Book Description
On Kentucky’s Blood River, a Sheriff’s Deputy investigates the death of her ex-fiance, whose brutal occultist murder strongly resembles a similar murder decades ago, for readers of Tana French, Gillian Flynn, Megan Abbott, and fans of True Detective
Deputy Sheriff Alicia Moore is thrust into the center of a chilling murder investigation when she discovers a victim identifiable only by his hauntingly familiar tattoo—her name inked onto the knuckles of her ex-fiancé, Jake.
Years earlier, Alicia’s father, the then-Sheriff, had arrested a teenage occultist for a nearly identical murder, believed to be driven by the suspect’s worship of demonic entities. Now, with Jake’s murder mirroring that past crime, doubts arise about whether the true culprit was ever caught. The mystery deepens with the arrival of Lucas Masterson, a Criminology PhD student studying the confluence between religious trauma and occult crime, who is eager to lend his expertise to the investigation. As Lucas delves into the case, his profound knowledge of the town’s grim history and his outsider perspective strain the local social fabric, while Alicia grapples with her suspicion towards his unsettling familiarity with the crimes. Caught between her strained relationship with her father, the community’s watchful eyes on a female deputy, and her own harrowing ties to the case, Alicia must navigate a maze of potential occultists, convicts, corrupt officials, and clergy to prevent a gruesome history from repeating itself once again.
For what lies at the heart of Blood River—is it an ancient malicious force seeking to harm the townfolk, or is there a deeper prejudice in a town that continues to punish women in a way that it does not punish the men?
Praise For This Book
An Amazon Best Book of the Month"The beauty of Blood River Witch lies in how T.J. Martinson works a sentence. We are not so much brought into the story as we are immersed in it and all of its varied senses. From the first page, which allows us to step inside a scene of human horror, we are hooked by a thriller that will not let go of us . . . What Martinson has spun together is a deadly spider-web of a novel, full of thriller and supernatural aspects, that will keep readers guessing at every turn . . . Blood River Witch toes the line between satanic, supernaturally themed murder and the horrors that exist inside very human killers. The ending is both surreal and utterly memorable. T.J. Martinson has written what is easily one of the best novels of 2026, and I will not forget it any time soon." —Ray Palen, Bookreporter.com
"Martinson’s writing is lyrical and evocative in a manner that fans of James Lee Burke will admire, rich in description of the beautiful Kentucky countryside and with a lyrical, almost biblical style . . . Blood River Witch is something of a throwback in an age of where the best sellers are domestic thrillers and glamorous espionage adventures, but it is no worse for that. Crime fiction is a broad church, and there will always be a place beautifully written novels rich in atmosphere and peopled with compelling, fully realised characters. I look forward to whatever TJ Martinson writes next." —Michael Parker, Crime Fiction Lover
"Brimming with lush prose and dark images, Blood River Witch is a twisting tale that keeps the pages turning and the lights on well past bedtime." —Shannon Glass, The Coachella Review
"Martinson expertly weaves elements of small-town rural suspicion, superstition, heinous crime, drama, and just the right dash of horror to craft a page-turning whodunit that is difficult to set aside once you start flipping those pages . . . Blood River Witch is a poetic, slow-burning descent into darkness that serves as a reminder that things are rarely as they seem, and the past is always capable of coming back around, and sometimes it’s found a way to sharpen its teeth while it hid. If you like your horror layered and complex, if you like being surprised and putting together pieces of the puzzle and meaning of what’s going on, then Blood River Witch needs to find a place on your TBR list." —Dave Dreher, Gruesome Magazine
“[W]ell-built . . . The story is full of satisfying twists and turns.” —Publishers Weekly
“Tense and moody, Blood River Witch is a beautifully written, tightly plotted thriller I couldn’t put down. A smart rural noir full of occult mysteries, family secrets, and truly shocking twists, propelled by the horror of trying to reinvent yourself when the world has already decided who you are, this is T.J. Martinson’s best yet.” —Matt Bell, author of Appleseed
"Blood River Witch is a lyrical, deeply moving experience. T.J. Martinson accomplishes that most rare feat: he's written a novel that is as entertaining as it is thought-provoking." —S. A. Cosby, author of King of Ashes
"A spiral of dark secrets, shattered relationships, and occult-tinged murder, Blood River Witch is everything great about small-town noir. A twisty, haunting drama about the banality of evil, T.J. Martinson's latest is impossible to put down." —Matt Serafini, author of Feeders
“Stark, propulsive, and unforgiving, Blood River Witch asks what’s left of identity when the world has already decided what you are—and what kind of myth you can make of yourself when survival is the only law. Set in a town where memory ferments into violence, this is a novel about how the past stains the present and how women pay the price for crimes they didn’t commit but are never allowed to forget. Tense, atmospheric, and ferociously alive, Martinson's novel proves that the most terrifying forces are not summoned—they’re inherited.” —Ivy Pochoda, author of Ecstasy
