Dead Man In a Ditch
By Luke Arnold
Blurb
Fetch Philips has nothing left to believe in. Which is why he's surprised when the people of Sunder City start to believe in him...
Rumour has it that Fetch is only one who can bring magic back into the world. So when a man is murdered in a way that can only be explained as magical, Fetch is brought in on the case. A case which just might unearth things best left buried...
This sequel to The Last Smile in Sunder City follows the adventures of Fetch Phillips - a character destined to be loved by readers of Ben Aaronovitch, Jim Butcher and Terry Pratchett's Discworld.
Our Review
Dead Man in a Ditch is the second title in the series so if you haven't already read The Last Smile in Sunder City then I suggest you read it first.
First of all, I love this title! It is so indicative of the feel of the book in general, a sort of old fashioned private detective book with dwarfs and the like thrown into the mix.
Fetch Adams is one of my favourite protagonists. On the one hand, you want to dislike him because he is responsible for the horror that exists in the world. On the other hand, he feels deep regret about his actions and in this book we see him trying to make up for it. There is something vulnerable about him, he is infuriating at times but also loveavble and slightly hopeless. People believe in him despite themselves.
Fetch knows magic died, he was the cause of it, but when a man is murdered with a weapon that can only be magical everybody believes Fetch can help investigate and help bring magic back.
"We got a dead guy here with a hole in his head, and it wasn't done with any weapon we know about. I don't know what to tell you Fetch. To me, it looks like magic."
Hope is in short supply so they cling to anything they can get. Everybody but Fetch himself believes he can bring magic back.
It is a bitter sweet book and I can't wait to read the next installment which is due out this month.
Our Final Rating...
Read & Shared 5 Times.
I hope you enjoyed this book review, please consider sharing it with others.
Get In Touch
Please feel free to leave a comment to this book review below. Or even leave your own review if you like.
If you run a blog and/or have posted a review to this book, a Q & A or general author interview online you can always add a trackback to it here and following moderation we'll add a link to it below.