Chanticleer Book Reviews

Author: keith-dixon

  • CLUE AWARDS – Police Procedurals, Hard-Boiled Detectives, Thriller/Suspense/Mystery – in the SPOTLIGHT – CIBAS

    CLUE AWARDS – Police Procedurals, Hard-Boiled Detectives, Thriller/Suspense/Mystery – in the SPOTLIGHT – CIBAS

    So, how do you get a clue? 

    A hard-boiled detective pulls his overcoat a little closer, leans against the northern wall at Village Books in downtown Bellingham. Washington. The state.

    It’s late. It’s raining. It’s a typical Autumn night in the Pacific Northwest. So, what makes this night different than any other night?

    Glad you asked.

    Our gumshoe is hot on the trail of those killer stories that make you turn the page. You know the kind, police procedurals, good-man-gone-wrong tales, the who-dun-its and the why-didn’t-I-see-that-coming books that leave you breathless, reaching for the Alka-Seltzer or the next book in the series.

    Our gumshoe is nervous, see? He knows there’s more to discover out there, winners, maybe, that are just waiting to be discovered. That’s why he’s standing there, waiting. Oh, just a second… he’s gone now… Guess he got tired of waiting in the rain.

    But he left a message…

    “Get your manuscripts and novels ready, because the deadline to the 2019 CLUE Awards is coming before you know it. Submit your books and manuscripts to the best book awards on the planet by September 30, 2019, if you know what’s good for you.” 

    That was short and sweet. What are you waiting for?

    Chanticleer International Book Awards is looking for the very best books dealing with Detectives, P.I.s, Noir – stories that build suspense
    and pay off in spades. 

    The deadline for the 2019 CIBA CLUE Awards is September 30, 2019.

    Submit your work today right here.

     

    We thought you might enjoy some of our past winners…

    2018 CIBA Grand Prize Winner in CLUE – Timothy Burgess for California Son

    2018 1st Place Category Winners:  (Book reviews are slated for the ones without links). 

    • The Only One Left by Pamela Beason
    • Facing The Dragon by Philip Derrick
    • Forgotten Rage by Melodie Hernandez
    • Do Not Ask by Elaine Williams Crockett
    • Scare Away the Dark: A Stone Suspense by Karen Dodd
    • The Blind Pool by Paul McHugh
    • Hong Kong Central by Marilynn Larew

    2017 CIBA Grand Prize Winner in CLUE – Kaylin McFarren for Twisted Threads

    2017 1st Place Category Winners: (Book reviews are slated for the ones without links). 

    2016 CIBA Grand Prize Winner in CLUE – Keith Tittle for A Matter of Justice

    2016 1st Place Category Winners:

    2015 CIBA Grand Prize Winner in CLUE – Lonna Enox for Blood Relations

    Blood Relations by Lonna Enox

    2015 1st Place Category Winners:

    2014 CIBA Grand Prize Winner in CLUE – Rachel B. Ledge for The Red Ribbon

    The Red Ribbon by Rachel B. Ledge

    2014 1st Place Category Winners:

    Who is going to take home the Grand Prize for the 2019 CLUE Awards? It could be you! 

     

    The deadline is fast approaching!

    Submit your work today right here.

  • The INNOCENT DEAD, Sam Dyke Investigations, Book 7 by Keith Dixon – International Crime Thriller, Hard Boiled Mystery

    The INNOCENT DEAD, Sam Dyke Investigations, Book 7 by Keith Dixon – International Crime Thriller, Hard Boiled Mystery

    Award-winning English author Keith Dixon creates another scary scenario to add to his Sam Dyke Investigations series. This time, he tackles terrorism and makes it personal.

    When private eye Dyke gets a call to the home of businessman Mark Ware, he has no idea he is going to visit an enormous mansion. But the secrets hidden there are even more incredible than the décor. As told by Mark and his stunningly beautiful wife Bobbie, their ten-year-old son has been kidnapped. Yet, there is no demand for ransom to date, and the crime took place several days before.

    So why was no one called until now? And what was the role of the evasive housekeeper who would have known the whereabouts of everyone in the house, or of the chauffeur who, though an ex-cop, did nothing to stop little Luke from being dragged from the family limo?

    And if the kidnappers want no money, what exactly are they after?

    To ferret out the answers to these questions, Dyke calls on his son Dan and his faithful assistant Belinda. Dan’s a computer wizard and Belinda, well, Belinda is a one-woman deadly weapon. Although the two don’t appreciate the expectation that they will be available to assist Dyke whenever he calls–day or night—they always are there to help.

    The deeper they delve, the more questions arise, leading to a bloody murder, an international drug cartel and a very mysterious character named Church who spends his days voluntarily leading discussion groups on religion. But which religion? And what else does he do with his time? Once nearly every clue has been uncovered, Dyke realizes he may need to pull the plug on the operation and get his backup to safety. Then Dan disappears, and Sam knows he’s in for the long haul, do or die.

    Dixon’s somewhat surly, often cocksure crime fighter, Dyke, is a marvelous creation. His investigative skills rival that of any intellectual British parlor sleuth, while his tendency to get in the face of dangerous characters shows he is no stranger to backroom brawls. Throw in a few sarcastic zingers to add humor to some otherwise very tense moments—and you have the essence of Dixon’s anti-hero. There’s no word out of place in this practiced writer’s prose; he knows how to pressurize a plot to the point of near explosion, then reins it all in and sweeps up the loose ends. Recommended.

     

  • THE BLEAK: a Sam Dyke Investigations, Book 4 by Keith Dixon

    THE BLEAK: a Sam Dyke Investigations, Book 4 by Keith Dixon

    “The ninth rule of private detection states that you should never take on a client you think might be nuts. I wasn’t entirely convinced this was the case with the woman who’d called me that morning, but I was certainly tending that way.”

    Sam Dyke is a private investigator whom you can’t help but enjoy getting to know. Readers will quickly get to understand Dyke’s character by his sharing of his detective tenets.

    The case involves a distraught female named Margaret, who is deeply concerned over the recent behavior of her boss Nathan. Though apprehensive, Dyke takes on her case anyway even if it goes against his better judgement.

    What unfolds is a fast-paced thriller based in England, specifically in Crewe, where a number of questionable suicides have taken place. One of these suicides turns out to be Margaret’s boss.

    Dyke shares more of his detective axioms: “I’ve found that once I start a case it tends to move quickly. I hadn’t exactly started on this— whatever “it” turned out to be— but things still moved along at a click.”

    Sam’s focus rests upon the research facility where Nathan worked. In fact, Sam is asked by the CEO of the company to look into Nathan’s death as well. This was not well received by some of the employees. “Why are you letting Dyke into all this? He’s a little toe-rag who shouldn’t be truffling around looking for something that he won’t find.”

    Sam faces near silence and some pretty stiff push-back from some of those whom he interviews: “What do you think you’re going to find, exactly? What do you think people are going to tell you?”

    Sam counters with “I won’t know until they tell me. That’s the way it is in this game. One minute, complete ignorance, the next, enlightenment. Private detection is almost a spiritual act.”

    A real sense of danger and suspense culminates in some fairly intense moments for our main character. At times you are left wondering if Sam Dyke has taken on his last case.

    When Sam interview’s Nathan’s wife, Isobel, what she tells him gives him grave reason for concern. “In the last eighteen months I watched my husband change from someone who enjoyed his life, enjoyed his work and enjoyed whatever spare time he had left to spend with me. He changed into someone whom I barely recognized. He didn’t eat well. He didn’t sleep well. He spent more time at the office than any sane man should.”

    As the story progresses you learn of the bleak. Who or what is the bleak? You’re going to have to read this well-crafted detective tale to find out. Keith Dixon has given readers a thrill ride in this fast-paced story of hidden truths waiting to be discovered.

    Keith Dixon’s winning protagonist is Sam Dyke; a gritty British detective who can take as well as give. Fans of hard-boiled detective series are going to revel in following the cases of Sam Dyke, Investigations.