are really not wanting her to investigate. A dark and dangerous vampire for instance, warns her to stay away. And hurts her in the process. But of course Genny is not a coward, and does not intend to give in to him.
At the police station there are a few less pleasant surprises waiting for her. Apparently, the victim’s mother doesn’t want her to look at her daughters body and has hired someone from a religious group called the Protectors of the Soul, or Soulers, to stake Melissa, meaning she will be cremated directly after that. As Melissa was under age, her contract with the vampires was not valid.
One of Genny’s oldest friends, Hugh, is a Goblin, working as a Sergeant. There is a female constable with an eye on him, a human, who totally dislikes Genny. Also a new female Captain, who is a witch. And apparently, the only way for Genny to meet with the accused vampire, is to agree to being a blood donor. She signs the form, without the intention of allowing things to go that far. But Roberto, the vampire in question, is an other old acquaintance, and memories are flooding both of them. But not in a good way. Genny doesn’t learn much from their conversation, and the constable is almost too late to safe her from Roberto (on purpose of course).
Then there are some more confrontations awaiting Genny, the Earl and some other vampires have come to the station. The Earl is some kind of leader of the London vampires. And he can totally bespell Genny, which should not be possible. He can stop time, freeze people. So suddenly, Genny is alone at the police station, and she has lost a few hours. The Earl does want her to find the spell that killed Melissa, and tell him all about it.
To crack this case, Genny will have to consort with a lot of vampires, something she really does not want to.

In case you think I have spoiled the whole book, no I did not. This is just the beginning and of course all the juicy details and surprises I have left out of this. The story is full of twists and turns and plots and different vampires with their own agenda. Who is a true friend, and who is not.

I did like Genny a lot. She is a strong heroine, and she can fight (and has to). I liked her friend Kate as well, Hugh is a very nice character, and the Goblins and their “secret greeting”. I for sure would like the story behind that. The world building is extensive, and original. And when you read as much (or more) as I do, original is great. And the biggest surprise of all, no love scenes. For me, that is a big plus, another refreshing change. Which does not mean they will not appear in the next book. There is something about Malik. I want to know more about him. And I have the feeling, he won’t let Genny be.
Lots of action, and a lot of characters I want to know more about. The vampire world is fascinating.

9 stars.