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?

Dark is the grave buy TG Reid is a crime thriller set in Scotland. I ended up reading this book over the course of a couple of days. What I really liked about this book was that it presents the main character as a sole suffering from my past case. Usually unstable or suffering characters seem to overcome their past traumas very quickly. With the character of Bones we see that his suffering is still very much a part of his daily life and throughout the book we see how that trauma is affecting his behaviour and his actions.

I read this book on kindle and it is 319 pages long. It is the first in the DCI Bones series of books. As a character bones is very determined and verbally aggressive. The trauma inflicted on him has very much shaped the character we see in this book. He presents as a man on the edge and as a man who is trying to find his way back to who he was before the trauma.

The plot centres around a copycat killer of the case that provided the trauma that Bones is dealing with. There are four characters within the team that we get to explore and learn about throughout this book. it provides a gateway to learning about these characters but also opens up a world of possibilities and how to evolve and advance these characters.

While reading this book I had three possible candidates of who would be the copycat killer. for once I finally worked out the correct culprit before the information was presented to me. I do prefer a mystery or an ending that seems unique and surprising but I did actually enjoy being able to work out who the killer was by myself.

there are a lot of ways in which a tortured character can grow and it is particularly exciting for a tortured character to be presented at the beginning of a series of books. there are many avenues that the author can take to push the main character down a new road and expand on their characteristics.

It was not as much of a compelling read as I often find with crime thrillers. However, the book is written with a sense of urgency and a large dollop of adrenaline. It is impossible not to get swept away on the hunt for the killer as the book is designed to push the reader right into the thick of it.

Yesterday, I accidentally hit my hand on the doorknob. so today my bandaged hand is rather sore and reading the last third of this book has been a wonderful distraction. I did call me from this book feeling awed or wowed. but I did get the sense that this was the start of a unique series of books that will be worth reading.

As the book being set in Scotland there is the added element to the writing of slang and paraphrased Scottish dialogue. this brings a unique flavour and authenticity to the overall book. The criminal plot line was an idea that stood out of the box to me as I have never read something similar. it made for a great idea for a plot and for a first novel story.

There wasn’t much emphasis on character development, but I think with the established trauma of the main character that this will be something explored further in the series. Character development it’s always something that is important to me when I read but I don’t want to judge this series of books based on this first instalment.

I would probably recommend this book to friends who have only dipped their toe into crime thriller and wouldn’t necessarily recommend this book to more seasoned readers. I am still interested in reading the second book of the series and arguably the second book of the series is always the hardest to write and the linchpin for readers in deciding whether the series is worth reading.

I give this book: ✨✨✨✨