A Review of "Bleed For Me" [15]

Bleed For Me by Michael Robotham
Mulholland Books, ISBN 978-0316126380
February 27, 2012, 432 pages

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I have been on a roll lately book wise, and I have another very good one to share with you.
This time we are in England, near the town of Bath, and are soon deep into the life of Joe O'Loughlin and his family, when his daughter's best friend turns up at the front door...

"When Sienna Hegarty turns up at his family home one night, covered in blood and frozen in shock, psychologist Joe O'Loughlin finds himself drawn deep into her world, trying to unearth the dark secrets her mind has buried. The police find a major piece of the puzzle at Sienna's house: her father, a retired cop, is face-down in a pool of his own blood, his throat slashed and his skull caved in. The blood covering Sienna was his. The 14-year-old can't remember what happened that night but, at the same time, Sienna doesn't mourn her father's death. What was going on behind closed doors in the Hegarty household? Is Sienna guilty of brutal murder? And what part has her charismatic teacher Gordon Ellis played in this blood-soaked event?"

Without question, it is soon clear that something very bad was going on the Hegarty home, even if the police are a bit reluctant to believe what starts to become apparent about a well respected co-worker. They are a family that just seems to have been overwhelmed with tragedy in the past and now it seems that their youngest may go to prison for murder, if O'Loughlin, a psychologist with a unique connection, can not help Sienna remember what really happened.

O'Loughlin is a wonderful character and a large part of what makes this book so very good. Yes, he is a psychologist, but he is also a troubled man. Diagnosed with Parkinson's and spending a large part of his day obsessively noting every tic and twitch, he is a very sad man, trapped in more than one way by his illness. He has given up his private practice, only teaching part time, and is also separated from his wife, on the verge of divorce.

But his being a psychologist is also a huge plus for the story, because through his eyes, we get to explore below the surface of so many people involved in the multiple treads of the book, including some very, very evil people. All the minor characters are excellent too, especially his friend, retired police detective Victor Ruiz and Detective Ronnie Cray. It would almost be easy to dislike his separated wife, Julianne, to blame her for leaving Joe when he is sick, but Robotham is not going to let us off that easy. Joe is not a perfect guy and sometimes they just want to slap him, and so might you, but in his heart he is a very decent man, in a very difficult situation, just trying to do his best, day by day.

The plot is very good, seeming to meander off at time, but all wrapping up in a very satisfying and believable way. The story is always very intelligent, very well paced and very well written.I don't want to give too much away, but this is certainly the type of book you may have a problem putting down, it just flows along so well and draws you in so completely.
This is the fourth book in the series, but don't let that stop you from reading this one for one minute. Everything you will need to know about the past is explained to us and while, once again, it may make you want to go back and read the previous ones, it is not at all necessary to love this one.
And I did!
If you like a great thriller, a great mystery, a well written novel with some great characters, you will enjoy this one.
Highly recommended.

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My thanks to Library Thing and the publisher for providing me with a review copy of this book.

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