Dark is the Grave by T.G. Reid

Dark is the Grave by T. G. Reid
Published by Glass Work Press on 1 July 2021
ISBN: 9798516296253
Genres: Crime, Crime & Mystery
Pages: 315
Format: Paperback
Source: Purchased Book
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A dead cop. A damaged detective. A copycat killer on the loose. 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 is a crime novel with a beating heart and a raw location. I’m late to this party but everyone needs to do themselves a favour and read this series now. I’ve never preordered the next book so quick!

Well, what a freaking ride Dark is the Grave was!

This was something that I kept thinking to myself while reading this banger of a crime novel. Now its no surprise that I love crime novels based in my homeland of Scotland. There’s just something about the rugged nature of the countryside that lends itself to something sinister, something mysterious – there’s just so much to be gleamed from the very sinister presence hidden in the small town of Scotland. And to find out to my surprise that this series is set in the Campsie Fells not too far from where I live, was a welcome surprise.

As soon as I picked this book up, I was in title and book cover heaven. It was a match made in crime heaven. It’s poetic in a dark and haunting way, and that prologue hit me where I breathe. Props to the author who got the reader to care immediately, I mean he also got your heart beating in a palpitating rhythm, but we won’t talk about that.

Dark is the grave introduces DCI Duncan Bone who is off work with PTSD after the disastrous conclusion of the peek-a-boo killer. The author did a fantastic job in showing the darker side of being a police officer. His relationship has broken down, and he’s had limited contact with his young son – which I really flet tugging at the heartstrings with having young children myself.

Bone receives an anonymous package in the mail and discovers that he’s been sent a video of a female police officer being buried alive. It’s extremely triggering as it appears that they’ve got a copycat killer on their hands. Initially he doesn’t feel ready to go back to work after his superior officer, Gallacher approaches him to lead his team to investigate this new killing. He reluctantly agrees on the proviso that he is given full reign without any interference.

A copycat killer is taking off where the Peek-a-boo killer left off, the team is really against the clock before, yet another cop is killed. The investigation is hampered by several individuals – notably the chief prosecutor for the procurator fiscal and an officer leading internal investigations who just wants to pull Bone down.

Alongside the story, I loved the relationships between Bone and his team. There’s the usual bluster and piss taking that you’d come to expect between colleagues but there’s also this deep-seated respect and care for each other. One officer is really struggling with the decline of his father’s faculties and although it interferes with the ongoing investigation you can tell that everyone has his back and wants to help. It was a ray of sunshine in a never-ending storm.

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