Bloodless by Douglas Preston and Lincoln Childs

September 18, 2022

Bloodless by Douglas Preston and Lincoln Childs

On their way back to New York following the successful completion of a case, FBI Special Agents Aloysius Pendergast and Armstrong Coldmoon are diverted to Savannah to investigate an unusual death. The body of a hotel manager has been found completely drained of blood with no rational explanation how it was done. When a second body, a college student, is found a short time later in the same condition, the media quickly dub the killer The Savannah Vampire. Yet there seems to be a connection to the FBI's oldest unsolved case. The investigation takes the two agents and Constance Green, Pendergast's mysterious ward, on a desperate hunt through Savannah's landmark buildings and cemeteries.

This is the 20th book in the Agent Pendergast series (I missed #19 somehow and have it on order at the library). I always enjoy the Pendergast novels, especially the audiobooks. The narrator gets Pendergast's intonations just right. Although the books are classified as mysteries, there are frequently supernatural overtones, and this one leans pretty far into the paranormal. It sounds like the next book may involve time trave back to the 19th century.

Bonaventure Cemetery in Savannah, where some of the action takes place

The statue of the girl with the birds that two of the characters are trying to find at Bonaventure. The statue graced the cover of "Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil," one of my all-time favorite nonfiction books. The statue was moved out of Bonaventure over 20 years ago.