Why does Jessica Hastings come home late several times a week?

Book blurb

Her husband asks Private Investigator Sam Dyke this simple question. Dyke doesn’t want the case: he doesn’t do divorce work … but Brian Hastings doesn’t want a divorce, he wants an explanation.

When Sam finds out what Jessica is doing, it opens up more questions. And when Brian Hastings goes missing, they’re questions he feels compelled to answer.

At the centre of the mystery is a man who most people in Manchester don’t know—Larry Stone. But those who do know him, know that far from being the simple florist he seems to be, he’s actually the biggest crook in town. He’s powerful, he’s dangerous, and he’s currently working a deal with a Dutchman who’s even worse.

And Sam is now caught in Stone’s sights as he works to find Brian Hastings, to solve a couple of murders, and to prevent Stone corrupting even more members of his own family than he already has.

Before the biggest deal of Stone’s crooked career goes down.

My thoughts

Sam Dyke is a Private Investigator who seems to have a knack of bringing trouble with him to his investigations. In this one he is hired to find out what Brian Hastings wife is up to when she goes out at night. Sam doesn’t do divorce cases but Brian assures him that he doesn’t want to divorce his wife. Reluctantly Sam agrees.

The reader then tumbles into the underworld of Manchester and Larry Stone. Dyke unravels a complicated family story, the mystery of what Jessica Hastings is up to but, in the process, he ruffles quite a few feathers in Larry Stone’s life and business which brings a heap of trouble to his investigation. Brian Hastings goes missing and Jessica asks Sam to find him – well it was his investigation for Brian that seems to have brought this situation about.

Larry Stone has his problems. His smooth running drugs business is under pressure then his supplier pulls a fast one on him. With this and the irritating interference from Dyke is it all getting too much? And when one of his lieutenants takes matters into his own hands he needs to take control of the situation.

Sam Dyke seems to be a natural attraction for trouble to himself and those around him – business and family – it’s not that he’s a bad P.I. he just doesn’t mind stirring things up. As bodies start to turn up, threats abound and Sam knows that Larry Stone is somehow behind it all, he just isn’t sure how he can prove it and then he gets an opportunity, perhaps a little contrived, to figure out what’s going on but also to set a trap. One that might not come off but that will certainly bring Sam into harms way. Will it pay off?

In this 11th book featuring Sam Dyke which, by the way, is easily read as a stand-alone the author brings a fearless Sam up against a bad guy who stops at nothing to keep his criminal kingdom in tact. The story builds to a taut conclusion. This is an intense, edgy and enjoyable read.

Thanks

My thanks to Emma at #damppebblestours for the invite to join the tour of The Two Fathers by Keith Dixon and for providing an eCopy of the book to review.

Blog Tour

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Information

Published: Semiologic Ltd (Paperback and Digital – 14 Nov. 2020)

Buy: AmazonSmileUK (currently all 11 ebooks for under £20) | Your local bookshop | Book Depository | Amazon UK | Amazon US

Author: Keith Dixon was born in Yorkshire and grew up in the Midlands. He’s been writing since he was thirteen years old in a number of different genres: thriller, espionage, science fiction, literary.

Two-time winner of the Chanticleer Reviews CLUE First in Category award for Private Eye/Noir novel, he’s the author of ten full-length books and one short-story in the Sam Dyke Investigations series and two other non-crime works, a stand-alone thriller as well as two collections of blog posts on the craft of writing. His new series of Paul Storey Thrillers began in 2016 and there are now three books in the series.

When he’s not writing he enjoys reading, learning the guitar, watching movies and binge-inhaling great TV series. He’s currently spending more time in France than is probably good for him.

Follow him on: Twitter |read Keith’s blog | Facebook |find out more from his website | contact email Keith Dixon

Books

Sam Dyke Investigates Series by Keith Dixon

Sam Dyke is a private investigator based in the North West of England. His background gives him a keen sense of what’s right and wrong, and what he can do to fix things. Unfortunately, fixing things often leads him into conflict with people who like things just the way they are.

Altered Life | The Private Lie | The Hard Swim | The Bleak | The Strange Girl | The Secret Sharers | The Innocent Dead | The Lonely Grave | The Cobalt Sky | The Second Guess (short story)

Paul Storey Crime Thrillers

Storey | One Punch | The Song of Geneva Chance

Standalone Novels

A French Darcy – a Romance | Actress – a Contemporary novel | I May Kill You

Essays on Writing

The Idle Writer | Crime Writing Confidential

Check out all Keith Dixon’s Books