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A candidate for mayor has been murdered and there's one obvious suspect.

But Burnside, the former football star turned private investigator, pushes forward into a harrowing investigation that reveals more and more possible culprits, all with their own motives. As the action intensifies, Burnside himself becomes embroiled in a case which goes beyond just one murder. And when the police suspect he's a person of interest, Burnside must race against time to find the killer.

With little more to go on than his gut feeling, Burnside pokes at everything around him. Desperately trying to untangle a web of deceit that threatens to destroy him personally, he is also faced with a scenario that could take down an entire community...

255 pages, Kindle Edition

First published August 1, 2013

217 people are currently reading
490 people want to read

About the author

David Chill

19 books55 followers
David Chill is a USA TODAY Bestselling Author, and has written a total of fourteen works of fiction. These include the medical suspense novel, Curse Of The Afflicted. The first thirteen books are part of the Burnside Mystery Series: Post Pattern, Fade Route, Bubble Screen, Safety Valve, Corner Blitz, Nickel Package, Double Pass, Tampa Two, Flea Flicker, Swim Move, and Hard Count.

David Chill's debut novel, Post Pattern, was an award-winning book in the Private Eye Writers of America contest for new mystery authors. The Burnside Mystery Series has received much critical acclaim over the years and has spent time on numerous bestseller lists.

Born and raised in New York City, David received his undergraduate degree from SUNY-Oswego, before moving to Los Angeles where he earned a Master's degree from the University of Southern California. He presently lives in California.

If you would like to find out when new novels are published, please sign up for David Chill's mailing list. You can do so here: http://eepurl.com/PMvlP

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5 stars
168 (30%)
4 stars
219 (39%)
3 stars
135 (24%)
2 stars
24 (4%)
1 star
4 (<1%)
Displaying 1 - 30 of 41 reviews
Profile Image for David Chill.
Author 19 books55 followers
February 17, 2015
An excellent novel! Full of twists and turns, this is an action-packed book that takes the reader on an exciting journey. Mixing in politics, football and murder, Fade Route is a page turner that will keep you engaged and surprised.
Profile Image for Joyce.
1,801 reviews18 followers
February 8, 2021
Burnside continues his career as a smart mouthed PI. This time he is hired to learn who tried to run a man’s wife off the road. Shortly thereafter the man, a candidate for mayor in this coastal town, is murdered in his office at the social agency he founded that attempted to teach the homeless how to find, get and keep jobs. Burnside, who volunteered there, decided he would investigate the murder. It involves a colorful cast of characters and a complex plot and a lot of action. Once again it was fun reading. Thanks to the author and publisher for an e-galley for an honest review.
Profile Image for Jane.
1,267 reviews16 followers
January 21, 2021
Shortly after a former college mate and a politician Wayne Fairborn reaches out to Burnside to look into his wife Crystal whom someone tried to run off the road, Burnside finds Wayne shot to death in his office. Wayne is also the founder of Second Chance, a Center for the homeless where Burnside volunteers. Wayne was running for the mayor of Bay City. His assistant Nina Lovejoy is a suspect seeing as she’s the last person to be seen with him.
Profile Image for Tulay.
1,202 reviews2 followers
January 24, 2015
Shocking but very satisfying ending.

Politics, money and more money, twenty years of hate and infidelity. Lots of twists and turns will keep you reading and guessing. Wish Burnside didn't get hurt so much and knowing that he was in the police force of LA, why he didn't turn the gun to police. Throwing it to garbage was wrong. Too much football plays gets in the way of the story. Is something good about Pepper and Burnside relationship in the next book?
Profile Image for Christopher Taylor.
Author 10 books78 followers
April 7, 2020
Book two in the series of a private investigator in the Los Angeles area (the fictional Bay City). This time Burnside is volunteering at a homeless shelter when his acquaintance who runs the place (and is running for mayor) is shot to death.

Most of the book, he's strapped for cash and has a paying client, but gives that case little attention instead spending his time antagonizing police officers and looking to the murder of the mayoral candidate. Then he gets distracted by a sexual harassment case and works on that.

This book like the previous one is built around stereotypical characters, each character encountered falls into a specific category of preconceived person. The slovenly cop, the crooked politician, etc. When the characters are delved into more deeply over time they become more distinct, but they start out almost like stamped out by a machine. The cops in particular are well written eventually but start out pretty boilerplate.

The mystery wasn't very challenging, I figured out who had done it and why pretty early on but it took ages for Burnside to even get close. In fact, he is one of the most aimless and incompetent detectives I've ever read. And this book like the last has a theme that it focuses on, football previously and homeless this time. But the theme is less about homeless than about leftist political sermons that take up most of a chapter, and condemning society for not fixing the problem.

Overall I'm pretty disappointed in the series and will not read the third book in the trilogy I got.
535 reviews2 followers
August 1, 2020
This is the second book in the Burnside mystery series. Burnside is the name of a private investigator working in Southern California. This story takes place in Bay City. Burnside (no first name) played college football at USC and after graduation he became an LAPD officer. He lasted 16 years in that profession before he was fired due to false allegations of being a pimp for an underaged female. Now he works as a private investigator and he has no love lost for the LAPD. This case involves the murder of Burnside’s friend who founded a help center for homeless people. The mystery is well plotted and keeps you guessing because there are several people with a motive to commit the crime. Our hero gets into a few scrapes along the way although nothing he cannot handle. The dialogue is good and in the tried and true nature of a wise cracking private detective.
Profile Image for Neelabh Pratap  Singh.
Author 43 books26 followers
October 28, 2022
The witty writing is what I love about Burnside mystery the most. Then there are no fillers. The author gets straight into the mystery right from the word go and the investigation begins right from the second chapter. There are facets of the protagonist's private life as well but they are only in the background without disturbing the flow of the current story. In this book, PI Burnside voluntarily takes up a friend, a mayor candidate, who was shot dead minutes after Burnside met him. The suspects are half a dozen people - the current mayor, a cunning businessman, the wife, the brother in law. Burnside goes through each clue and reaches the killer by the end. Very interestingly crafted mystery.
212 reviews
January 1, 2020
Good mystery

Chill writes a good mystery. Two murders, with multiple motives and suspects piling up, and determing a close friend may not have been the man he admired keep Burnside...a determined investigator...hopping. Chill's characters are well developed, multi-faceted people with both good and bad sides, but the good side almost always wins. Plenty of action, lots of clues, but you dont know who the perpetrator is until the end. Looking forward to the next book in the series.
Profile Image for Beth Temin.
290 reviews
February 21, 2020
Totally riveting Private Eye Investigation

This book held my attention while the Private Investigator sought to solve the murder of a friend who had lots of enemies. Burnside had plenty of suspects to interview, while trying to avoid altercations with several of them. The story of Burnside's investigation was extremely thorough and he learned more about his murdered friend than he expected. This was a great read and I recommend it to anyone who enjoys a "who-done-it" mystery.
Profile Image for Sharon.
333 reviews1 follower
December 3, 2022
Getting to know Burnside

The second entry in the Burnside series reveals more about his early life and emotional makeup than the first book. His relationship with Gail Pepper, which started in Book 1, is more serious.

The mystery is well written. Other than a few typos, there’s nothing wrong with this entertaining series.
313 reviews2 followers
November 29, 2017
What a wonderful read - a simply written, no-nonsense type of book. Lots of intrigue and just enough action to keep your interest - most interesting plot!
Profile Image for Steve Elbe.
35 reviews1 follower
April 15, 2018
Excellent

Well written with very good character development and a wonderful plot. A page turner that l heartily recommend if you like a good mystery.
Profile Image for Black Butterfly.
2,630 reviews39 followers
April 2, 2020

THIS WAS A MODERN DETECTIVE STORY WITH AN OLD SCHOOL FEEL, BURNSIDE IS A JADED HARD BOILED PHILIP MARLOWE-ROCKY KANE-MICKY SPILLANE-COLOMBO KINDA GUY. THIS HAD A VERY OLD NOIR FEEL.;D
661 reviews5 followers
May 3, 2020
Burnside has another case with the murder of a local political candidate.
Profile Image for Matthew Murray.
1,002 reviews
November 22, 2020
Enjoyed

This was a good mystery and I have enjoyed reading this book from beginning to the end and I am looking forward to your next book.
Profile Image for Keith.
569 reviews2 followers
October 12, 2021
I enjoyed Fade Route more than the first Burnside book. Both the mystery and the writing itself were solid.
Profile Image for Joy.
883 reviews
November 3, 2022
This was just okay and forgettable. It kept me engaged while reading but I have already forgotten most of it a week or so later.
Profile Image for Guy Allen.
Author 23 books
December 27, 2013
Fade Route is a well-constructed murder[mystery. Burnside, a private investigator, is hired by his friend Wayne Fairborn to investigate a sideswipe incident involving the car of Wayne’s wife. When Wayne is murdered, Burnside takes on his own investigation of the murder, much to the dismay of the local police. His efforts expose a hidden life of his friend, which involved a string of beautiful mistresses. Burnside discovers multiple suspects ranging from family members, to political opponents and disgruntled girlfriends.
The story is well-written, flows smoothly, with no obvious grammar or punctuation errors. The characters are real and well-developed, although there a few too many, which requires paging back a few times to see who is who. The ending is a bit weak as far as a suspenceful buildup. It is, however, not predictable. All in all, I enjoyed “Fade Route’ and would recommend it as a light read with a good plot and believable characters.
Profile Image for Jack.
332 reviews2 followers
January 2, 2014
Private Investigator Burnside volunteers at a second-chance program, helping homeless people with interviewing skills so they can get a job. The founder of the program, a local politician, is shot dead (well, he was alive when he was shot but dead soon after). The police quickly determine who culprit, case closed. Burnside has some other ideas.

Well written, twisty, and interesting (even the sports stuff I hate), this was well worth reading. The characters are believable, and I can almost see the locations (I really want to use Google Street View to look around and see if any of this is real or just seems so). The characters are interesting, and anyone could have done it.

I want more Burnside. You will, too.
Profile Image for Jeff Benham.
1,712 reviews10 followers
February 26, 2016
This is book #2 in the series, so you might want to start with Post Pattern. Burnside is an ex-LAPD cop turned PI. He volunteers at a shelter that gives the homeless advice on how to get jobs. The director of the center is running for Mayor and polling really well against the incumbent. At least he was until he was murdered. The cops have it all figured out and do not appreciate Burnside's help. Then they don't have it figured out anymore. Burnside investigates, in spite of objections (Did I mention he is a bit of a smart alec?) and soon has enough suspects to form an offensive line, and a backfield as well. Trying to narrow down the suspects and zoom in on the perp, makes for very interesting reading!
Profile Image for Nancy.
1,310 reviews
September 26, 2014
I like Burnside's moral code, even if I don't like the way he seems to instigate fights, verbal or physical, for no apparent reason (well, all except the last one). I should have caught on to 'who done it' earlier, given one fairly obvious clue, but I didn't. I DO like the way the Burnside doesn't care who gets credit for figuring things out, as long as the mystery is solved and the culprits brought to justice. And his relationship with Gail is cool.
292 reviews4 followers
November 17, 2014
Just finished reading "Fade Route" (a Burnside Mystery - assumes there are probably other Burnside mysteries before this one) by David Chill. While this book was well-written, it was short on heart-stopping action, rather run-of-the-mill. It was a quick and easy read, and I would recommend it for the doctor's office or some such other "place of waiting" when you need a little something to keep from being totally bored. I would not, however, recommend it for high entertainment value.
Profile Image for Roy Higgins.
Author 2 books25 followers
July 2, 2015
I think that David Chill is an Indie author like myself.I seem to remember him offering this book to me as a free download in exchange for a review. I like to support indie authors if I possibly can, and this novel is worth the read. A private eye story in the style of Sam Spade, but more up to date.I liked the complexity of the case and enjoyed attempting to work who the killer was. I failed dismally.
Profile Image for Patricia Bergman.
457 reviews38 followers
January 2, 2014
"Fade Route" is a good mystery centering on politics and adultery. There were so many possibles suspects I had no clue "who done it". Although I didn't read the first in the series, it didn't seem to matter. This is a good stand alone as the protagonist reflects on the past in detail. If you like a smart mouth gum-shoe who is an old fashioned private detective this is your book.
7 reviews2 followers
August 17, 2013
The second in a series of delightful detective novels by a new author David Chill. They are funny, easy to follow, and a quick read. This book is even better than his first one. You need to read it!!!
1,071 reviews5 followers
December 29, 2013
Wayne Fairborn, a local politician, is murdered and an obvious suspect is arrested. Burnside, a private investigator and friend of the victim had a hunch that this was not as clear cut as it seemed. I rated this a 3.8.
Profile Image for Carrie Garza.
805 reviews2 followers
May 29, 2014
This is a really good detective story. The ex -cop turned private eye who iinvestigating the murder of a friend and solves a couple other problems along the
Way. The story is well written and edited.
Profile Image for Ang.
112 reviews
June 18, 2014
A really good "who done it?!" mystery. The author did a great job pulling me in with great characters, plots, twists. Detective Burnside's snarky humor and the action kept me turning the pages to the end.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 41 reviews

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