Anytime you need a recommendation for a good crime/detective/mystery novel,  look up reviews by Bob Moyer. He knows and reads books by more authors in that world than anyone I know. Actually, he’s reviewed at least one David Swinson book on this blog  before – a quick search took to me to Bob’s review of Swinson’s novel Trigger posted in July 2019.  This latest one sounds like another book worth reading.

Reviewed by Robert P. Moyer

FROM THE DUST. By David Swinson. Mulholland Books. 329 pages. $30.

Sirens, flashing lights, gunshots, crack houses, the hustle and bustle of a big city. Retired as a detective on the District of Columbia police force himself, David Swinson never failed to couch a good story inside a captivating urban scene.

Until now. In his latest novel, Swinson takes us to a small town in upstate New York. Just retired from the D.C. police force, Graham Sanderson has moved back to the family home after his father died. He’s come home to look after his housebound brother, Tommy. The town couldn’t be further from D.C: just a couple of bars, a few churches, a bakery with tasty treats and owner — and a serial killer.

It doesn’t appear that way at first. When the first murder happens, the local police chief, a family friend, asks Graham to lend a hand to his understaffed department. There’s only one investigator, and he’s brand new. Graham willingly helps out; the two men develop a good working relationship from the start, the kind that allows the author to develop detail through dialogue. As the murders increase, so does Graham’s involvement, and his personal danger. The killer puts both Graham and his brother into the picture.

 Swinson does in the country what he did in the city — he builds tension as he builds his story. It’s a good ride in what may be a new form of mystery — rural noir.