The Last Drop of Blood - blog tour

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The Last Drop of Blood – Graham Masterton

About the book

The final thriller in the million-copy-selling Katie Maguire series.

In the driver's seat of a Jaguar, on a country road, a good man burns.

Justice Garrett Quinn should have been at a sentencing. He was one of the good ones, fighting for order in a lawless world. In a burned-out car, on the outskirts of Cork, DS Katie Maguire finds what's left of him.

But this is only the beginning. The judge's death sparks a gang war fought with bullets and bombs, and civilians are caught in the crossfire. As the city spirals deeper into violence, Ireland's most fearless detective must find the courage to fight for her hometown one last time.

Katie Maguire is no stranger to sacrifice – but she has lost so much already. Facing new horrors each day, Katie must decide: can she do her duty when she has nothing left to give?

Praise for Graham Masterton:

'One of this country's most exciting crime novelists. If you have not read one, read them all now' Daily Mail.
'A tough and gritty thriller with an attractive principal character' Irish Independent.
'Graham Masterton is a natural storyteller' New York Journal of Books.
'Any fan of mysteries should grab this book' Irish Examiner.

EXTRACT

They arrived at the same time as Assistant Chief Fire Officer Matthew Whalen, and parked right behind his red Ford Ranger. As they were climbing out of their car into the rain, a second fire engine came down the boreen, its blue lights flashing, although it was obvious now that it wouldn’t be needed. The burned-out car had been draped over with a large grey tarpaulin and the first-responding firefighters were standing around it, shuffling their feet, dripping wet and subdued.

Katie lifted her shiny black raincoat out of the back seat. It had a pointed hood and Conor had always told her that it made her look like one of the witches of Islandmagee. Kyna’s yellow anorak had a hood, too, with a furry surround. They caught up with Matthew Whalen, and as they did so, Garda Phelan and Garda O’Connor got out of their car, where they had been sheltering, and Station Officer Hogan came over, too.

‘So, what’s the story?’ asked Katie.

‘It looks like both petrol tanks went up, one after the other,’ said Station Officer Hogan. ‘We’ll have to see what the fire investigation fellows have to say about it, of course, and your technical experts. As a general rule, though, almost all spontaneous vehicle fires start in the engine compartment, not the petrol tank.’

‘Meaning that you don’t think this was spontaneous?’

‘Like I say, we’ll have to wait for Cumann Imscrúdaitheorí Dóitéan to check it out. But I’d bet money that this fire was started deliberate-like.’

‘Detective O’Donovan said that a witness saw another vehicle here, just before it blew up.’

‘That’s right, ma’am,’ said Garda O’Connor. ‘That farmer standing over there by his tractor. A grey or silver SUV, that’s what he said it was. We’re going to be showing him pictures of various vehicles to see if he can narrow it down a bit.’

‘O’Donovan also told me that this car’s registered to Justice Garrett Quinn. Have you been able to tell if it’s him who was driving?’

‘We haven’t been able to identify the driver for sure. We didn’t want to touch him before the technical experts, do you know what I mean. There’s an iPhone lying on the floor in front of the passenger seat, but its screen is all shattered, like, and again we didn’t want to touch it in case we messed up any forensics.’

Katie turned back to Station Officer Hogan. ‘I’d like to take a look at the driver.’

‘He’s a bit on the burnt side, ma’am, as you can imagine.’

‘I’ve seen worse.’

‘Okay, then,’ said Station Officer Hogan. ‘Lads – can you be after lifting up that tarp so that DS Maguire can take a sconce at the body?’

Two of the firefighters raised the wet tarpaulin and folded it noisily over the roof of the burned-out car. Katie approached it, walking stiffly, and then stood looking for almost half a minute at the carbonized figure sitting behind the steering wheel. His skin had been burned away, so that his muscles were exposed and ruptured, all bobbly and black, as if he had been roughly sculpted out of lumps of coal. His eye sockets were empty and his brown teeth were bared in a wolfish snarl.

The interior of the car was skeletal. All that remained of the seats was their metal framework and the shiny walnut facias had been blistered and charred. Katie noticed that the driver’s right hand was still resting on the steering wheel, almost casually.

She stepped right up close to the driver’s door. She had already seen what she had been dreading she would see, but she wanted to make absolutely sure. There was no question about it. The carbonized man was Justice Garrett Quinn. She crossed herself and whispered, ‘Please, Lord, grant him eternal rest.’ Then she turned away, tugging her hood down low so that Station Officer Hogan and the rest of the firefighters wouldn’t see that her eyelashes were crowded with tears.

Kyna came up to her. ‘Are you all right, ma’am?’

‘Yes, thank you, Kyna. Grand altogether.’

‘You’re not, though.’

‘Why are you always so perceptive? No, I’m not.’

About the author:

Graham Masterton trained as a newspaper reporter before beginning a career as an author. After twenty-five years writing horror and thrillers, Graham turned his talent to crime writing. The first book in the Katie Maguire series, White Bones, was published by Head of Zeus in 2012 and became a top-ten bestseller. The series was inspired by Graham’s five-year stay in County Cork.

Follow Graham:

Facebook: @GrahamMasterton

Twitter: @GrahamMasterton

Buy links:

Amazon: https://amzn.to/2MljWwP

Kobo: https://bit.ly/32mnm7U

Google Play: https://bit.ly/2BcQl2h

iBooks: https://apple.co/30q4oNy

Follow Head of Zeus:

Website: www.headofzeus.com

Twitter: @HoZ_Books

Facebook: @headofzeus

Instagram: @headofzeus