‘The Bleak’ by Keith Dixon

My Review (5 stars out of 5)

When Sam Dyke meets a new client, her strange behaviour suggests he should drop her like a hot doughnut, but something about Margaret’s story intrigues him. Working in a secret research unit, the woman has serious concerns about her boss, whose own behaviour has taken a turn for the bizarre. Sam soon learns that the tight security around the unit, as well as several members of staff, don’t want him poking his nose in, but when Margaret’s boss turns up dead, it simply forces Sam to do what he does best – stir things up until he finds answers.

Although this is book 4 in the Sam Dyke Investigations series, as I’ve read some of the books out of order, this is the sixth Sam Dyke I’ve tackled (as well as the Paul Storey series). What I mean is, I’m a proper fan of the author and will happily keep devouring his books until I catch up with his output. As with all Keith Dixon’s books, the writing crackles along with his usual quick wit and well-observed northern humour. The plot this time delves into the strange goings-on at Midwinter laboratory and a mysterious club called ‘The Bleak’ that some of the scientists belong to. But what they might be up to behind closed doors, proves difficult to uncover and Sam encounters plenty of hostility to keep him from finding out.

Though the plot could be said to be a little obvious, it kept me enthralled right to the end, which is probably more to do with the quality of the writing than anything else.

Keep on truckin’ Mr D.

NB Being a bit of a numpty, I originally bought the paperback version of this, managed to lose it, and then bought the ebook. Still well worth it, though. (I’ve also just bought the next book in the series, ‘The Strange Girl’.)

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