30. Blood Relations by Jonathan Moore

listened to audio/Audible
narrated by David Colacci
Unabridged audio (12:12)
2019 Mariner Books
357 pgs.
Adult Mystery
Finished 2/14/2020
Goodreads rating:  3.92 - 222 ratings
My rating:  4 (but 5 with a different narrator
Setting:  Contemporary San Francisco, with forays to LA, Mendocino, and Carmel - and Boston

First line/s:  "The first time I saw Clare Gravesend she was already dead."

My comments: Super interesting story, great plot and extremely interesting characters.  I loved the setting - from San Francisco to LA and all along the California coast including Carmel, Monterrey, Mendocino, all places I know fairly well and have a strong picture in my mind.  My biggest - and only - problem was with the narrated voice of the protagonist.  It didn't match what I would have considered his personality in even the slightest way.  His voice was deep, gruff, and much older sounding than I think he was supposed to be.  It threw me off completely with what I physically pictured and I didn't like that part of it at all.  And I think that means I have to take my overall rating down.  I would love to have another book in the series, but I felt the same way about the last book I read by this author and no second book as appeared for that one, either!

Goodreads synopsis:  Who is Claire Gravesend?
          So wonders PI Lee Crowe when he finds her dead, in a fine cocktail dress, on top of a Rolls Royce, in the most dangerous neighborhood in San Francisco. Claire’s mother, Olivia, is one of the richest people in California. She doesn’t believe the coroner: her daughter did not kill herself. Olivia hires Crowe, who—having just foiled a federal case against a cartel kingpin—is eager for distraction. But the questions about the Gravesend family pile up fast.
          First, the autopsy reveals round scars running down Claire’s spine, old marks Olivia won’t explain. Then, Crowe visits Claire’s Boston townhouse and has to fend off an armed intruder. Is it the Feds out for revenge? Or is this connected to the Gravesends? He leaves Boston afraid, but finds his way to Claire’s secret San Francisco pied-à-terre. It’s there that his questions come to a head. Sleeping in an upstairs bedroom, he finds Claire—her face, her hair, her scars—and as far as he can tell, she’s alive. And Crowe’s back at the start:
          Who is Claire Gravesend?