When Detective Inspector Jaye Hamilton stops at an Auckland liquor store for a bottle of champagne, it is supposed to be celebratory: his daughter Addison has just gotten engaged. Instead, he is suddenly gunned down at the register by a balaclava-clad assailant in what appears at first to be a random act. The getaway car is quickly recovered, containing the cell phone of a young Māori man, Toa Davis, who is immediately the object of an all-out police search. Jaye's ex-wife, former Māori detective Hana Westerman, asks in on the investigation. Her instincts suggest that the vehicle was meant to be found, and that Jaye had been targeted. The gun used in the assault is distinctive, and she learns that a local gang leader, Erwin Rendall—who had threatened Hana in the past—owns such a weapon. After Davis turns up dead, the hunt for Rendall is on. When he slips through the dragnet and escapes the country, and in the wake of Jaye's death, Hana decides to rejoin the force, acknowledging that she now has unfinished business.
Like the previous novels in this series, Carved in Blood is straightforward in both style and substance. Each plot turn is convincing and each character fully rounded in a setting that Mr. Bennett obviously loves but also sees clearly ... The author describ[es] methamphetamine and cocaine trade routes with journalistic precision. Somewhat predictably, this tour of New Zealand’s dark side also includes a detour into the mind of the figure who eventually emerges as the novel’s villain.
Solid ... Bennett smoothly weaves depictions of Māori customs and ingrained racism in New Zealand society into a propulsive and intriguing whodunit. After a bumpy second installment, this series is back on track.
