Review: BLOOD PACT, Fiona McIntosh

• 
  This edition read as an e-book on Libby provided by my local library
  
• Published: 2 December 2025, Penguin Australia
• ISBN: 9781761343612
• Pages: 384
• #6 Jack Hawkesworth series  

Synopsis (Publisher)
Detective Superintendent Jack Hawksworth is seconded by counter-terrorism to investigate a spate of domestic events. First it was needles in strawberries, then tampering with lipstick samplers and baby formula. But when toxic mushrooms enter the market system and a death occurs, a wave of terror is set to sweep the country. Breaking news of a possible serial killer only heightens the alarm.

There are no leads, no DNA, no witnesses, no CCTV footage. Jack and his team must work on instinct to figure out why someone would want to harm innocent victims, each of them curiously linked to a single blood transfusion.

When a hospital bomb threat erupts, it is up to the team to prevent the inevitable bloodshed. The clock is ticking, and no one is safe from the possibility of a tragedy on a catastrophic scale.

My Take

A quality offering from a local (Adelaide) author which moves at a fast pace and is filled with believable scenarios and well drawn characters. I regret that I haven't read all in this series and should remedy that some time.

There are plenty of red herrings as Jack's team attempts to identify the person behind the domestic terrorist events, and then a real surprise as the perpetrator is identified and we move into the culmination.

My rating: 4.6

I've also read

• BYE BYE BABY
• 4.4, FOUL PLAY, Fiona McIntosh

Review: FOUL PLAY, Fiona McIntosh

• 
  This edition available on Amazon in Kindle 
• ASIN ‏ : ‎ B0CB1YNVX7
  
• Publisher ‏ : ‎ Penguin eBooks (January 9, 2024)
• Print length ‏ : ‎ 403 pages

Synopsis (Amazon)

Superstar footballer Luca Bruni is being blackmailed for a night of lust he swears he didn’t participate in...except the ransom photo denies that. A media darling on and off the field, he has powerful charisma, a perfect home life he’ll do anything to protect, and more money than he knows what to do with. He’s determined to defy the extortion racket.

When Detective Superintendent Jack Hawksworth learns that the cunning mastermind behind this crime has already swindled a dozen of the world’s most highly prized male athletes, he is instructed to keep the situation from escalating and prevent a media frenzy.

Intrigued by the creativity of the crime and the shockwaves it is creating through the global sporting fraternity, Jack begins a journey into a case that has tentacles far more wide-reaching that he ever imagined – and far more deadly. 

My Take

This is the 5th in this series.

I read the first in 2008, BYE BYE BABY, when the author had decided to use pseudonym Lauren Crow for her crime fiction titles. It was republished under the name Fiona McIntosh in 2013.

Since then there have been a further 3 in the series which I have not read.

Since all 5 titles have the same central characters, there is considerable back story which I am not familiar with. There are some references (and details) in this novel to what has gone before, and probably enough to allow you to read FOUL PLAY as a stand-alone.

Jack Hawksworth has been warned by his commanding officer more than once about mixing his private and professional lives and once again he ignores this warning to the detriment of someone he is using and whom he has promised to protect. Although both Hawksworth and his offsider Kate are supposed to be at the top of their game, they are in many ways unlovely personalities and their actions did affect the way I eventually felt about the book.

My rating: 4.4

I've also read 

4.2, BYE BYE BABY (as Lauren Crow)

From Fantastic Fiction

DCI Jack Hawksworth
   1. Bye Bye Baby (2007)
   2. Beautiful Death (2009)
   3. Mirror Man (2021)
   4. Dead Tide (2023)
   5. Foul Play (2024)

The author has written another 30+ books, mainly fantasy. 

About the author

Originally from Brighton, Fiona McIntosh moved to Australia in her teens and forged a successful career in travel - running a business with her husband - before becoming a writer. She continues her work and on top of this not only writes at least two books a year, but also spearheads the Fab Fantasy Bookclub - Australia's premier fantasy bookclub. She lives in southern Australia with her husband, her two lovely sons, two mad dogs and two insane birds.