Blood Price by Tanya Huff

Review of Blood Price by Tanya Huff one of the oldest examples of urban fantasy that is recognizable as such. There are so many of the core elements of urban fantasy present in this 1991 take on the genre including a vampire romance.

My review from 2014 of Blood Price by Tanya Huff

Title: Blood Price
Author: Tanya Huff
Series: Vicki Nelson, book 1
Genre: Urban fantasy

After reading Clean Sweep I was really in the mood to read some more good urban fantasy – yes that happens quite a lot for me. I found Blood Price among the books recommended to me on goodreads and it was available in audiobook form, so I grabbed it.

It has been a long time since I read something set in the early 90s, but it was a lot of fun. To me it almost feel like time traveling. No mobile phones, no internet – if you wanted to look something up, you better find a paper copy. There is a tiny bit of hacking in this book (to the level of getting an unlisted phone number) but computers play a very small role. It made it more fun to me.

The characters

Vicki Nelson is a PI trying to solve a murder mystery. Viki is losing her sight, which is a major part of her character. In the beginning of the book she is rather bitter because it cost her the career as a detective, that she loved. She has a rather bumby relationship with her x-partner and they are lovers on and off – and clearly has been for years. This does not make lose all interest in other men – this is never questioned in the book – which is lovely to see.

The other main character, Henry Fitzroy, is a vampire and the illegitimate son of Henry the 8th. So yes that is one very old vampire. He is one of the “good” vampires of the genre. He is also very powerful and got quite a temper. He is far from a safe vampire. His back story is told through back flashes, so at the end of the book we know quite a bit about him. I am a bit over back flashes right now courtesy of Arrow. He also has his own spinoff series.

The relationships in this story is at least as interesting as the plot. The plot is a solid mystery plot. This book borrows tropes as much from the mystery genre as from romance and fantasy, that is so common in urban fantasy these days.

I enjoyed Blood Price and I can see myself reading more of the series.

The stats: Blood Price

Published: Orbit Books, originally published 1991
Read: July 11 to 14, 2014
Length: 336 pages

The author: Female, white, Canada
The protagonist: Vicki Nelson, private investigator, x-police officer, white, straight, losing her sight.
Setting: Toronto, Canada

This review was originally posted: July 16, 2014. Updated and edited June 27, 2023