David Swinson

Upcoming: FROM THE DUST by David Swinson (Mulholland)

Civilian Reader Upcoming , , , , ,

Next year, Mulholland Books are due to publish From the Dust — the next novel from David Swinson, the author of the excellent Frank Marr novels (which I highly recommend). A “soulful, rural noir story about belief”, here’s the synopsis:

When a murder occurs in a small town in Upstate New York, retired police detective Graham Sanderson, is drawn back into a vortex of violence, deception, and a series of murders which get dangerously personal.

Graham Sanderson thought he’d left it all behind. His years as a Washington, DC, homicide detective, his tragically dead wife, pain, violence. Taking over his father’s house in the remote Finger Lakes region of rural New York, and looking after his shut-in brother, Tommy, seemed like a respite. That is, until the first body is found.

The chief of the town’s small police jurisdiction, who is also a family friend, asks for Graham’s assistance. Graham’s instincts immediately kick in and he soon discovers there’s more to the area — the people, its brutally quiet, sophisticated hierarchies — than he or his family ever knew.

David Swinson’s From the Dust is due to be published by Mulholland Books in North America and in the UK, on March 31st, 2026.

Also on CR: Reviews of The Second Girl, Crime Song, and Trigger; Excerpt from Sweet Thing

Follow the Author: Website, Goodreads, Instagram, BlueSky

Excerpt: SWEET THING by David Swinson (Mulholland Books)

Civilian Reader Excerpt , , ,

SwinsonD-SweetThingUSHCToday, we have an excerpt from David Swinson‘s Sweet Thing — one of my most-anticipated novels of the year. I loved Swinson’s Frank Marr trilogy (The Second Girl, Crime Song, and Trigger), and so this new novel went right on my TBR list as soon as it was announced. The publisher has kindly provided this excerpt to celebrate the novel’s release next week. First, here’s the synopsis:

Homicide Detective Alex Blum must answer a terrible question: ‘how far would you go to love the wrong woman?’

In a red brick house on a tree-lined street, DC homicide detective Alex Blum stares at the bullet-pocked body of Chris Doyle. As he roots around for evidence, he finds an old polaroid: the decedent, arm in arm with Arthur Holland, Blum’s informant from years ago when he worked at the Narcotics branch.

But Arthur has been missing for days. Blum’s only source: Arthur’s girl, Celeste — beautiful, seductive, and tragic — whom he can’t get out of his head. Blum is drawn to her and feels compelled to save her from Arthur’s underworld. As the investigation ticks on and dead bodies domino, Blum, unearths clues with damning implications for Celeste. Swallowed by desire, Blum’s single misstep sends him tunnelling down a rabbit hole of transgression. He may soon find the only way out is down below.

Set in 1999, Swinson, a former DC cop, offers a look back at a rougher, grittier, bygone DC replete with seedy strip clubs, pagers beeping, and Y2K anxiety. It’s here we’re taken inside sting operations, fluorescent-tinged interrogation chambers, and rooms that have seen irreversible mistakes. At once authentic, gritty, tragic, and profound, SWEET THING asks how far can you fall when the world teeters on the edge?

Now, on with the excerpt…!

Continue reading →

New Books (August)

Civilian Reader New Books , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

NewBooks-20230812

Featuring: Jamie Lee Curtis, Matt Gallagher, Andrew J. Graff, Janice Hallett, Lindsay Lynch, Claire North, Megan O’Keefe, Joe Pitkin, Terry Pratchett, Douglas Preston, Richard Russo, A. J. Ryan, Nicolas Shakespeare, David Swinson

Continue reading →

Upcoming: SWEET THING by David Swinson (Mulholland)

Civilian Reader Upcoming , , , , , ,

SwinsonD-SweetThingUSHCThis November, Mulholland Books are due to publish Sweet Thing, the latest crime novel by David Swinson. In this book, the author returns to Washington, D.C., the setting of his excellent Frank Marr trilogy — one of my favourite crime series — albeit with a new protagonist, and as a standalone novel. One of my most-anticipated reads of the year, here’s the synopsis:

In a red brick house on a tree-lined street, DC homicide detective Alex Blum stares at the bullet-pocked body of Chris Doyle. As he roots around for evidence, he finds an old polaroid: the decedent, arm in arm with Arthur Holland, Blum’s informant from years ago when he worked at the Narcotics branch.

But Arthur has been missing for days. Blum’s only source: Arthur’s girl, Celeste — beautiful, seductive, and tragic — whom he can’t get out of his head. Blum is drawn to her and feels compelled to save her from Arthur’s underworld. As the investigation ticks on and dead bodies domino, Blum, unearths clues with damning implications for Celeste. Swallowed by desire, Blum’s single misstep sends him tunnelling down a rabbit hole of transgression. He may soon find the only way out is down below.

Set in 1999, Swinson, a former DC cop, offers a look back at a rougher, grittier, bygone DC replete with seedy strip clubs, pagers beeping, and Y2K anxiety. It’s here we’re taken inside sting operations, fluorescent-tinged interrogation chambers, and rooms that have seen irreversible mistakes. At once authentic, gritty, tragic, and profound, SWEET THING asks how far can you fall when the world teeters on the edge?

David Swinson’s Sweet Things is due to be published by Mulholland Books in North America and in the UK, on November 7th.

Also on CR: Reviews of The Second Girl, Crime Song, and Trigger

Follow the Author: Website, Goodreads, Instagram, Twitter

New Books (February-March)

Civilian Reader New Books , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

NewBooks-20210320

Featuring: John Appel, Rosecrans Baldwin, C.F. Barrington, E.J. Beaton, Jessica Anya Blau, Tom Bradby, Christopher Buehlman, A.A. Dhand, Carolyn Ferrell, Jackson Ford, Alexander Freed, Ben Golliver, Sam Hill, Graham Hurley, Kim Bo-Young, M.J. Kuhn, Derek Künsken, Corry L. Lee, David Liss, Marjorie Liu, Richard Marx, G. R. Matthews, Benjamin Percy, Chris Power, Robert V.S. Redick, Jason Schreier, A. J. Smith, David Swinson, Catherynne M. Valente, Martha Wells, Django Wexler

Continue reading →

Upcoming: CITY ON THE EDGE by David Swinson (Mulholland)

Civilian Reader Upcoming , , , , , , , ,

SwinsonD-CityOnTheEdgeUSDavid Swinson is at the author of the superb Frank Marr trilogy, set in Washington, DC — if you’re looking for a great crime story, starring a complicated cop protagonist, then I highly recommend you pick up The Second Girl.

For his highly-anticipated next novel, City on the Edge, he takes readers to Beirut, and introduces us to a new protagonist. Here’s the synopsis:

In the wake of a baffling tragedy, 13-year-old Graham moves with his family to Beirut, Lebanon, a city on the edge of the sea and cataclysmic violence. Inquisitive and restless by nature, Graham suspects his State Department father is a CIA operative, and that their family’s fragile domesticity is merely a front for American efforts along the nearby Israeli border. Over the course of one year, 1974, Graham’s life will utterly change. Two men are murdered, his parent’s marriage disintegrates, and Graham, along with his two ex-pat friends, run afoul of forces they cannot understand.

THE CITY ON THE EDGE is elegiac, atmospheric, and utterly authentic. It’s the story of innocents caught within the American net of espionage, of the Lebanese transformed by such interference, of the children who ran dangerously beside the churning wheel of history. One part Stephen King’s “The Body” and another John le Carre’s A Perfect Spy, it’s a transformative crime story told with heart and genuine experience.

David Swinson’s City on the Edge is due to be published by Mulholland Books in North America and in the UK, on May 25th, 2021.

Follow the Author: Website, Goodreads, Twitter

New Books (December-January)

Civilian Reader New Books , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

newbooks-20190119

Featuring: Dan Abnett, Preet Bharara, James Brabazon, Robert A. Caro, JoAnn Chaney, Patrick Coleman, Liv Constantine, Jonathan de Shalit, Bret Easton Ellis, Karen Ellis, Sarah Gailey, Neil Gaiman, N.K. Jemisin, Sadie Jones, Nancy Kress, J. Barton Mitchell, Michael Moynihan, Brett Paesel, Chris Riddell, James Swallow, V.E. Schwab, Jean Edward Smith, Didrik Søderlind, Adam Stemple, David Swinson, Sam Sykes, David Szalay, Karen Thompson Walker, David Weber, Jane Yolen

Continue reading →

Quick Review: TRIGGER by David Swinson (Mulholland)

Civilian Reader Review , , , , , , , ,

SwinsonD-FM3-TriggerUSThe third novel in the excellent Frank Marr crime series

Frank Marr was a good cop, until his burgeoning addictions to alcohol and cocaine forced him into retirement from the D.C. Metro police. Now, he’s barely eking out a living as a private investigator for a defense attorney — also Frank’s ex-girlfriend.

Ostracized by his family after a botched case that led to the death of his baby cousin, Jeffrey, Frank was on a collision course with rock bottom. Now clean and clinging hard to sobriety, Frank passes the time — and tests himself — by robbing the houses of local dealers, taking their cash and flushing their drugs down the toilet. When an old friend from his police days needs Frank’s help to prove he didn’t shoot an unarmed civilian, Frank is drawn back into the world of dirty cops and suspicious drug busts, running in the same circles that enabled his addiction those years ago.

Never one to play by the rules, Frank recruits a young man he nearly executed years before. Together — a good man trying not to go bad and a bad man trying to do good — detective and criminal charge headfirst into the D.C. drug wars. Neither may make it out.

Frank Marr is a private investigator who is trying to do good, while simultaneously battling his various (multiple) demons. The first two novels in David Swinson’s series — The Second Girl and Crime Song — were fantastic, and I blitzed through them back-to-back. Gripping, sharply written and populated with excellent characters, they are among the best novels I’ve read in years. As a result, Trigger was one of my most-anticipated novels of the year. I’m happy to report that it is another excellent crime novel, and did not disappoint. Continue reading →

Upcoming: TRIGGER by David Swinson (Mulholland)

Civilian Reader Upcoming , , , , , ,

SwinsonD-FM3-TriggerUSI read David Swinson‘s The Second Girl and Crime Song back-to-back last year, and I absolutely loved them. The first book made Swinson one of my must-read novelists, and the sequel only confirmed it. Ever since, I’ve been eagerly awaiting news of a third book in the series (or a stand-alone, I’m not too picky). In a recently-uploaded catalog on Edelweiss, I found information about Trigger, the third novel featuring troubled private investigator Frank Marr. Unfortunately, it’s not due to be published until February 2019 (by Mulholland Books), which is so far away!

Frank Marr was a good cop, until his burgeoning addictions to alcohol and cocaine forced him into retirement from the D.C. Metro police. Now, he’s barely eking out a living as a private investigator for a defense attorney — also Frank’s ex-girlfriend.

Ostracized by his family after a botched case that led to the death of his baby cousin, Jeffrey, Frank was on a collision course with rock bottom. Now clean and clinging hard to sobriety, Frank passes the time — and tests himself — by robbing the houses of local dealers, taking their cash and flushing their drugs down the toilet. When an old friend from his police days needs Frank’s help to prove he didn’t shoot an unarmed civilian, Frank is drawn back into the world of dirty cops and suspicious drug busts, running in the same circles that enabled his addiction those years ago.

Never one to play by the rules, Frank recruits a young man he nearly executed years before. Together — a good man trying not to go bad and a bad man trying to do good — detective and criminal charge headfirst into the D.C. drug wars. Neither may make it out.

Trigger is one of my most-anticipated novels, and I can’t wait to read it. David Swinson’s novels are published by Mulholland Books in North America and in the UK.

Also on CR: Reviews of The Second Girl and Crime Song

Follow the Author: Website, Goodreads, Twitter

Review: CRIME SONG by David Swinson (Mulholland)

Civilian Reader Review , , , , , , , ,

swinsond-crimesongusFrank Marr is back!

Marr, a retired D.C. police detective working as a private eye for a defense attorney, has a serious problem. He is secretly a drug addict, and his long-time supply of cocaine is about to run out.

While staking out an upscale nightclub in an attempt to target the stash-houses of dealers from whom to steal for his fix, he settles on a target: a young college student. After a long night in pursuit of his quarry, Marr returns home to find he has been burglarized. Though his drugs are safe, several items are missing: his .38 revolver and his cherished music collection (with dozens of albums belonging to his deceased mother.) Marr immediately begins investigating the crime himself.

But when the dealer Marr had been following is stabbed to death in his own fortified home, Frank is certain that the burglary and murder are related. With good cops, bad cops, and exceptionally dangerous drug lords on his tail, Frank is determined to find out the truth, even if it kills him. This time, it just might.

I started reading Crime Song only a few hours after finishing The Second Girl, Swinson’s superb first Frank Marr novel. I’m very happy to report that Crime Song is yet another excellent crime novel, easily cementing Swinson among the ranks of favourite crime/thriller authors. This is a must-read series. Continue reading →