Blood Lines by Tanya Huff

Blood Lines:
Sealed away through unending centuries in a sarcophagus never meant to be opened, he had patiently waited for the opportunity to live again, for the chance to feed on the unwary and grow strong. Now, at last, the waiting had come to an end. Brought to the Egyptology Department of Toronto's Royal Ontario Museum, the seals and spells that imprisoned him chipped away by his discoverers, he reached forth to claim the minds and souls of the unsuspecting city dwellers, to begin building an empire for himself and his god. And only three people had even a hint that anything was wrong.

For Henry Fitzroy, 450-year-old vampire, it began with a haunting, inescapable image of the sun, a terrifying symbol of death to one such as he. Fearing for his sanity, he called upon his sometime-lover and comrade in supernatural investigations, ex-cop Vicki Nelson, for help. And even as the two struggled to cope with Henry's obsession, Vicki's closest friend and former partner, Police Detective Mike Celluci was following up on two mysterious deaths at the museum, certain he was looking at murders not accidents - and equally convinced that the killer was a mummy brought back from the dead!

Tanya Huff knows just how to grab her readers and pull them right into her world. The compelling relationships between Henry and Vicki, and between Mike and Vicki are what truly drives this series for me.  While I did enjoy this book as a whole, I wasn't all that impressed by the scenes containing the mummy by himself; to me, they didn't really any mysterious elements, they were just kind of there. Blood Lines added more to the personal story of Vicki, Henry and Mike's intriguing relationships; and like previous books in the series, it kept me on the edge of my seat. An intense and character defining scene for Vicki is when she is wrongfully imprisoned. Despite the loss of her glasses (making her nearly blind) and constant physical abuse from other inmates, she never loses her sense of self nor does she wallow in despair waiting to be rescued. This is just one of the many reasons why Vicki has become one of my favorite heroines to read.

After being held captive for centuries, a mummy has found it's way free in Toronto. And in order to live it must consume the souls of others. Surprisingly, it is Mike that approaches Vicki with this strange case--when usually it is the other way around. The trio must stop the mummy before he has a chance to corrupt the city's officials in preparation of his god's arrival, bringing death and destruction to the innocent bystanders of Toronto. Meanwhile, Henry is dreaming of the sun, believing his permanent death is imminent after living for so long. Vicki refuses to give up on Henry and will fight to keep him alive, even if he thinks that he is ready to say goodbye forever.