{"id":3486,"date":"2026-06-01T12:08:59","date_gmt":"2026-06-01T19:08:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lindabrinson.com\/?p=3486"},"modified":"2026-06-01T12:08:59","modified_gmt":"2026-06-01T19:08:59","slug":"d-c-cop-takes-on-small-town-murder","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lindabrinson.com\/?p=3486","title":{"rendered":"D.C. cop takes on small-town murder"},"content":{"rendered":"

Anytime you need a recommendation for a good crime\/detective\/mystery novel, \u00a0look 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 \u00a0before – a quick search took to me to Bob’s review of Swinson’s novel Trigger <\/em>posted in July 2019. \u00a0This latest one sounds like another book worth reading.<\/p>\n

Reviewed by Robert P. Moyer<\/p>\n

FROM THE DUST. By David Swinson. Mulholland Books. 329 pages. $30.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>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.<\/p>\n

Until now. In his latest novel, Swinson takes us to a small town in upstate New York.\u00a0Just retired from the D.C. police force, Graham Sanderson has moved back to the family home after his father died. He\u2019s come home to look after his housebound brother, Tommy. The town couldn\u2019t be further from D.C: just a couple of bars, a few churches, a bakery with tasty treats and owner \u2014 and a serial killer.<\/p>\n

It doesn\u2019t 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\u2019s only one investigator, and he\u2019s 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\u2019s involvement, and his personal danger. The killer puts both Graham and his brother into the picture.<\/p>\n

\u00a0Swinson does\u00a0in the country what he did in the city \u2014 he builds tension as he builds his story. It\u2019s a good ride in what may be a new form of mystery \u2014 rural noir.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Anytime you need a recommendation for a good crime\/detective\/mystery novel, \u00a0look 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 \u00a0before – a quick search took to me to Bob’s review of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1356,590,5,426],"tags":[607,1116,425,1540,27,1541],"class_list":["post-3486","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-crime-fiction","category-detective-fiction-mysteries","category-mysteries","category-popular-fiction","tag-crime-fiction","tag-david-swinson","tag-detective-fiction","tag-from-the-dust","tag-mystery","tag-rural-noir"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lindabrinson.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3486","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lindabrinson.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lindabrinson.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lindabrinson.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lindabrinson.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3486"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/lindabrinson.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3486\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3489,"href":"https:\/\/lindabrinson.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3486\/revisions\/3489"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lindabrinson.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3486"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lindabrinson.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3486"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lindabrinson.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3486"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}