It's all good fun in Somerset, where the biggest problem on Nick Dixon's plate is sheep killings.

Sheep. By crossbow. And increasing power. Looks like someone's using them for target practice...

And then come the human bodies. Rather too many over the course of a week.

What's the connection, and who's behind it all?

An excellent instalment in this series

The 11th book in the DI Nick Dixon series, Dying Inside was another great edition that kept me hooked. Crossbow sheep killings quickly escalated into a hunt for an elusive murderer that was full of misdirections and dead ends. It had a surprising amount of humorous character interactions and crossbow puns that kept me chuckling to myself. Our main characters continue to develop and thrive and, at this point, I trust any book that Damien Boyd decides to write!

DCI Nick Dixon is back, newly promoted in this the 11th book of the series. What starts off as sheep being killed, ramps up to full bloodied murder - by crossbow. This character and his team are now well established and realistic. As is the policing, with all the chores of day to day policing, like performance reviews, all types of meetings and the mundane but essential juggling of manpower around a police force, to fill gaps made by ruthless cutbacks over the years. As such, it has such a ring of authenticity that this book gripped me from the start. The storyline as ever is well plotted and intriguing, with lots of lines of enquiry that have to be chased down by the team, again, so realistically, and not all lead to the results wanted. A really absorbing read. Here’s looking forward to his next outing.
Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read and review this book.

The 11th instalment in this long standing series sees Dixon and team faced with a bizarre and gruesome string of murders, fraud, tax avoidance and with a dash of imported cocaine.

I would like to thank Netgalley and Amazon Publishing UK for an advance copy of Dying Inside, the eleventh novel to feature DCI Nick Dixon of the Avon and Somerset Police.

Nick is suffocating in paperwork in his new job as detective chief inspector, so when a farmer turns up with a third lot dead sheep, all killed by a crossbow of increasing power, he recognises the signs and decides to investigate. His premonition comes true when a man is found impaled to a tree by several crossbow bolts, but it’s still not his investigation as the victim has ties to organised crime and the Organised Crime Unit will be in charge, that is until a second victim is found.

I enjoyed Dying Inside which is a good police procedural with some neat twists. I was hooked by the unusualness of the weapon and the mystery of the motive, but there are all sorts of little conundrums thrown in throughout the novel to make it more interesting.

I like that it is a novel with its feet planted firmly on the ground, there are no flights of fancy, just solid investigation and a believable motive. I also liked the “and there’s more” feel to the novel where the reader thinks it’s solved and Dixon produces more thoughts and pushes on. It’s effective and keeps the reader wondering. I also liked the final chapter which, while I can’t say what’s in it, encapsulates Dixon’s approach to policing and life in an appropriately high tension manner. The plot itself is interesting in that it mostly consists of sorting out the relationships between characters, like who’s guilty of what, who’s a pawn and how they intersect. It’s well thought out and conceived.

Nick Dixon, man of action is wasted behind a desk and his thoughts on webinars, resource allocation and management in general are a joy to behold. He speaks for most of us. There is more change in the air for him and his fiancée, Jane, most of which is due to manipulation by Assistant Chief Constable Charlesworth, but not all. It will be interesting to watch it unfold.

Dying Inside is a good read that I have no hesitation in recommending.

The DCI Nick Dixon series is going from strength to strength. I really enjoyed the storyline in this novel, not as clear-cut as first imagined, and kept my interest. I also enjoy the characters evolving and the relationships between them. Great series!

Who would have thought a few dead sheep would have heralded the start of a series of gruesome murders? They certainly do it differently in Somerset, for once their top brass in the police seem human and approachable unlike in so many other detective thrillers. I think Damien Boyd in Dying Inside has created a new genre in cooperative policing and it made a refreshing change. The story had many twists and turns, certainly there was plenty we could all identify with when it came to financial scams. I understand in the Author's Note that Damien wrote this during the pandemic. For sure the pandemic has given a massive boost to online scammers and fraudsters but the ones in Dying Inside relate to pensions and also an erstwhile legal tax avoidance scheme made illegal by former Chancellor George Osborne.
For those seeking a detective thriller with a cleverly contrived plot, good police work and some humour along the way, then this is for you.

Huge thanks to the publishers and Net Galley for the chance to read this latest Nick Dixon book. I have read the previous 10
As this is a review and not a book precis there will be no plot summary. That, after all is the point of reading the book and I do feel a review should be that and not Sparks Notes.
From the very first book I have really enjoyed all the books but I think this one is probably the best. Minimal heroics from DCI Dixon who has learnt to call back up-hooray! A good , solid well thought out plot and very well crafted. Nuggets of information and development are peppered through the book in a realistic fashion. As the team learn more so do you. There are no twists as such- shock horror- but this is a truly excellent thing. People have taken to calling natural plot progression a twist. Some authors , in order to ensure their books are referred to as "twisty" have so many rabbit out of a hat moments you think you've become a magician's assistant. Not so Mr Boyd. As the reader we are invited along on DCI Dixon's journey and follow his thought processes in an entertaining and satisfying way. I did really like the new partnership- "Nick and Nige". I thought that was superb and the way Dixon took him under his wing was marvellous. Really hoping that this new partnership continues as it has great potential.

Two minor gripes- acne is caused by bacteria not greasy chips
Calling the Isles of Scilly the Scilly Isles will generate complaints from residents

This is the first book I've read by the author and I really enjoyed it. The plot was interesting and easy to follow. Really enjoyed the characters and specially Dixon. Loved the way he conducted the murder investigation not to the liking of his superior. The story revolves around two murders and killed sheep. The sheep were killed by crossbow and as Dixon investigates further, he finds the two murdered were killed with crossbow. Dixon slowly uncovers the truth and closes the case.
I was definitely hooked on the story from start to finish and I'm definitely going to read more of the author's work. Such a brilliant read.

Back in the day when I'm Sorry I Haven't A Clue was actually funny, and I'm talking about the late 1970s, one of my favourite rounds was Late Arrivals At The Ball, where a servant announces the arrival of . . . cue wonderful and bizarre puns, such as:

(The Astronauts' Ball) Mr and Mrs Secondstoblastoff and their Scottish son, Fife
(The Booksellers' Ball) Mr & Mrs Zeen, & their disgusting daughter, Margaret - known as 'Dirty Maggie'
(The Butchers' Ball) Mr and Mrs Poundamince and their son, Arfur

I only mention this because twice now, within a few days, I have found a crime series to which I have come very late. This, for an avowed fan of police procedural novels, is pretty damning. At least the Trevor Negus novels featuring Danny Swift was only a three book series, but much to my shame I find that there have been ten previous books in the DCI Nick Dickson series. All I can do, is review the eleventh - Dying Inside - and mutter "mea culpa." Below, numbers one to five in the Nick Dixon Books.

Nick Dickson works for Avon and Somerset Constabulary, so his beat covers much of England's glorious West Country from Bristol down to Weston super Mare. He is relatively recently promoted, which is good for his salary and pension, but has dragged him into the vortex of tedium which includes mission statements, performance reviews and coma-inducing courses with titles like Developing Inclusive Management Styles In A Modern Police Service. ( I just made that up, but a pound to a penny something very like it actually exists) Dixon, like his creator, is a former solicitor, so he is very wise to the standard stunts pulled by defence lawyers, and it also accounts for his rapid promotion through the ranks. Witnesses often remark that he looks "too young to be such an important officer", to which his response is usually a neutral smile


Here though, he has, dead bodies to deal with. Not so good for the victims - firstly a number of sheep, secondly a dodgy accountant and then an HMRC manager investigating fraud - but good for Dixon's state of mind. The two humans and the sheep have all been killed with fatal shots from a powerful crossbow. Were the sheep just practice targets while the killer honed his or her skills, or were they unrelated incidents? And what is the true story behind  the ocean-going yacht owned by the dodgy accountant capsizing and sinking taking with it one of its crew, Laura Dicken?

Bit by bit, Dixon completes the jigsaw, and is convinced that the deaths are revenge attacks by one of the people who were lured into a scam which ruined their pensions and left them more or less destitute. With his bosses anxious for him to wrap the case up and devote himself to the serious business of Neighbourhood Watch Liaison Committees and Diversity Webinars, Dixon has one or two surprises up his sleeve before the case can finally be closed. Dying Inside is a thoroughly entertaining read, full of twists and turns, and is published by Thomas and Mercer. It is out in paperback and Kindle on 22nd June.

A DCI Nick Dixon thriller that is brilliant, it engaged me right at the beginning, and I was hooked on the plot until I finished the book. I will be reading more of this author's books, it is highly recommended. Thank you to netgalley and the publishers for giving me an advance copy of this book.