Blood Bayou by Karen Young
BLOOD BAYOU
by Karen Young
Reviewed by Teri Richison
After several years without a new release, Karen Young is back and better than ever.
BLOOD BAYOU is her first Christian fiction novel, but the genre designation is the only thing that has changed. Karen delivers a spell-binding suspense that starts with murder and will keep you on the edge of your seat until the very last page.
Camille St. James believes in justice and the law. A professor at Talbot College she heads The Truth Project, an organization dedicated to the exoneration of innocent individuals who have been wrongly convicted and sentenced to death row. Their work on behalf of Chester Pelham is successful, but within hours of his release from prison another woman is dead and Chester is found wearing bloodstained clothes. His arrest lands Chester in the hospital in a coma. The Truth Project is suspended and Camille is forced to take a month’s vacation.
Camille is devastated to learn that the murdered woman is her ex-husband’s sister. A former attorney and recovering alcoholic, Jack spent several years in prison after a tragic drunk driving accident. During his incarceration, Jack found his true calling and his salvation in the word of God. Jack and Camille have been divorced for seven years and he is now a minister.
Camille knows that his sister’s death will devastate Jack and is certain he will blame Camille and The Truth
Project. Still, she feels obligated to tell him how sorry she is for his loss and drives to Blood Bayou so she can do so in person. It won’t be easy to face him after all these years, but it is the right thing to do. Camille is surprised by the changes in her ex-husband and uncomfortable with his religious calling.
As evidence mounts against Chester, Camille is the only person who believes him innocent. She launches her
own investigation, forcing her to stay in Blood Bayou and thus remain close to Jack. But someone doesn’t want Camille nosing into things and several attempts are made to chase her out of town, which quickly escalate to attempted murder. Jack has never stopped loving Camille and is determined to keep her safe.
Can this star-crossed couple rekindle their love, even as she works to free the man accused of killing his sister? Can she accept and ever be comfortable with the changes religion has brought into his life? Will her blood be the next to pollute the waters of Blood Bayou?
Don’t miss this who-done-it that offers all the clues, and still delivers a surprise ending!
