Edgar Award-winning author John Lutz returns with his newest Alo Nudger mystery-Thicker Than Blood. When shy, country girl-woman Norva Beane hires Nudger to investigate a possible securities fraud, he thinks it will be a routine case. He doesn't realize it will involve a wandering daughter, drug dealers, a dangerous, tattooed muscle-man, a dysfunctional family, and a poignant past that refuses to release its grip on anyone involved. Nudger, his lady love Claudia Bettencourt, and his friends Lieutenant Jack Hammersmith and Danny Evers are all touched by a tragedy that continues to unfold in surprising directions no matter how hard Nudger tries to stop it. The suspense becomes riveting as trouble builds and answers lead to more questions and more danger. In Thicker Than Blood, the nervous, antacid-chewing detective finds himself embroiled in his most perilous and fascinating case, and one that his readers aren't likely to forget.