Ash Rashid is a detective working with the IMPD - the Indianapolis Police Department.
The book opens with him having the unenviable task of telling his sister and brother-in-law that their teenage daughter Rachel(Ash's niece) has just been found dead at her boyfriend's house. At first there is no obvious cause of death but it soon emerges that she drank some unidentifiable liquid which probably contained very high levels of cocaine.
Initially Ash is involved in the investigation into his niece's death but he quickly becomes sidelined by a senior officer, Mike Bowers, who seems to take very strongly against Ash. When Rachel's boyfriend is also found dead, apparently after committing suicide in a bizarre manner, Bowers seems determined to close the case as quickly as possible and Ash is told in no uncertain terms to stay away.
With everyone shutting him out Ash sets about trying to prove that Rachel and her boyfriend were murdered. As he bumbles along in his investigation the body count continues to rise and he finds himself increasingly in trouble with both the police and the people who might have been responsible for the crimes.
The title of the book is taken from a nightclub called 'The Abbey' which is a regular haunt for people who are into vampires, blood products and drugs. Ash finds himself drawn back to the club in order to find out the information he needs.
Ash is a very likeable character and you really want him to be able to solve the case. Unfortunately he does seem to have a habit of rushing into things without really thinking them through and he often ends up in dangerous situations from which surprisingly he seems to emerge from relatively unscathed.
There isn't a lot of depth to the writing and Ash is the only character that is really developed to any extent. Having said that, the book is well written, fast paced and easy to read. Once I had started it I found it very hard to put down.
This was one of the free books from Amazon and I am really glad I downloaded it. Chris Culver, the author, has apparently said that this is the first book of a series that will involve Ash Rashid. I am definitely looking forward to reading the next set of adventures that he gets himself into.
