Dark Is The Grave: A DCI Bone Scottish Crime Thriller by TG Reid #BookReview for #RBRT #CrimeThriller

Author: TG Reid

Published: July 2021 by Glass Works Press

Category: Police Procedural, Fiction , Crime Thriller

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When the chief suspect in the notorious Peek-a-boo cop killer case blew himself up, almost taking lead investigator DCI Duncan Bone with him, the psychologically damaged detective thought his days on the force were over. But when another PC is abducted and murdered in the same deranged Peek-a-boo fashion, Bone is persuaded to return to lead the new investigation. But as Bone and his team hunt a copycat killer, and with time running out before yet another cop is slain, Bone’s terrifying past returns to tear open old wounds and push him to very edge of the abyss.

Can DCI Bone end the killing before the killing ends him?

Set among the dramatic hills and glens of Scotland’s Campsie Fells, Dark is the Grave is the first in a series of edge-of-your-seat crime thrillers that will keep you guessing right up to the nail-biting, heart-stopping climax.

Dark Is The Grave opens with a horrific prologue. PC Hazel Garvey has been abducted and buried alive, a crime which is reminiscent of the Peek-a-Boo serial killer who was killed in an explosion. Also caught in the explosion and seriously injured was DCI Duncan Bone. He was lucky to be alive. Left to cope with PTSD and a ruined home life, he was physically and mentally damaged, which probably accounts for his general irascibility.

When Bone receives a package, ostensibly from his colleagues at the Rural Crime Unit, and finds a video of a woman being murdered, he’s assailed by memories he’d rather not be reminded of. Given that Bone has detailed knowledge of the Peek-a-Boo case, and this appears to be a copycat crime, he is ordered back to lead the investigation.

“The digger’s been here.” She pointed at some tracks in the mud that led to a clearing between two or three pallets stacked high with concrete blocks. The trio clambered through the pallets and reached a ten-foot patch of freshly turned clay that stood out against the hard compacted surrounding soil.

“Oh shit. Looks like we’re going to need a warrant,” Walker said.

“And forensics.” Bone sighed.

I’ll get the negatives out of the way first. My pet peeve. Non speech based dialogue tags such as sneered and smirked and especially those that are equivalent to animal sounds such as snarled and barked. They always pull me right out of a story and make the dialogue and speaker seem unnatural and forced.

Other than that the plot, although gruesome in parts, was good. I didn’t have the slightest idea of the perpetrator until well into the story which is always a bonus. There’s a diverse group of characters, both in Bone’s team and generally—most likeable, others not so much, so a good mix. And I always enjoy short chapters when they build tension and suspense.

Book links ~ Amazon | Goodreads |

I chose to read and review Dark Is The Grave for Rosie Amber’s book review team, based on a digital copy kindly supplied by the author. 

TG Reid is a Scottish-born novel and short story writer, now living in exile in Bath, England. His award-winning novels and stories been published worldwide. TG Reid also writes dark literary thrillers under the pen name of Tom Gillespie. Tom (Gillespie’s) latest novel, The Strange Book of Jacob Boyce, has been praised by critics as ‘utterly spellbinding’, ‘brilliantly unsettling’, ‘obsessively compelling’, and ‘a masterful composition’. 

The DCI Bone series is set in Tom’s hometown, among the the hills and glens of the Scottish Campsie Fells. This is Tom’s first foray into the murky, pulse-pounding world of police thrillers.

You can find out more here.

Image by kalhh from Pixabay