A Lonesome Blood-red Sun by David Putnam Book Review

About the Book:

Dave Beckett, a homicide detective who doesn’t color within the lines, is regulated to the lowest job in the division and is known by his peers as The Bone Dick. He handles all “bag of bone” cases found in San Bernardino County’s twenty thousand square miles, at present, count 256 pending unsolved. It’s a boring, mundane job…until it isn’t. In A Lonesome Blood-red Sun, Beckett is called to a house far out in the desert where a dog has brought a bone to the back door. Beckett investigates and discovers the victim, two years dead, is someone he knows. Beckett, with his usual verve and colorful methods, tracks the killer. The trail leads through a warren of dead ends until he discovers a most unlikely suspect hiding in plain sight.

My Review:

This is the second novel I have read featuring Beckett. He is a tough law enforcement officer and is not afraid to break the rules to get the villain or protect his fellow officers. Putnam again shows his experience in law enforcement, giving the novel an authentic feel.

I did find this plot to be more disjointed than I would have liked. Beckett's investigative procedure seems more about him than actually solving the case. I was surprised at the number of times he stretched or broke rules along the way. I liked the first novel in this series but this one less so.

My rating: 4/5 stars.

You can read my review of the first book in this series, A Fearsome Moonlight Black.

About the Author:

During his law enforcement career, David Putnam worked primarily in California on teams for Patrol, Investigations, SWAT, Narcotics, Violent Crimes, Criminal Intelligence, Internal Affairs, Detective Bureau and as child protective services coordinator.

He rounded out his law enforcement career with a few years in the Hawaiian Islands as a Special Agent-part of a real-life "Hawaii-50″ team.

He's now retired from law enforcement and spends his time growing organic California avocados and writing, with his wife Mary and their dogs

 He is the recipient of many awards and commendations for heroism. A Fearsome Moonlight Black is the first book in a trilogy. Look for the second book, A Lonesome Blood-Red Sun coming out in 2023. 

Learn more a DavidPutnamBooks.com

Level Best Books, 367 pages.

I received a complimentary egalley of this book from the publisher. My comments are an independent and honest review.

(My star ratings: 5-I love it, 4-I like it, 3-It's OK, 2-I don't like it, 1-I hate it.)