Dig Two Graves

Incredible how Keith Nixon immediately brings u headlong into a gripping page turner with detailed characters and places. How quickly time moves and yet how slowly, this sets the pace of the novel. A broken man but undefeated, detective Sargent Gray, trying to make better the unforgiving world around him. Struggling with loss himself in a job where everyday, loss is a major factor in others lives. He reflects on his own past tangled in reminders with his present cases. Romance unforseen beckons ds gray allowing this author to wrap you in a warm blanket in one chapter only to swing you around to be chilled to the bone in the next. Expertly put together the finale ascending to a twist you'll never see coming.

Thoroughly enjoyed this book I think it was a great start to a new series. I am looking forward to future books. I enjoyed everything about this book, the characters were likeable, the plot interesting and there were plenty of twists and turns that I didn't see coming. It was one of those books that you have a hard time putting down. A solid 5 stars.

Thank you Netgalley, the publisher and Keith Nixon for the eARC.
10 Years ago, DSI Soloman Gray took his 6-year old son, Tom, to the funfair for his birthday - only to lose him. 5 Years later, his wife commits suicide. In the last decade, Gray has been eaten up by unbearable grief and guilt and when he is called to the scene of a suspected suicide, the 16-year old teenager reminds him of Tom, ripping old wounds a little deeper.
He's a lonely, driven man who has obsessively tried to solve the mystery of his little boy's disappearance all these years and it has taken its toll on him.
When Gray is questioned as a suspect after 3 subsequent murders, he's at his most vulnerable, but help comes from a surprising direction.
His boss, DI Yvonne Hamson and her boss. DCI Carslake, are both characters who grew on me as the book progressed. Even though I got a little irritated with Gray at times, my overwhelming feeling was one of empathy and the ending left me with an optimistic feeling. I have a sneaking suspicion Gray will be much less depressed in the next book, but just as committed to finding out what happened to Tom.
As for the murderer(s), I had no clue, it was quite the surprise!
A well written mystery with a likeable cast of characters, I highly recommend it.

It all starts when a teenage boy apparently falls from the balcony of an apartment. Was this an accident? murder? suicide? He's only 16 years old. And although Gray does not know this young man, Gray's phone number is on his phone.

This is not the only death that somehow involves Solomon. His parish priest is found shot to death in his church. And when Solomon has a one-night-stand, the woman in question is also found shot to death the next morning. Is Solomon a killer? Or a victim?

Solomon is a very vivid character. He is a man who has suffered immensely with losses in his life. His then 5-year-old son was abducted 10 years ago. He has never been seen since. But there's not a day goes by that Solomon pours over police reports and newspaper accountings looking for something .. anything ... that might be a lead. Five years after that his wife took an intentional overdose of medications, putting an end to her suffering. Solomon has a daughter, but she chose to live with her grandparents and he hasn't seen her since his wife died.

And yet he is a very strong man ... cranky at times, depressed at times, but still he recognizes his first job is justice for the victims he encounters in his job. Not everyone likes him, but he doesn't seem to care.

The book bounces back and forth between what he's encountering today and memories of when his son disappeared. I couldn't put this book down. As a parent, I had so much empathy for what he had gone through. As a member of a law enforcement family, I could understand why his job means so much ... it's all he has left.

Many thanks to the author / Bastei Entertainment / Netgalley for the advance digital copy of this crime thriller. Opinions expressed here are unbiased and entirely my own.

Detective Sergeant Solomon Gray is a man who has never gotten over the loss of his young son who disappeared on a day out years ago, so when a 16 year old boy who is the age his son would be if he were still around falls from a fifth floor window he starts investigating.
As he investigates further a number of people he knows and are close to are murdered making him a prime suspect. He needs to solve the murders or end up arrested himself. Some wonderful twists late in the book came as a complete surprise. A thoroughly enjoyable read. Recommended.