Dead Ground – M. W. Craven

Detective Sergeant Washington Poe is in court, fighting eviction from his beloved and isolated croft, when he is summoned to a backstreet brothel in Carlisle where a man has been beaten to death with a baseball bat. Poe is confused – he hunts serial killers and this appears to be a straightforward murder-by-pimp – but his attendance was requested personally, by the kind of people who prefer to remain in the shadows.

As Poe and the socially awkward programmer Tilly Bradshaw delve deeper into the case, they are faced with seemingly unanswerable questions: despite being heavily vetted for a high-profile job, why does nothing in the victim’s background check out? Why was a small ornament left at the murder scene – and why did someone on the investigation team steal it? And what is the connection to a flawlessly executed bank heist three years earlier, a heist where nothing was taken . . .

 

I received a review copy from the publisher.

 

There are certain books which I always look forward to reading. Characters I have loved returning for another challenge, authors who I know always write top quality books or (the best combo) authors who write top quality books and bring back recurring characters.  That third combination brings me nicely to Dead Ground.

The Poe and Bradshaw thrillers by M.W. Craven are a high point in the release schedules for me as Craven hits the perfect balance between dark and gritty but also scores with many laugh-out-loud moments too.

The joy in reading the Poe/Bradshaw books are the two lead characters.  I do a disservice to the brilliantly twisted crime stories which the they have to investigate (more on this in a moment) but the dynamic between Washington Poe, the dogged determination and relentless pursuit of getting to the truth with his rules-be-damned attitude and Tilly Bradshaw, genius, socially awkward and absolutely guaranteed to voice exactly what is in her head at any given time. Their partnership is genius and ruthlessly effective. I could read about them nipping to the chippy and know it would bring a smile.

In Dead Ground the pair are facing a whole new challenge as they are called to support the security forces who normally work in the background, keeping secrets and are very used to ensuring they hold all the aces.  Poe is very much not that kind of team player and readers know there will be conflict as Poe will not accept people withholding information in a murder investigation.

I don’t want to spoil too much (or indeed, any) of the story so I choose my words carefully here.  Poe is tasked with finding who killed an influential figure involved with an upcoming top security meeting.  If you have read The Curator (Book 3 on the series) there is a returning character to shake up the dynamic and bring a new edge to the investigation.  There are also some brilliant interchanges between Poe, Tilly and the spies who are desperate for discretion but know Poe won’t play their game.

Dead Ground is easily one of the best new releases out at the moment. Reading this was an absolute joy and it falls into the “don’t want this to end” category.  If you have yet to discover this series for yourself then I envy you the four wonderful novels which await – not to mention the short stories that will demand your attention too.  It’s an easy five star score for Dead Ground.

 

 

Dead Ground is published by Constable and is available in hardback, digital and audiobook format.  You can order a copy here: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Dead-Ground-Washington-Poe-Craven/dp/1472131975/ref=tmm_hrd_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=1623359635&sr=1-2