Who attacked Dad? When corrupt, brutal dentist Albert Ludd is found battered and bloody after failing to attend a memorial party for his youngest son, a solider, suspicion falls on his other children, especially 37-year-old buxom bruiser Monica, who was heard “uttering threats” against her absent father. How come her car is found outside his house? Why did she buy a large axe? Yet, Monica’s a deputy head. Blood is a Gothic black comedy seen through the eyes of six-foot Monica, who speaks her secret thoughts aloud and who has been banned by the principal of her school, from using social media: “Parents are sensitive to abuse. Governors query `moron’ and `twat’.” Blood asks serious questions about modern life: what can we do with the brutal men who bully women and the weak? Can we wait for a world of order and justice? If we hit back, can the circle of violence ever be broken?

Hang on to your hats, it's a joy Jane Gardam A wise and beautiful book about what it feels like to be alive. Zadie Smith Fast-moving, energetic, constantly surprising Hilary Mantel I love the work of Maggie Gee: wickedly smart, funny and fearless, plus that rarest of all things, genuinely surprising. Read her. Patrick Ness Worldly, witty, enjoyable, impressive.' Doris Lessing Maggie Gee has never written better. Rose Tremain Excellent ... Exciting stuff. Fay Weldon A tour de force - brilliantly structured, surprising, humane, and suspenseful Elaine Showalter Brilliant ... just brilliant ... deserves to be published in every language. Hillary Jordan Gripping, original and highly entertaining - Maggie Gee at her superb best. J G Ballard So rich it is almost aromatic ... an impressive and important novel. Nigella Lawson Outstanding ... tender, sexy and alarming. Jim Crace Audacious, playful and dazzlingly written. The Herald Wickedly funny ... contains lines that sparkle. Sunday Telegraph This giddily playful novel is cunning what if ... A gloriously funny, fleet-footed novel. Metro Best Summer Reads) A witty book ... It's got everything in a novel that I really like. Jacqueline Wilson's Six Best Books, Express Dazzling ... alternately lyrical and austere ... unbearably touching. The Observer For all its passion and intricacy, is also a very funny book . . . rewarding . . . carefully written, using language echoing the water that ebbs and flows, and eventually floods the pages. TLS Sublimely funny and infinitely subtle, pure delight. Daily Telegraph Energetic and beguiling. Sunday Telegraph Up there with Orwell and Huxley. Jeremy Paxman BB Maggie Gee is one of our most ambitious and challenging novelists. Sunday Times Hang on to your hats, it's a joy Jane Gardam A wise and beautiful book about what it feels like to be alive. Zadie Smith Fast-moving, energetic, constantly surprising Hilary Mantel I love the work of Maggie Gee: wickedly smart, funny and fearless, plus that rarest of all things, genuinely surprising. Read her. Patrick Ness Worldly, witty, enjoyable, impressive.' Doris Lessing Maggie Gee has never written better. Rose Tremain Excellent ... Exciting stuff. Fay Weldon A tour de force - brilliantly structured, surprising, humane, and suspenseful Elaine Showalter Brilliant ... just brilliant ... deserves to be published in every language. Hillary Jordan Gripping, original and highly entertaining - Maggie Gee at her superb best. J G Ballard So rich it is almost aromatic ... an impressive and important novel. Nigella Lawson Outstanding ... tender, sexy and alarming. Jim Crace Audacious, playful and dazzlingly written. The Herald Wickedly funny ... contains lines that sparkle. Sunday Telegraph This giddily playful novel is cunning what if ... A gloriously funny, fleet-footed novel. Metro Best Summer Reads) A witty book ... It's got everything in a novel that I really like. Jacqueline Wilson's Six Best Books, Express Dazzling ... alternately lyrical and austere ... unbearably touching. The Observer For all its passion and intricacy, is also a very funny book . . . rewarding . . . carefully written, using language echoing the water that ebbs and flows, and eventually floods the pages. TLS Sublimely funny and infinitely subtle, pure delight. Daily Telegraph Energetic and beguiling. Sunday Telegraph Up there with Orwell and Huxley. Jeremy Paxman BB Maggie Gee is one of our most ambitious and challenging novelists. Sunday Times A fantastic book. Mariella Frostrup BBC She writes elegantly, unsentimentally, expertly. The Independent This beautifully observed, intelligent and moving novel is one of those rare things - a small, carefully wrapped surprise that gets better and better with the unravelling.' The Scotsman A moving, funny, engrossing book. The Observer A rattling good page-turning yarn. George Melly Mordantly witty, unsparing, politically savvy, a beautifully clear and bracing vision. TLS One of the year's finest novels. Literary Review Compulsively readable. The Guardian Astonishing ... beautifully written. Big Issue A transcendent work. Daily Telegraph Intensely touching. Financial Times This beautifully observed, intelligent and moving novel is one of those rare things - a small, carefully wrapped surprise that gets better and better with the unravelling. The Scotsman Maggie Gee is superb. Elegant, humorous and surprising, this is a classy performance. The Times A moving, funny, engrossing book. The Observer A remarkable and ambitious book, a tribute to Maggie Gee's imaginative power. Literary Review The most exhilarating novel I've read all year. Scotland on Sunday Maggie Gee's immense talent catches passion on the wing ... a romance of a truth and depth that's never without humour. Mail on Sunday