A Dark Place To Die

DI Frank Keane #1

by Ed Chatterton

A Dark Place To Die is a psychological thriller set in the dark heart of a cold English city and the searing heat of northern New South Wales.

The son of DI Frank Keane's old boss, the legendary DI Memno Koopman, has been discovered dead, lashed to a scaffolding pole on Liverpool's bleak shoreline. For Koopman, who has turned his back on a 30-year career in the city to live the quiet life in rural Australia, the death of a son he never knew means a return to England and the past he left behind.

Koopman hasn't been forgotten – not by his former colleagues nor by his enemies. As the body count rises in both countries, Keane and Koopman's search for the killer becomes a fight for survival.

Genres: Mystery

420 pages, Paperback

First published August 1, 2012

About the author

I've been writing and illustrating children's fiction for almost thirty years under the name 'Martin Chatterton' ('Ed' is my middle name). In the past couple of years I have been mutating into a crime writer. My debut adult crime novel, 'A Dark Place To Die' was released by Random House in Australia in August 2012. It is published in the UK on September the 27th. The sequel has been completed (to first draft) and will be out in 2013.

I lived in the UK until 1998 and then spent some years shuffling between the US and UK before moving there in 2001. I moved to Australia in 2004 where I have been ever since.

Reviews

[Martin Chatterton · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm completely biased as I wrote this book. For what it's worth, this book (and the series) will be enjoyed most by readers of writers like George Pelecanos, Michael Conelly and Ian Rankin.

[Brenda · Rating 2 out of 5]

Detective Inspector Frank Keane was cold – bitterly cold, and he wouldn’t be finding warmth any time soon. With the corpse in front of him, the tide on the turn and Detective Harris and the rest of the team still not on the scene, his wait would be long and arduous. But for the world-weary Keane, the intrigue, horror and psychotic terror was just beginning.

Half a world away from Keane and his discovery in Liverpool, his old boss, ex Detective Chief Inspector Menno Koopman, or Koop as he was known to all, was enjoying his retirement in northern NSW on Australian shores. It was a peaceful existence, but one which was about to change dramatically; he received a frantic phone call from his wife which sent him home – the news from the attending police was not good, something from his very long ago past was coming back to haunt him.

With the drug cartel operating in both Australia and England, the murders began to accelerate with the body count rising quickly in both countries; Koop needed to head back to England to confront his past. But his enemies were on alert – what would happen? Could Keane work with Koop once again? Could they find the killers or would Koop spend his last days in England, unable to return to Australia?

I found Chatterton’s psychological thriller dark and chilling, sick and depraved. The storyline was great, but I needed to skim a lot to get past the episodes which were exceedingly cringe-worthy. I love this genre as a rule, but I’m afraid I didn’t really enjoy this book.

[Rob Kitchin · Rating 4 out of 5]

A Dark Place to Die has four standout strengths. First, the characterization is excellent, with even the minor characters having a well-defined persona. Second, there is a vivid sense of place both with respect to Liverpool and the various locations in Australia. Third, Chatterton provides realistic and compelling contextualisation with respect to the drug gangs and trade in both locales. Fourth, the story is for the most part nicely plotted and well paced, managing to keep two parallel but intertwined plotlines unfolding in sync throughout the book. As a result, even though the tale is complex and layered it is straightforward to follow. There is some graphic violence in the telling, but it is necessary to the story. Despite the positives, the story does start to unravel a little toward the end, with at least one too many plot twists for my liking (in a tale full of twists). Nevertheless, A Dark Place to Die is a strong start to a new series. As a final aside: I have no idea why the cover shows a dungeon, or why the tag line is ‘no escape, no rescue, no mercy’; they totally fail to capture the essence of the book. The Australian cover which uses a Gormley statue, with the tagline ‘killing the messenger was only the beginning’ is much more appropriate.

[Elaine · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this book, in spite of some really gruesome and graphic bits, which had me cringing!!! Ed Chatterton has written a book that as far as I am concerned ticks all the boxes of what makes a good crime/thriller novel. All the twists and turns that make you want to keep reading to the end. The setting of the story both in Australia and Liverpool made me able to relate to it as well. In my opinion Ed Chatterton is up there with some of my favourite crime writers. I hope he has another book coming out soon.

[Nick Davies · Rating 3 out of 5]

A solid and readable crime thriller set in Liverpool and Australia, surrounding drug deals and a complex of web of interconnected characters - this was a decent read and I did get some enjoyment from the parts of Merseyside with which I was familiar. However it did overall sit slightly uncomfortably in the same box as some Stuart Neville, Ken Bruen, Aidrian McKinty, even the Joseph Knox I recently enjoyed - after a while I got weary of all the nasty bastards being nasty, the violence for shock's sake, and felt the impact lessen as I stopped caring as much about the characters and what happened. The nipping about in time and location didn't always make sense straight away too - there wasn't much clarity at times. Oddly too it felt very noticeable to me that there were thirty or forty similar male characters (strong and wily and white) in the story, counterbalanced by an odd smattering of three or four women ticking all the diversity boxes - black, oriental, lesbian, bisexual, artist - all of whom were described as sexy and dangerous and sassy. Strange characterisation.

[Raven · Rating 4 out of 5]

Opening with the discovery of a body against the desolate backdrop of a windswept beach amongst the naked figures of Anthony Gormley’s ‘Another Place’ installation, I was instantly engaged with this dark and visceral thriller. The action pivots between Liverpool with the murder investigation under the auspices of DI Frank Keane, a world-weary but utterly realistic detective and Australia, home to Frank’s retired boss Menno Koopman who is forced to return to Liverpool when the victim’s identity is revealed. What struck me most was the singular attention to plotting in this book as dual-sited crime novels are not always perfectly weighted between two locations and due to the author’s personal experience of life in both locations the authenticity rang true throughout. The story seamlessly moves from one side of the globe to the other as the Liverpool investigation leads to the uncovering of a drugs trafficking operation between there and Australia with the relentless pace giving rise to a gripping read as more than one character finds themselves in peril with Chatterton ratcheting up the violence. Not a read for the more faint-hearted I would warn, but personally I loved the more graphic scenes.

Another enjoyable aspect of the book was the dark and earthy characterisation, with Chatterton unafraid to shock and disconcert the reader at every turn, from the unconventional living arrangements of the wonderfully foul-mouthed Menno Koopman to the brilliantly disturbed character of North who, although clever and extremely well-read, is totally psychotic and takes far too much pleasure in meting out violence throughout the book. Our erstwhile hero, Keane is a very well-realised character and it was good to see a focused police officer with little emotional baggage and a healthy disregard for his superiors (with good cause as it turns out) portrayed so realistically, and equally his partner DS Emily Harris, ambitious and hardworking but sometimes confused as to where her loyalties should lie.

All in all I thoroughly enjoyed the book with the juxtaposition between the mean streets of Merseyside and the rolling serenity of outback Australia and the violence which permeates both societies. With great characterisation, a well-paced plot and a wonderfully seedy edge to the whole affair this was a gripping debut and I, for one, look forward to the next in the series…

[Alex · Rating 5 out of 5]

A gritty start, and confirms a lifelong desire never to go to Liverpool.
It's a captivating read. One of those book that makes you want to go to bed, and maybe just catch a few pages before getting up and preparing for work in the morning.
I can't wait for the next one. Hurry it up there Mr Chatterton.

[Rae Stanton]

I must admit it was quite strange to read a book with my partner's name all through it! But this is a truly non-put-downable book, although not for the faint hearted.

[sabiha · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was so so. The fillers are a waste of time to me. Skimmed through them. The beginning of the book was slow. To many stupid characters in one book. Only become smart so the flow of the story won't fall apart. Kinda blank.... And the ending was like, here the end of the story, fast pass. Not that it would be good to have a long treated ending if everything was already exposed. It would have been better if it had focused on the whole drug chase thing. The thing felt like, little kids fighting between them to get that one addicting new stuffed toy. In the end the kid who enters the room last, gets to have the stuffed toy. I don't know. I didn't enjoy reading it....

[Sandra · Rating 3 out of 5]

Excellently-plotted, and the switching between Liverpool and Australia well-handled. The cast of characters and their interactions absorbing and tension racked up. What more could one want?
Admittedly, I don't really know Liverpool so lost the place setting, but the introduction of Gormley's figures was a cleverly-worked treat.

[Rosie Robinson · Rating 4 out of 5]

A tale full of twists turns and twisting some more.
This is great but also slightly over complicated and the violence is on another level. Its not all necessary so reading through it all was quite tough going at times.
The characters were mostly intriguing, i found the role of Harris a bit too 'neat' in its requirement to tick boxes: female detective, opposition to Keane.

[Moniek · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not for me this one. The story is quite alright, but the book is difficult to read. Too many storylines, a lot of which do not really contribute.
Halfway I got lost on what I was reading, who the hell the next guy of the story was, and whether there was any point in the current story line. Needlessly complicated, which spoiled the fun of reading

[Gray]

I couldn’t finish it. I don’t know why but it didn’t catch me at all.

[Katy Trowhill · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good book, but flicks between 2 different viewpoints through the story, separated by chapters, so can get confusing. Very good read nonetheless

[Heather · Rating 4 out of 5]

Quick and fast paced. About from the gruesome brutality it was very easy to read. Made a great change to my usual reading.

[Mary · Rating 3 out of 5]

The plot was good the graphic violence was a bit hard to take

[Helen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not for the faint-hearted with graphic scenes, often involving sex, but a well-paced murder mystery, set in Liverpool and in Australia, with an ex-policeman as the main character. I enjoyed the politics within the police departments, with loyalty and ambition often colliding. There were twists and turns as the villains fought for control of a massive amount of drugs; the demise of some of these absolute psychos met with no regret.

[Plum-crazy · Rating 2 out of 5]

On the face of it this had all the ingredients of something I'd really enjoy as it promised to be a gripping & gory read. However, as it went back & forth in time & across continents I sometimes struggled to keep track of things, it didn't grip me as I had hoped & rather than gory, it was just nasty in parts, though to be fair that was in keeping with the characters. A reasonable read & thats about it really....

[Phillip Bowman · Rating 5 out of 5]

A stunning debut adult novel from Ed Chatterton that manages the difficult task of creating a credible crime thriller set between the UK's dank and grimy Liverpool and Australia's steamy Gold Coast and Byron bay. Brutal, filled with desperate, tough characters A Dark Place to Die is a heart pounding read from beginning to end.

[Erik · Rating 5 out of 5]

wow, what a language. But it couldn't be in any other way. Great book, but if you don't like foul language, you will not like this book.

The description of Liverpool and the people there is a treat ... The psychopath in this book is really sick (move over Hannibal), the plot is typically English with no big heroes.

Loved it!

[Jennifer · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great read, couldn't put it down. Was lucky enough to have the author come to our book club. Ed thrilled us with some of the background to writing this story. But be warned, this story is not for the faint-hearted.

[Pam · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this book and couldn't put it down, its amazing to think that this is his first adult/crime book he's written, as he usually write's and illustrates children's books,I can't wait for his next one.

[Nixx · Rating 2 out of 5]

At first I thought this book was great, but by halfway through I was seriously considering just not finishing it. I did finish reading it and can safely say that I'm glad I did, just so I never have to pick it up again!!

[Jan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Pretty much a crime novel that follows a common pattern except for the use of Antony Gormley's sculptures as sites of significance. So thank you Ed for introducing them to me.

[Sarah · Rating 4 out of 5]

A new crime author who is very good. This book is set in Australia and Liverpool, which made it a bit different from the usual UK crime books.

[Patricia · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fast book with lots of switching and happening in different places
The crime and cruelty writing is superb

[Mark · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good characters, good plot, easy to follow and generally a good read.

[Patricia Mccammon · Rating 2 out of 5]

England to Australia

From a murder in England, to a rescue in Australia, both retired and current cops work together to shut down a drug organization.

[Ipsita Banerjee · Rating 5 out of 5]

A real page turner. A detective story though initially I thought there was something more than just a little creepy about the narrator. Interesting. You have to find you what happens next!

[Kaylol · Rating 1 out of 5]

The book looked very promising, but just after a few paragraphs I could tell I was going to be disappointed. The way it's written makes it a very boring read.