A murder mystery. A love story. A social commentary. All these describe The Sight of Blood.

Set in a small Michigan town in the 70s, the disappearance of a young woman and the murder of a beloved citizen seem to have no connection to the people and the officials of Grangeville, but to Jane Fleming, the town's first woman deputy, there IS a connection. But hampered by few clues, and the hostility of the townspeople and the sheriff's department, including Sheriff Ralph Parsons, to a female deputy, Jane has to struggle to find the evidence of the connection.

But supporting her is her lover Michael Butch Przybylski, a cocky mechanic and owner of a filling station in Grangeville. Jane with her passionate and barely discreet affair with Butch further shocks the townspeople.

The sight of blood is also filled with the characters and homespun lifestyle of small town America, examined during Jane's investigation and relationship with Butch; Tim Usher, the town's newspaper publisher, who has his own feelings about Jane, George Robbins, who gets Jane out of a tight situation. These and other characters, plus the Michigan setting, make The Sight of Blood a fun and entertaining read.