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  • Dead Ground

  • Washington Poe, Book 4
  • By: M. W. Craven
  • Narrated by: John Banks
  • Length: 10 hrs and 32 mins
  • 4.7 out of 5 stars (541 ratings)
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Dead Ground cover art

Dead Ground

By: M. W. Craven
Narrated by: John Banks
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Summary

Winner of the prestigious CWA IAN FLEMING STEEL DAGGER AWARD 2022

Longlisted for the Theakston Old Peculiar Crime Novel of the Year 2022

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—he hunts serial killers and this appears to be a straightforward murder-by-pimp—but 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....

©2021 M. W. Craven (P)2021 Hachette Audio UK

Critic reviews

"Heart-pounding, hilarious, sharp and shocking, Dead Ground is further proof that M.W. Craven never disappoints. Miss this series at your peril." (Chris Whitaker)

"I've been following M.W. Craven's Poe/Tilly series from the very beginning, and it just gets better and better. Dead Ground is a fast-paced crime novel with as many twists and turns as a country lane. I can't wait for the next one." (Peter Robinson)

"Dead Ground is both entertaining and engaging with great characters and storyline. I loved this first dip into the world of Tilly and Poe!" (BA Paris)

What listeners say about Dead Ground

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  • CL
  • 06-01-23

Another enjoyable story

Well read with great twists to the end. Looking forward to meeting Sgt Poe again.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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  • Jo
  • 24-06-21

Excellent

Nothing better than listening to the glorious Poe and Tilly! I love their adventures and this one did not disappoint. Can’t recommend highly enough but start with the first.
Is there a romance on the cards for Poe? Could be interesting!
More please!!

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1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

Loved it

Yes, it's a complicated storyline, but that's one reason I loved it. Sometimes, you might feel you have to suspend belief but overall this is a very, very good story and it is superbly narrated by John Banks. Another reviewer said that it reminded him of Le Carre and I have to wholeheartedly agree with this. There's nothing wrong with being compared to a storyline master and I feel that MW Craven is in the same stratospheric company as the best of the best.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Excellent

Another brilliant Washington Poe story. complex but nit confusing, and perfectly read, as always. Thank you!

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Simply brilliant

Fantastic narration by John Banks
Another amazing instalment of the Washing Poe series. MW Craven most definitely keeps up a very high standard of writing.
A must read/listen.

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2 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

Good story

I like these Poe books but I’m not really a fan of the reader. It’s sort of reminds me of children’s presenters like Mathew Corbett orGeoffrey Hays!

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Each book in the series gets better.

Have enjoyed all four books in the series. Can't wait for the next one later this year. Plot, charactors, and narrator are all excellent and entertaining.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Almost gave up

I found this really difficult to get into. Where Poe previously seemed witty, committed and intelligent. He was just coming over as conceited, arrogant and, well mean, frankly. I put it down to the fact that the three pillars that make the book, namely, Flynn, Tilly and Poe were not together (no spoilers, but one of them has a smaller part in this book) and it’s each of these three in combination that create the dynamic of the relationship and in my opinion, the whole book. In fact, later in the book, the character of Poe alludes to the missing person, so perhaps it was clever writing, rather than a change in in the character.

One thing that was very irritating, I don’t recall it from the previous books, but maybe it was present, was the (what seemed like constant) “and that’s when…”. Once or twice may be amusing more than that irritating, for me anyway.

I’m glad I persevered because I did enjoy it. However, I don’t enjoy the authors notes at the end of the book. We’ve paid for your book, we’ve read or listened to your book, leave it at that and avoid the additional major backslapping of yourself.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Gripping right to the end

Thoroughly compelling, grabs you from the first chapter and never slows down. This one feels different from the first three Washington Poe books with much less focus on the murders and murderer and a greater emphasis on the mystery. A brilliant story but of the four my least favourite. Will definitely be revisiting this series later in the year.

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3 people found this helpful

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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Silly but great fun

It’s hard to believe that Poe & Tilly can get involved in even more convoluted cases than have in previous books but this one surpasses the previous benchmark, thing is I don’t care, the book is great, in fact it’s bloody brilliant and I loved it

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