Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for providing this Advanced Reader Copy in exchange for an honest review; all opinions expressed in this review are my own. 

“A Lonesome Blood-Red Sun” is the second book of the Dave Beckett series by David Putnam. The series is based on many real-life incidents, based on Putnam’s previous working experience with the police force, interspersed within a fictional elements. 

The titular protagonist, Dave Beckett, is a rule-bending maverick working in San Bernardino County, Calif., whose primary goal is to do the right thing for mostly everyone. He rarely listens to his superiors and has his own way of going about an investigation. As such, he has been demoted from a homicide detective to an officer of patrol.

The book has two parts — one is set in 1984 and the other in 1988. In 1984, Dave forms a connection with Officer Jimmie Poe, who helps him on some high-profile homicide cases and gets promoted to detective. Dave’s run-in with a lieutenant of another station and his unorthodox investigative techniques also have him contend with the internal affairs officers frequently. 

In 1988, we discover that Dave has been reinstated into the homicide department but he’s been assigned to look into skeletal remains that turn up in the desert. We also learn that Jimmie has been missing for 2 years. When a set of bones are discovered and confirmed to be hers, Dave launches an investigation within an investigation.

This book is more a slice of a policeman’s life rather than a whodunit. The experience of reading this book feels like the reader has immersed themselves into the California department of the time period. We get to see how the department worked in a time when internet and mobile phones had not yet invaded the world. And I must say, that was a novel experience.

But the story just didn’t take off till almost halfway through. Until the actual story of the bones comes by, the reader is left to wonder where exactly the story is going. However, it becomes more engaging after the discovery of the bones and the whole investigation into the culprit was quite interesting. There are quite a few convincing red herrings and the identity of the killer was almost surprising. The other cases handled by Dave, and the circumstances pertaining to those cases, make for an interesting and sometimes entertaining read. All things considered, this book is a fairly good reading experience and was engaging enough to hold my attention.

Dave’s character has enough layers and complexities that there is a possibility for more stories based on him and I am looking forward to the next book in the series. 

This book gets 4 out of 5 stars.