Blood Ties

Cedric (aka Rick) Elvis O’Toole has lived his whole life on the farm and in the same farmhouse with his mother. After she died, he paid off the bills and continued to live there. His mother had been pregnant with him at sixteen, and her family shunned her when she decided to keep the child and raise it herself. When Steve arrives claiming to be Rick's half brother, Rick is unsure of how to react. In a small town, you have to be careful who you talk to and even more so, who you ask questions to and about. Steve has seen more of the world and lived through three tours of Afghanistan. He is more tech savvy and not as concerned about town gossip.

Barbara Fradkin’s Blood Ties is the fourth book featuring Cedric O’Toole as amateur sleuth and unlikely hero. The crime Rick must solve this time hits a little closer to home. Rick must determine how their father died and whether or not it was intentional or an accident. This book is also about PTSD and how this mental health condition can affect the day-to-day life of a returning soldier, a man who also could easily represent the struggles many soldiers face after they return home. Fradkin examines what it means to be a family and whether blood ties are indeed stronger than the proverbial water. She causes her readers to question what is the truth and what makes a family, a family. In each of these themes, she is viewing the world through the lens of a small town which further adds complications to the situation(s).

A good read. Well worth it!