Dead Men Walking by Kwen Griffeth tells the story of Detective Nate Burns investigating an unusual murder. Burns is an interesting character, clearly intelligent and dedicated, but dealing with his own personal issues.   

The story opens with a strange murder of a man with no identity. Some forces on the department are eager to get this unfortunate John Doe over and done with, but Nate is determined to see the investigation through, and to find out more about what really happened. It reminded me a little bit of the plot on The Wire when the bodies of the nameless, unidentified girls are found, and some people are more invested in getting the case of their to-do list than bringing justice. But here, Nate is determined to get to the bottom of this and to see justice done.

Although this is a police drama with a murder investigation, there’s not too much gore. It’s really clear when a moment of gore is coming, and the information about bullet wounds and corpses is used to advance the story. It’s not just blood and guts to be edgy.

Dead Men Walking also introduces readers to life inside the police department. Some of it’s physical, with detailed descriptions of the uniforms and workspaces, but there are also accounts of the official and less-official tracks for promotion. There are the typical expectations, women in particular must walk a fine line of being professional, but not too uptight, career-minded without looking like they’re accepting favors, etc. Like any office, really, only here, they have to deal with murders.

Outside of work, Nate is struggling with his marriage. His wife is unhappy, and we see a flawed marriage. This makes Nate more relatable and understandable, even when he’s doing dumb things and closing himself off. For a lot of this novel, Nate is determined NOT to open up to anyone, with predictably annoying results in his personal and professional life, but fortunately, that doesn’t last for the whole novel.

This is a solid police drama  with a likeable protagonist and good supporting characters. The ending is a solid conclusion, but there are still hints that this won’t be Detective Burns’s last adventure.