Book info

• Title Death Message
• Author Damien Boyd
• Year 2023
• Genre Thriller

A routine missing person enquiry takes a grisly turn when a young couple drag a box containing human remains out of a Somerset river. The victim was a surveillance expert investigating an exaggerated injury claim—a murder with an obvious motive, until a police officer is implicated and suspended. Still brooding after his recent brush with police Professional Standards, Detective Chief Inspector Nick Dixon is on extended leave, helping his pregnant fiancée, Detective Sergeant Jane Winter, fight for her place on the major investigation team. Convinced that the death of an art student is connected, Dixon returns to duty, and when graffiti depicting the murders starts to appear, the race is on to find the artist and the murderer. But, why the paintings? Could an infamous street artist be involved? With colleagues questioning his every move, Dixon must stop a sadistic killer before another life is taken. Then a second art student is reported missing…

Thoughts

The murder investigation that runs through this book didn’t grab me as much as some of the other’s have recently, but I thought everything surrounded it was really interesting. Nick Dixon, who is still coming to terms with what happened to him in the last book, is considering whether his future is even in the police force, and when he gets involved in the investigation, finds that a lot of people are doubting him. Really good, roll on the next one!

Rating: 3 / 5