Blood Price (Tanya Huff)

Blood Price

Author	Tanya Huff
Language	English
Series	Blood Books
Genre	Fantasy Novel
Publisher	DAW Books
Publication date	1991
Followed by	Blood Trail

Blood Price is the first novel in Tanya Huff's series about private investigator Victoria ("Vicky") Nelson, her new, immortal helper, bastard son of Henry VIII, Henry FitzRoy, 1st Duke of Richmond and Somerset, or simply, Henry Fitzroy, and her former lover and colleague Detective - Sergeant Mike Cellucci. It was published in 1991, and followed by four subsequent novels: Blood Trail (1992), Blood Lines (1992), Blood Pact (1993), Blood Debt (1997), and one short stories collection - Blood Bank. Blood Price is also the title of first two episodes of the Lifetime series, Blood Ties, which is based on Tanya Huff’s books. The Vicki Nelson book series is also known as ″Blood Books″.

Vicki Nelson is a former Homicide detective. When her diagnosis of Retinitis Pigmentosa (RP) ruined her night vision and forced her to leave the police force, she became a private investigator.

After becoming a witness in a brutal murder of a young man, who was drained to death, his desperate girlfriend Coreen Fennel hires her to investigate his death and Vicki’s intense, strong, and curious nature does not allow her to stop searching for the killer. Vicki tries to get some information from her former partner, Detective - Sergeant Mike Cellucci, who is also investigating the case for the police. The two of them have always been competitors, which leads to their arguments over jurisdiction.

Coreen informs her that she thinks that the murderer is a vampire, so she begins what she calls ″hunting″, although she does not believe in the supernatural. The killer is claiming more victims, and when she accidentally walks in on a crime scene, she sees the killer turning into the dark and disappearing. Because of her bad sight, she is sure that it was just an illusion, and when she turns to the body, she sees a man in black next to the body, and tries to scream, but he punches her in the head, rendering her unconscious.

She wakes in an unknown apartment, while the same man is searching her purse for some ID. She talks to him, and discovers that he is not a killer, but is also searching for him. He tells her that the killer is a demon, that she actually did see him disappear. He has an ancient book, a grimoire, that should help them. She also finds out that the stranger is Henry Fitzroy: romance writer and 450-year-old vampire. Surprisingly, she believes him. The two make a deal to catch the demon and the man who is calling it up.