#BookReview ‘The Dying Squad’ by Adam Simcox

About the book…

WHO BETTER TO SOLVE A MURDER THAN A DEAD DETECTIVE?

When Detective Inspector Joe Lazarus storms a Lincolnshire farmhouse, he expects to bring down a notorious drug gang; instead, he discovers his own body and a spirit guide called Daisy-May.

She’s there to enlist him to The Dying Squad, a spectral police force who solve crimes their flesh and blood counterparts cannot.

Lazarus reluctantly accepts and returns to the Lincolnshire Badlands, where he faces dangers from both the living and the dead in his quest to discover the identity of his killer – before they kill again

My thanks to publishers Gollancz for approving my Netgalley request to read one of my most anticipated reads of 2021. Adam Simcox’ debut, ‘The Dying Squad’ which is out on July 22nd in e-book and hardcover formats.

This book was everything I hoped it would be, and more, and honestly I just want to shout very loudly ‘Go Buy This Book!’

The notion of a detective, on a murky stakeout, investigating county lines drug runners, who finds his own dead body, had me hooked. That his name is Joe Lazarus (arisen from the dead, to be beyond the living dead) tickled me a great deal, his guide is a pink haired young girl named Daisy-May and she pulls him through this world, to the Pen, (where the Dispossessed, souls who are unavenged and , well, displaced, reside). The Pen is kept under check by the Duchess, who has her own unique and individual back story, reveals that Lazarus will be freed, if and only if, he can solve his own murder.

A dedicated copper, married to his lifelong best friend,Claire, his other best friend is his partner, Pete, and he is the son of a vicar, and upstanding community member so there are quite a few suspects who would like to see him taken down. Not least the members of the drug peddling community who are using the young people of the Lincolnshire Badlands to peddle their wares.

But when you have no physical body, your memories are being erased by the minute, and you are dealing with the trauma of having been murdered, where do you begin?

And who is the white haired girl who seems to be mobilising the dispossessed to tackle the Pen, and could potentially bring down the fragile link between the soil side, and purgatory?

And let’s not even talk about one of the most terrifying creations I have read this year, the Xylophone Man!

Drawing on real life research into county lines drug runners, the story has this dual narrative where the exploitation of the vulnerable by those who should, and could choose to, do better, is so very relevant and well realised. The Dispossessed and the teens affected by lack of opportunity in rural areas , leading them into crime, are so multi faceted that those in higher social classes ascribe characteristics to them that could be ripped off any red top headline.

Exploitation of those with a lack of social mobility due to poverty, life chances, economic instability and lack of social capital, all of these are seen through a fractured lens which allows you to understand how they fall into these traps of addiction, need and ruthless behaviours. The laws of social control, victimisation and ‘knowing your place’ are what these criminals rely on, and, the investigation into who is behind it, is initially driven by personal redemption and , over the course of the plot, expands to become something so much bigger and far-reaching than just one man’s soul.

The imagery is so very striking, and what I admire the most about this novel is not just the fully rounded characters of Lazarus, Daisy-May, sisters Rachel, Mabel and Hanna (perhaps representing the three fates?) and the Xylophone Man , it’s the subtle colouring of their moral codes, their motivations and complex personal histories. On top of this, you have the creation of a wholly, different, highly addictive story line of redemption, love and loss played against a background of a totally believable heaven/purgatory/hellscape which at once fees entirely new and yet, as old as time. You simply care about these people, and finish the novel wanting to know more.

How he created this entire mythology and made it entirely natural, as if it had always been this way, and yet invites the reader into it without overly expositional passages, is pure genius. I genuinely felt like I was along for the ride and I can see this becoming a series that is, as my kids taught me this week, ‘an instabuy’.

Truly one of my top 10 books of this year, it is so rare that a writer can create an environment in which you are so immersed and delivers a truly satisfying end and makes you keen to read book 2. I hope there is a book 2. And, if it’s not too much to ask, a further 3 at least and a 6 part tv show based on ‘The Dying Squad’. 

In the great tradition of Stephen Volk, Phil Rickman and Mark Morris, I am predicting big things for Adam Simcox…

About the author…

Adam is a London-based filmmaker who has shot commercials for brands such as McLaren, Primark and Unilever, and music videos for Britpop veterans as well as fresh on the scene alt-country stars. He began his film career by writing and directing three features: the first sold to Netflix before Netflix was Netflix; the second and third won awards and critical acclaim at festivals worldwide, and so didn’t sell at all.

When he’s not making films he indulges the masochistic pain that is being a Spurs fan, and keeps up his unhealthy vinyl collecting habit. He lives in London with his wife (a fellow writer) and their two young sons.

The Dying Squad is his debut novel.

Twitter @adamsimcox @gollancz