Claudia Rose, protagonist of Sheila Lowe's latest mystery,WRITTEN IN BLOOD, is a handwriting analyst and forensic document examiner, skills that lead her into adventures involving who signed or wrote what, and what kind of personality set pen to paper.

In her latest case, Claudia must determine the legitimacy of a will, but in the process, gets involved with a touchingly tough little character named Annabelle, a teenager at a dangerous crossroad in life. Claudia, through her skills, works through sinister situations that threaten both her and Annabelle, while helping the girl, with graphotherapy, to a place of greater freedom and self-understanding.

The characters in WRITTEN IN BLOOD are full-bodied; Annabelle, especially, is successfully drawn as a complex person, full of the ambivalence, anger, and pure feelings of a teenage girl. Claudia, as in Lowe's previous work, POISON PEN, is equally interesting because of her unusual calling and thoughtful yet tough nature.

A fun read.

Claudia Rose, a Southern California graphologist, is hired by Paige Sorensen to authenticate the signature on her late husband's will. He was many years her senior, and had died of a stroke six months ago. Paige is described by Claudia as, variously, a trophy wife, wounded widow, wronged stepmother and lonely woman seeking a confidante. Her stepchildren, all older than Claudia herself, have challenged the signature as a forgery, and his fortune as well as the Sorensen Academy, the private school his family had owned for generations and of which Claudia is the headmistress, are at stake. In the course of the relationship Claudia meets Annabelle Giordano, the sullen 14-year-old daughter of a movie producer with mob associations, still recovering from the tragic loss of her mother, an actress, eight years previously, who is a full-time resident of the school. The Academy is a residential and day school for wealthy young girls with special emotional needs.

With some assistance from her best friends, Kelly, a family law attorney, Zebediah, a forensic psychologist, and Joel Jovanic, an LAPD detective, Claudia tries to figure out how real are the threats made to Paige by the stepchildren whose hatred runs to virulence, and to Annabelle as well, with whom, against all she has been taught, she has forged a bond.

The author enlightens the reader on her somewhat unusual profession, one which she points out is an unlicensed one. At its most basic, she is a handwriting examiner, "always curious about personality and the way it revealed itself in the written word." This novel is the second in the series, and I was disappointed not to like it as much as I had the first, "Poison Pen," finding it weakly plotted and not as well-written and perhaps less engrossing and suspenseful than its predecessor. Nevertheless, it was an interesting read, and the profession shared by Claudia Rose and her creator certainly captures one's attention. I will look forward to seeing what the author has in store for her in her next adventure.

Sheila's writing draws the reader in... her character development is superlative. I feel as if I know our heroine and her associates as if they were my own family. I just picked up the book today and am halfway through... (had to have dinner with my husband...) and will continue reading tonight!!

Written In Blood: A Forensic Handwriting Mystery (Forensic Handwriting Mysteries)Written in Blood is an exciting mystery with surprising twists. It is well-written and hard to put down. I would recommend this book to anyone who likes to read mysteries.

Written in Blood, Sheila Lowe's second installment in the Claudia Rose Mystery Series is even more compelling than the first (Poison Pen). In this adventure, Claudia's client should be relatively easy to assist by authenticating the signature on a will. Unfortunately, for Claudia, too much is at stake in the eyes of the family and she becomes intertwined with the personal lives of those involved. During the journey, Lowe continues to show us her amazing skill set for developing remarkable characters and Rose becomes as real as the rest of us.

Written in Blood is an intriguing and exciting mystery novel with a premise based around forensic handwriting. The main character, Claudia Rose, is a handwriting analyst and the discipline of forensic handwriting comes into play to resolve key plot points in the novel.

At first the premise seemed cliche - a young widow trying to disprove the claims of her deceased husband's children that his will was forged - but author Shiela Lowe handles the plot well with plenty of twists and turns to keep the reader guessing. The action was high and the characters were well drawn. I was also impressed with the level of realism that Lowe brought into the book, specifically her descriptions of a forensic scientist's role as a witness in the courtroom were very accurate.

I would recommend this book to anyone who enjoys a good mystery. With a good mix of police procedural, action mystery, courtroom drama and forensic science, Written in Blood is a gripping page turner that will leave readers eager for more of Lowe's work!

Many of today's best forensic crime novels are penned by authors with a background or career in the area they're writing about. We've seen the handwriting expert on shows such as CSI, but Sheila Lowe is the real deal. She works as a court qualified handwriting expert. She has written books and developed software used in handwriting analysis.

So, her new series featuring graphology expert Claudia Rose is full of fascinating information on the many ways handwriting can be used - determining document authenticity as well as personality, emotional traits and characteristics.

Paige Sorensen hires Claudia to prove that the will made out by her much older, rich, deceased husband is not a forgery. His adult children are contesting the will that leaves everything to Paige, including a prestigious private school -The Sorensen Academy. Claudia becomes more involved than she should, as she is concerned by a troubled student everyone seems to have written off. She begins graphotherapy sessions with Annabelle, hoping to help her. There's more trouble than just a contested will bubbling under the polished veneer of The Sorensen Academy and Claudia is smack dab in the middle of it all.

I wondered- how could a complete novel be built around a handwriting expert? I was pleasantly surprised. Claudia is a spunky woman whose natural curiosity and caring lead her into more than she bargained for. Mix in a cop boyfriend, some fun friends, a personal life and Claudia is soon fleshed out to become more 'real'.

I had a few problems suspending disbelief with some of the procedural details. For example - when Claudia chooses to not contact the police with information that may help them. But these did not detract from the overall story.

Lowe has created an engaging new sleuth in an untapped area of expertise. Written in Blood is the second in this series. Poison Pen is the first.

Claudia Rose uses her skills as a forensic handwriting specialist to help fight crime, giving testimony in courtrooms on a regular basis. But she also caters to the individual client. When Paige Sorensen approaches her, it seems like it's just another case involving a rich widow who inherits everything from her husband (who happened to be a lot older than she is), much to his children's disgust and dismay. They're determined to prove that Paige murdered their father and forged his signature on the documents. But Paige proclaims her innocence--and she'll fight to hold on to the Sorensen Academy, a school for troubled teens, so her husband's children can't tear it down and put up a high-priced resort in its place.

Intrigued by the case, Claudia immerses herself in the Sorensen family and becomes emotionally involved with a young girl named Annabelle Giordano, a guest at the Sorensen Academy, whose father is a big-time movie producer. When death threats start flying, suddenly nothing is cut and dry, and Claudia finds that she has to look at everyone's penmanship in order to figure out who might be a potential killer.



Written in Blood has piqued my curiosity for handwriting analysis. Apparently, one can determine who is a murderer, who could be a murderer, and what motivates a person--just by examining his or her handwriting. And though handwriting analysis may sound boring, it's anything but. Ms. Lowe balances necessary details with mystery and suspense, a smidgen of drama, and a fast-paced climax, making Written in Blood an intriguing and exciting read.

Everything about this novel, from the characters to the technicalities of handwriting analysis, is fascinating--and it makes for one great read. I simply enjoyed Written in Blood from start to finish--and I would love to see Claudia Rose in future forensic handwriting mysteries.

Although the culprit's identity was easy to figure out, I still found myself staying up late to finish the book.

The only thing I didn't like was how fast the relationship between Claudia and Joel seemed to develop. When I read a cozy, I much prefer to see the personal relationships develop over several books, rather than having the main character prematurely shoved into one "off-screen" in order to rush along that aspect of the story. It was particularly irritating in this book, because the relationship had nothing whatsoever to do with the plot or moving it along.

Looking forward to the next in the series!

Forensic handwriting expert Claudia Rose takes on a new challenge in this follow up to the Poison Pen. The widow of a wealthy man hires Claudia to check the signature on her husband's will after his children contest it. Claudia finds the signature is genuine and testifies on her client's behalf.

Against her better judgment, Claudia becomes personally involved with the woman after she tells Claudia she needs a friend. The woman runs an academy for upper class children and Claudia soon finds herself in danger when her client and one of her students disappear. It's uncertain who might be responsible for the suspects are lining up.

I like the character of Claudia Rose and I enjoy the ongoing romance with her cop boyfriend. The story entertained me and taught me a little about handwriting analysis too. I look forward to the next book in the series.