Blood Typed by Jane Doucet
A delightful whodunit that’ll keep you guessing—and often chuckling
Blue eyes disapproving, Admiral Horatio Nelson surveys two police detectives investigating a murder. Wasteful, all the coffee they’re knocking back! Nevertheless, the legendary British naval hero can’t bring himself to look away.
The reason he can’t? Nelson is, wait for the punchline—a portrait.
Such wit and whimsy run enjoyably through the DNA of Blood Typed, Jane Doucet’s new murder mystery novel. The setting: Halifax’s elegant Lord Nelson Hotel. Oh, and it’s in the hotel’s Georgian Lounge where the Nelson portrait resides.
Also at the hotel: human guests, alive and breathing—for now. Nominated for a Nova Scotia historical fiction award, several authors have gathered for the upcoming awards ceremony.
“As well as being a mystery author, Doucet has a journalism background—which she draws on, often slyly, in portraying Blood Typed’s protagonist, Val Jenkins.”
Alas, murder is also a guest. The novel opens with the discovery of a dead body, skull smashed, legs twisted, face battered. “Next to the body lay a beautiful antique typewriter, its keys mangled and bloody.” As you will have gleaned, Doucet is a mischievous storyteller. For now, she doesn’t let us know who the murder victim is. It’s one of the authors, to be sure, but before making the grisly reveal, Doucet goes back in time a few days and introduces us to each of them.
Is it ever fun to be admitted into each author’s mind. Pre-murder, some writerly rivals for the award pretend to enjoy each other’s company over cocktails. One author compliments another, Victor, on his stylish glasses. But— faux pas— he calls him Vic. And gets reproved with, “It’s Victor, mon ami.”
Behind everyone’s forced smiles, here are some reactions:
“Pretentious prick, thought Lex.
What a dick, thought Sonya.
That wasn’t very nice, thought Sally.”
As well as being a mystery author, Doucet has a journalism background—which she draws on, often slyly, in portraying Blood Typed’s protagonist. Val Jenkins is the Books columnist at the Halifax Post. But, with visions of Nancy Drew and other fictional detectives dancing, or at least sleuthing, in her head, Val yearns for a more exciting beat. For real crimes to solve, rather than ones she is assigned to read about in books.
In vain do both her editor and one of the police detectives try to dissuade Val from such fancies. When she sets out to interview a possible murder witness, the detective tsks, “You aren’t Jessica Fletcher.” However, Val has acquired the thick skin you pretty much need if you’re a journo. “Oh, I love Murder, She Wrote,” Val gushes happily in reply, adding that she’s watched all 12 seasons, several times.
As someone who has worked in journalism, this reviewer chuckled at the question a reporter at another paper demands of Val: “Who popped their clogs at the hotel?” Not that reporters are really so cynical. Well, ahem, not always.
Of course, much of the fun in Blood Typed also owes to its traditional, cozy-mystery quality. The murders occur in a single setting, the hotel. There’s also that delightful mystery staple, clues that may or may not be red herrings. For example, one author, who shall be nameless to avoid spoilers, suddenly sports a hand injury.
Agatha Christie would be pleased by all of the above. She’d also like the inclusion of scandalous behaviour from the past that maybe, just maybe, has a link to the murders. As Agatha famously had Hercule Poirot proclaim in several novels, “Old sins have long shadows.”
But don’t worry, Lord Nelson. With Val and the police on the case, the murderer will meet their Waterloo.
About the Author
A journalist whose articles have appeared in Chatelaine, Canadian Living and The Globe and Mail, to name a few, Jane Doucet lives in Halifax with her husband and their two senior rescue dogs. In 2017 Jane self-published her début novel, The Pregnant Pause, which was shortlisted for the 2018 Whistler Independent Book Award. Blood Typed, her first murder mystery, will be published in May 2026.
About the Reviewer
A Vancouver freelance writer/editor, Melanie Jackson is also the author of such middle-grade/young-adult suspensers as the Dinah Galloway Mystery Series (Orca). Other novels by Melanie include Medusa’s Scream, named by the Canadian Children’s Book Centre as a Best Book, 2018. CCBC also awarded Melanie a TD-CCBC Book Week touring-author award.
Book Details
Publisher: Vagrant Press, an imprint of Nimbus Publishing, May 26, 2026
Language: English
Paperback: 240 pages
ISBN: 9781774715154