Info
Written By: Ben Bruce.
Thanks to the publisher for sending me a physical copy of the book for the purpose of this review, also thanks to Random Things Blog Tour for adding me to the tour.
Overview
MONEY. LOVE. POWER. HATE. It doesn't matter the era, the motivations for murder never change.
GERALD TRAINER is dead. His body abandoned at the dockside warehouse he worked at. The list of suspects is long and the motivations plentiful. But who was it who took his life?
JOSEPH WALSH & RAY CRIBBS are tasked with investigating the crime. But who is telling the truth? The dock workers all seem to have their own stories to tell whilst gangland figures try to pull their strings from the shadows. As pressure mounts from above, will they be able to find the voices that matter? Can Joseph overcome his own self-doubt? Will they catch the killer in a London set against itself, as the new and old world's collide?
Death Doesn't Care Who You Are. Murder Does.
DEAD MEN DON'T PAY is the first in a new historical police procedural series from CWA author Ben Bruce.
Overview taken from the official book press release.
Review
I've always been a fan of gritty cop dramas that delve deep into the underworld especially based in London and I never get tired of reading books around this either, so when a new series comes around within this subject matter I just have to take notice.
Dead Men Don't Pay is the first book in Ben Bruce's new historical police series following two detectives Joseph Walsh and Ray Cribbs, in this beginning book they have been given the task of running the investigation into the murder of Gerald Trainer, found dead in the grounds of a dockside warehouse where he worked.
Investigating this murder certainly won't be easy Joseph and Ray quickly realise that most people in this dockland area don't like talking and especially don't like talking to police so getting information out of them that will help in this investigation won't be straight forward. The two detectives although very different in personalities seem to work well together with Ray being the natural leader and Joseph bringing up the rear but as we go into the book Joseph's character seems to flourish under Ray's guidance. I likened this partnership to a little bit like The Sweeney (a British TV show from the 70s - one of my favs) where Jack Regan is partnered up with a much younger George Carter and much like Joseph and Ray the two unlikely partnerships work well together.
I loved the gritty storyline to this book with the rough and ready dockworkers mixed in with dangerous east end gangsters all makes for an interesting melting pot of action. This is again another introduction to an author for me and I will say I really enjoyed Ben Bruce's writing style it had an authentic feel to it, really illustrated the gritty darkened London underworld well you could almost feel the gloom as you read.
Summary
Time now then to put my thoughts into a summary, overall I really enjoyed this book, it was exactly what I was hoping it would be a gritty cop / gang story. The lead character duo of Joseph and Ray really worked well together and I can't wait to see how this working partnership develops going forward in the series. I'm putting this up there in my best books of this year and Ben Bruce is definitely an author I'll be watching out for from now on. Definitely a recommendation from me.
Verdict-Out of 5 ⭐
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
EXCELLENT
I give Dead Men Don't Pay an excellent full marks score of 5 ⭐, a gritty cop drama / thriller that captivates from the very beginning. Definitely one of the best books I've read this year. If you don't pick this up you'll be missing out.
Note on The Author
Growing up in a small town, in the middle of England, with not a lot really happening, was the perfect place for an imagination to flourish. Indeed, having gone to the same secondary school as noted filmmakers Ken Loach and Gareth Edwards, it almost seemed inevitable that Ben Bruce would end up telling stories sooner, rather than later.
Ben spent the last fifteen years working behind the scenes in TV as he sought out a career as a screenwriter. When one script was rejected, he was unable to let it go, so The Regulators went from the screen to the page. Now a successful trilogy with future entries planned in 2025, Ben has recently launched the Dead Men series, a 1960s set mystery, and is planning a speculative crime series for late 2024/early 2025.
A member of the Crime Writers' Association, Ben splits his time between the day job, writing, hosting the Criminally Inspired podcast for the UKCBC, coaching two flag football teams (and playing in one) and bringing up a young family. He does not understand the concept of downtime.
This review was part of the Random Things Blog Tour please check out the other bloggers on the tour
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