Dead Ground: The Sunday Times bestselling thriller

The book "Dead Ground" is a crime novel that was awarded the CWA IAN FLEMING STEEL DAGGER AWARD 2022. It was also longlisted for the Theakston Old Peculiar Crime Novel of the Year 2022. The novel is about Detective Sergeant Washington Poe, who is summoned to a backstreet brothel in Carlisle where a man has been beaten to death with a baseball bat. Poe and the programmer Tilly Bradshaw delve deeper into the case, facing seemingly unanswerable questions. The book is praised for its fast-paced crime novel with as many twists and turns as a country lane, great characters, and storyline. It is the first book in the Poe/Tilly series, and author M.W. Craven is known for his brutal and thrilling page-turners.

Format: Paperback / softback
Length: 448 pages
Publication date: 25 November 2021
Publisher: Little, Brown Book Group

Winner of the prestigious CWA IAN FLEMING STEEL DAGGER AWARD 2022, Dead Ground is a heart-pounding, hilarious, sharp, and shocking crime novel that has been longlisted for the Theakston Old Peculiar Crime Novel of the Year 2022. Written by M. W. Craven, the book is a cracking puzzle that is beautifully written and features characters that readers will be behind every step of the way.

Detective Sergeant Washington Poe is in court, fighting eviction from his beloved and isolated croft, when he is summoned to a backstreet brothel in Carlisle where a man has been beaten to death with a baseball bat. Poe is confused, as he hunts serial killers and this appears to be a straightforward murder-by-pimp. However, his attendance was requested personally by the kind of people who prefer to remain in the shadows.

As Poe and the socially awkward programmer Tilly Bradshaw delve deeper into the case, they are faced with seemingly unanswerable questions. Despite being heavily vetted for a high-profile job, why does nothing in the victim's background check out? Why was a small ornament left at the murder scene, and why did someone on the investigation team steal it? And what is the connection to a flawlessly executed bank heist three years earlier, a heist where nothing was taken?

Dead Ground is a must-read for fans of crime fiction, and M. W. Craven is one of the best crime writers working today. The book is dark, sharp, and compelling, and will leave readers eagerly anticipating the next installment in the Poe/Tilly series.

Weight: 320g
Dimension: 196 x 126 x 36 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9781472132000