Review – True Colors by Thea Harrison

Publisher: Samhain Publishing
Publish Date: Out Now
How I got this book: From the publisher via Net Galley

Meeting your soulmate? Great. Preventing your possible murder? Even better.
Alice Clark, a Wyr and schoolteacher, has had two friends murdered in as many days, and she’s just found the body of a third. She arrives at the scene only minutes before Gideon Riehl, a wolf Wyr and current detective in the Wyr Division of Violent Crime—and, as Alice oh-so-inconveniently recognizes at first sight, her mate.
But the sudden connection Riehl and Alice feel is complicated when the murders are linked to a serial killer who last struck seven years ago, killing seven people in seven days. They have just one night before the killer strikes again. And every sign points to Alice as the next victim.
Warning: This book contains a hot police detective, a violent murderer on the hunt, and a heroine that can blend in anywhere…
This blurb came from Samhain Publishing here.

True Colors is a novella set in the Elder Races series following Dragon Bound, Storm’s Heart, and Serpent’s Kiss. I was excited when I heard that Ms Harrison had an upcoming novella and became really excited when I found out it was part of her Elder Races series. Ms Harrison graciously agreed to visit us last Saturday and provided a wonderful guest post along with a giveaway. If you haven’t read it yet take a look Guest Post & Giveaway with Thea Harrison and don’t forget to comment so you can enter.

Just like many of today’s cultures the Wyr have their own set of religious traditions for the holiday season. Those traditions provide both a complex backdrop for the novella and an integral role in the actions themselves. I think Ms Harrison’s very detailed world-building was very evident in this novella because she was able to add to the framework established in her previous novels while using enough fresh material as the basis for True Colors so I felt that those new to the Elder Races series would be able to start with this one. I really enjoyed the tactic that Ms Harrison employed to explain the Wyr celebration, which brought to my mind a combination of fictional accounts of Twelve Nights in the Middle Ages and Carnival/Mardi Gras. I am going to stop there *grin* so you can read and enjoy it for yourself.

I found it extremely fascinating to catch a glimpse in the lives of the more “ordinary” Wyr. Ordinary in terms of job occupation and who they usually tend to associate with because neither Riehl nor Alice is exactly run of the mill. My one quibble is that I figured out who the bad guy was before the big reveal, I used to read a lot of murder mysteries so that might have helped. While True Colors was complete story in itself I was so sucked into Riehl and Alice’s lives that I kept hitting the next page button on my reader hoping for more. I give True Colors a B+.

Links to purchase:
Amazon eBook | Barnes & Noble