Thursday, July 24, 2014

A decidedly dark turn for the Dylan Scott series




DEAD END (Dylan Scott #7)
Shirley Wells
Carina Press
July 7, 2014

Things are not going well for the Scott family even though the PI business is finally off the ground and paying the bills (mostly). Dylan's wife, Bev, is undergoing treatment for cancer and Dylan has been receiving threatening phone calls. Dylan is very worried, as he has made plenty of enemies both from his days on the force and as a PI. Dylan's old colleague "Pikey" is less concerned because everyone knows that people who really want to kill you just do it; not make threats. Retired Inspector Frank Willoughby is of a different opinion however. He is concerned enough to offer to come down from the North and watch over Bev, the kids and Dylan's aging hippie mother under the cover of a visit.

Dylan narrows the suspects down to a group that he and "Pikey" sent away on a huge drug bust. Rumor has it that the bust was a set-up and the group is out for revenge. Meanwhile, a series of kidnappings and wholesale slaughter of families is happening in London. We get a chilling glimpse into the mind of the very sick individual responsible. Can this be connected? Dylan is running hard to find out who is threatening his family; without letting Bev know what is going on.

Dead End is high action and convoluted, taking a much darker tone than earlier books in the series. Shirley Wells paints such an accomplished portrait of the Scott family that it is impossible not to be emotionally invested. Bev's worries and concerns about her future and Dylan's fear for his family makes a very stressful combination. It all comes to an explosive conclusion that I really did not see coming and changes everything for Dylan. I am looking forward as always to the next book in the series. I highly recommend the series, as well as her earlier "Jill and Max" series to lovers of very British mysteries.

RATING- 4.5 Stars



No comments:

Post a Comment