This one opens with a bang! A reporter for a TV crime series and a police detective hide-out in a Louisiana fishing shack while they try to solve a murder that happened on the night of a blood moon. I would have liked a little more romance but it’s a good mystery that kept me in suspense until the end.

Beth Miller is in Auclair, Louisiana to meet with John Bowie, a police detective that worked on a missing girl’s case three years earlier. She is a fact checker for a TV show in NYC that is getting ready to air a story about the case. But she feels there is more to the story: She thinks there have been more abductions during blood moons and whoever took the girls will strike again in four days when it’s the next blood moon! (The blood moons happen when the sky turns red during lunar eclipses.)

The case has been eating away at John because the abducted girl was never found and he believes the neighbor boy who was charged with the murder and later died in his cell was falsely accused. John is aware of corruption in his police force and he has been warned to stay away from the case so he is wary to talk to Beth. But he wants to know more about her idea that the blood moon is connected to the abduction plus he felt an instant attraction between them. They go to his home to talk about the case but when his dog alerts him someone is outside watching them, they sneak away to his family’s fishing shack where no one can find them. They go over their notes and discuss the case to try and find the murderer before he can strike again.

I thought John was special with his cool dog and how he makes Beth homemade gumbo, while keeping her safe at his shack as they investigate. But when he is frustrated with the case, he becomes sarcastic and snarky, which isn’t fun. The case has eaten away at him for three years and he worries about what happened to the girl (they never found her body). As the story went on and his old partner Mitch came to help them, we saw a more caring side of him and I grew to like him better.

Beth is a delight – self-assured, calm and successful and she’s not afraid to stand up to John when needed. She found an important clue, which was exciting and impressive. She is thirty-three and John is nine years older so there’s a bit of an age gap but they are intensely attracted to each other and there are a few short spicy scenes.

The story is fast paced with lots of action. There’s the mystery of the disappearing girls, police corruption, drama with John’s teenage daughter and his ex. In addition, there are a few chapters that take us into the villain’s mind that give us insight into his motivation which added to the suspense.

I didn’t always like John in the beginning when he was sarcastic and I also would have liked to see a little more romance between him and Beth but there are lots of twists and turns that surprised me and I didn’t guess who the villain was until the end.

I think Sandra Brown fans will enjoy Blood Moon along with romance suspense fans who like their mysteries lighter on the romance. I used to enjoy Brown’s romance books many years ago and am glad I got this chance to try one of her newer books. The suspense was good and kept me on the edge of my seat until the satisfying ending.