Dig Deep for Murder: Dead Body Dug Up (4 Stars)

Recently, I finished reading Dig Deep for Murder by Bruce Hammack. I was able to secure an ARC of this book. The paperback version is currently available, and the ebook version will be available on Jan. 18th. In the book, a dead body is discovered on a construction site. At first, it feels like an easy solve. The dead woman happens to be wearing the letterman jacket of the man who discovers the body. He’s instantly the prime suspect. Yet, there’s far more to this case than it appears initially.

Intro to the Book

While this is the 10th book in the series (11th if you count the prequel), this is the first book in the series that I’ve read. I enjoyed it enough that I got the first three books in the series.

Because this is several books into the series, there were some parts that were a bit confusing. I got some characters confused, and I had to figure out how certain characters fit together. I was able to catch on to most of the connections. I’m sure that reading the previous books will help a lot. While I enjoyed this book, I wouldn’t recommend starting with it. I’d start at the beginning of the series.

Despite being a bit confused at times, I appreciate that the author didn’t try to recap the previous books too much. If I’d followed the series from the beginning, I think the level of recap would have felt perfect. I do not like when the author tries to recap everything about the previous books, especially when you get several books into the series.

Things You Should Know

I love murder mysteries, but unfortunately, they can get a bit graphic. I often feel like they are either too violent or they feel too cozy. By “too cozy,” I mean that the plot is a little too happy and that you may even forget that we’re trying to solve a murder mystery. I’m not sure if that fully makes sense, but fortunately, this book wasn’t graphic and it didn’t feel too cozy.

This was a clean book. There’s no swearing, sexual content, or graphic violence. There were a few scenes that included verbal arguments, threats, and some mild violence. I’d put it at PG when it came to violent content.

For me, this was very close to being a 4.5-star book. I had two main reasons that I didn’t rate this book higher. First, there were a few parts that felt a little too far-fetched and convenient. I’m not going to ruin the story, so I’ll just say that they involve the interviewing of the dead woman’s friends. The friends seemed a little oblivious to what was happening. Even being able to trick them all into coming, not knowing that they were being interviewed, seemed a little far-fetched.

Second, some of the conversations felt off. I just feel like the dialogue needed some minor polishing.

Would I Recommend It?

I feel like I’ll have to go back and read the first few books in the series to be able to fully determine if this is a book that I’d recommend. On its own, it might be a bit confusing. If the earlier books are as well-written, I would recommend starting at the beginning and reading the whole series.