Only the Dead Know

I am always a fan of a good mystery and CJ Dunford does it so well in this book. I love that our main character is a little bit unreliable. He is struggling with PTSD which made me question what he was seeing and feeling. The mystery has a lot of layers and keeps you questioning what's really going on throughout the story. The one thing that I needed to see more of was development between Daniel and his love interest. It seemed like a lot of their relationship was built before the novel started and so it made their relationship seem abrupt to me. That being said - I thoroughly enjoyed this book all the way through and I can't wait to learn more about Daniel and his story.

I am always intrigued by novels that feature military veterans. I am myself married to a veteran of 15yrs service. I think even for myself, there is something fascinating about a protagonist who has been to war.

Daniel ‘uneasy’ Truce is an ex-military cop. He was orphaned at a young age and went from children’s home to military service. A situation not to unbelievable, if you’ve ever known any serving personnel. His only friend in the world is Leighton, who is what I’d call a sofa surfer. A close friend that hangs on Daniel’s every word, but actually contributes very little to the household.

Major Percival Bay managed to organise a role for Truce as a special advisor to combined special crimes task force – police Scotland. A role that is not what it seems. With a boos that hates him, he is often side-lined and given the uninteresting ‘crimes’. His boss Chief Superintendent Lydia Rose assigns him to the case of June Mills. An elderly lady who is reporting the same murder daily. He is given specific instructions to ‘shut her up’.

‘You could talk to her: mental case to mental case’ – Chief Superintendent Lydia Rose

When Daniel meets June he actually really warms to her character. She assures him, she is not going senile. But when he digs a little deeper it would appear June is not lying. She leads a busy and happy lifestyle. She had met the victim previous to witnessing his alleged murder. The one problem is, the victim Davie Whiles, isn’t dead!

Despite their heart-to-heart and meeting of minds. When June fees she isn’t getting anywhere she goes to the press. Which brings a Lydia Rose sized storm upon Daniel.

Eventually Daniel relents and agrees to take June to the mortuary to ID any recent bodies. I wasn’t 100% this scene was very accurate. But nevertheless, I ran with it. June ID’s no body.

‘There’s a mystery here. A mystery no one wants to solve. Yet everything about it is impossible’ – Truce
Days later Daniel spots a newspaper article, with a recent death of a woman that sounds a lot like June. The lady in question was knocked over and killed by a taxi driver. Daniel vows to investigate further.

‘There’s enough evil in this world without you making up more’ – Leighton

At June’s funeral, Daniel is introduced to her friends and learns more facts. Everything about June’s suicide contradicts itself. June’s death is a confusing case and nothing makes sense at all.

I did really enjoy the mystery element and found Daniel Truce a fantastic protagonist. There is a Q&A at the back of the novel which expands further upon his characters and themes. It is a brilliant addition and gives much food for thought. But obviously I cannot cover it within this review. There were elements I wasn’t so keen on, the police cast aside from Daniel were an array of stereotype cops. But it doesn’t ruin the enjoyment of this novel, as the focus is mostly on Daniel.

Intriguing new addition to the crime fiction genre. 4*

I really enjoyed the first in this new series. Daniel "uneasy" Truce is back in civvy street after a traumatic military tour of the Middle East.

He's got PTSD but manages to land himself a job in an investigations unit. His boss hates him and gives him the job of closing down the case of the old lady who believes she witnessed a murder. There's something about the case which niggles him and he just doesn't want to let it go. What is it that everyone else is missing? A great read. Already looking forward to book #2.

Daniel "Uneasy" Truce is a former soldier who now works for the police in Scotland. He leaves his days in the army behind him yet the memory of the experiences are still very much with him and Truce is a PTSD sufferer.

His boss is no fan of Truce and does not value his contribution to the squad so when a serial complainer visits her local police station each day to report the same crime Truce is sent to meet her. The complainant is June, a feisty widow who manages to convince Truce that she has indeed witnessed a murder. The only problem is that the alleged victim is still very much alive.

Truce is an expert on body language and firmly believes that June is telling the truth - or what she understands to be the truth. So how can he persuade his grumpy boss that the old "time waster" may have witnessed a crime? His problem intensifies when June is the victim of a road traffic accident - is this a tragic coincidence or was June murdered?

Only the Dead Know was really enjoyable reading. CJ Dunford tells a great story and this was nicely paced - I just wanted to keep reading. Truce was an engaging lead character and his personal life looks like it is going to keep us entertained when he returns in future outings as the book is billed as 'the first book in the Daniel 'Uneasy' Truce Mystery series'.

This is exactly the type of story I enjoy. A police procedural, a nicely plotted mystery to try and solve, realistic characters (June's pals were perfectly depicted) and a twist I had not expected - makes for a happy reader.