I was fortunate enough to read an early copy of David Swinson’s From the Dust on NetGalley. Here’s my review.
Retired DC homicide detective, Graham Sanderson has returned to his father’s home in Upstate New York. “It was my father’s death that brought me here, but my brother’s condition and need for company that made me stay,” he says. Death used to be Graham’s business, but he’s happy to be retired. Or so he says.
But something isn’t right. The small, rural town where he finds himself had only two murders in the past three years, and they were crimes of passion easily solved. Now, a body is found near the canal, probably killed elsewhere and brought to the site so that it would be found.
The local sheriff, himself a retired big city detective, worries that his new detective may not be up to the challenge. When a second murder occurs, with all the hallmarks of the first, he enlists Sanderson to help the rookie.
Swinson has crafted an intriguing and compelling whodunnit that is insightful and poignant. The weight of the past drags at Sanderson, and indeed on many of the characters here. Sanderson’s investigation will take him into places, and pit him against forces he never dealt with in DC.
And it will force him to confront not only his preconceptions about the investigation, but what lies behind them. The story moves along well. The pacing is good as suspects are introduced and the motive behind the crime comes into focus.
There is a noble doggedness about Sanderson’s approach, exhausting the leads, that reminded me of Georges Simenon’s Maigret.
I enjoyed this story, and I particularly liked that it didn’t fall into the trap of portraying rural citizens as quaint or cute, but as fully realized characters, each contributing something to the story.
Highly recommended.
From the Dust, by David Swinson ISBN: 978-0-316-52865-8
James McCrone’s stories raise questions about the nature of power, the choices we make and the lessons we don’t learn.
He’s the author of the Imogen Trager political suspense-thrillers Faithless Elector, Dark Network and Emergency Powers–noir tales about a stolen presidency, a conspiracy, and a nation on edge. Bastard Verdict, his fourth novel, is about a conspiracy surrounding a second Scottish Independence referendum. His current novel, Witness Tree, is out on submission.
All books are available on BookShop.org, IndyBound.org, Barnes & Noble, your local bookshop, and Amazon.
eBooks are available in multiple formats including Apple, Kobo, Nook and Kindle.
James is a member of Mystery Writers of America, Int’l Assoc. of Crime Writers, and he’s the current president of the Delaware Valley chapter of Sisters in Crime. He has an MFA from the University of Washington in Seattle, and he now lives and writes in Philadelphia, PA.
For a full list of appearances and readings, make sure to check out his Events/About page. And you can also follow him onSubstack!
Some of his short stories are available FREE online. Links are HEREtoward the bottom of the page.
Chosen Words - James McCrone 