Blood River Witch

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?“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
T.J. MARTINSON is the author of The Reign of the Kingfisher (Flatiron, 2019), an extremely well-reviewed debut that merged the genres of superheroes and noir, and Her New Eyes. He is an assistant professor of English at Murray State University, teaching courses in creative writing and literature. He holds a PhD in English from Indiana University and a MA in Literary Studies from Eastern Illinois University.