What do you think?
Rate this book
The Dead Don't Lie
A missing woman. A bag of money. A detective who trusted her.
Some lies you survive—others make you.Before Detective John Stone was a legend, he was just a cop with a bad habit of trusting the wrong people.
Caroline Howard walked into Stone’s life with a story of blackmail, fear, and men willing to kill to keep their secrets. She was beautiful. She was desperate. And she was lying.
A midnight exchange turns violent, a killer escapes into the dark, and Caroline disappears without a trace—leaving Stone holding a bag of money, a corpse, and more questions than answers.
The deeper he digs, the more the city begins to powerful men, organized crime, and a woman who played them all. And somewhere in the middle of it stands Stone, forced to learn the hardest lesson of his
The truth doesn’t care who it destroys.
And the dead don’t lie.
Some lies you survive—others make you.Before Detective John Stone was a legend, he was just a cop with a bad habit of trusting the wrong people.
Caroline Howard walked into Stone’s life with a story of blackmail, fear, and men willing to kill to keep their secrets. She was beautiful. She was desperate. And she was lying.
A midnight exchange turns violent, a killer escapes into the dark, and Caroline disappears without a trace—leaving Stone holding a bag of money, a corpse, and more questions than answers.
The deeper he digs, the more the city begins to powerful men, organized crime, and a woman who played them all. And somewhere in the middle of it stands Stone, forced to learn the hardest lesson of his
The truth doesn’t care who it destroys.
And the dead don’t lie.
229 pages, Kindle Edition
Published December 15, 2025
400 people are currently reading
59 people want to read
About the author
Blake Banner
155 books397 followersUSA TODAY and Amazon #1 bestselling author of the OMEGA and DEAD COLD MYSTERY series. Learn more about Blake Banner at his website: www.blakebanner.com
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews
January 10, 2026
I did not enjoy this book whatsoever if I could give it zero stars I would, I think there was more mentions of Stone being a cop, camels and whiskey then there was focus on the plot.
Stone is approached by a woman to help get photographs from her blackmailers, instead of following protocol Stone decided to do the work himself, when he arrives at the meet up point nothing goes to plan, with one dead and Stone having both the package and the money he’s left confused. Stone is then further intertwined into the story, the package isn’t photographs and the woman wasn’t getting blackmailed she was doing the blackmailing. As the story unfolds I continue to loose my interest and it was a struggle to read the author spent a lot of time mentioning how much Stone likes to drink and to smoke instead of building up a plot. Not for me.
Stone is approached by a woman to help get photographs from her blackmailers, instead of following protocol Stone decided to do the work himself, when he arrives at the meet up point nothing goes to plan, with one dead and Stone having both the package and the money he’s left confused. Stone is then further intertwined into the story, the package isn’t photographs and the woman wasn’t getting blackmailed she was doing the blackmailing. As the story unfolds I continue to loose my interest and it was a struggle to read the author spent a lot of time mentioning how much Stone likes to drink and to smoke instead of building up a plot. Not for me.
January 9, 2026
More than 5 stars
I have read ALL of Mr. Banners Dead Cold series and have been intrigued and hooked on all of them. I assume this one was written last because I have seen nothing of it until now. I gave it 5 stars because there was 10 or 20 available. This was unputdownable, as I have heard as best possible description! Thank you, Blake!!!
I have read ALL of Mr. Banners Dead Cold series and have been intrigued and hooked on all of them. I assume this one was written last because I have seen nothing of it until now. I gave it 5 stars because there was 10 or 20 available. This was unputdownable, as I have heard as best possible description! Thank you, Blake!!!
December 24, 2025
Best thriller writer today
He reminds so much of the golden age of crime fiction, dime novels, Ross McDonald - fast, action filled pages, no moralising,, and hell if a lot better English than contemporary American writers can muster.
He reminds so much of the golden age of crime fiction, dime novels, Ross McDonald - fast, action filled pages, no moralising,, and hell if a lot better English than contemporary American writers can muster.
December 30, 2025
Stone looks like a fool
A little slow and tomcat fetched for my liking. Plus, Stone is played for a fool through out the story. He did get the better in the end but it was more keystone coppers then an intense thrill ride.
A little slow and tomcat fetched for my liking. Plus, Stone is played for a fool through out the story. He did get the better in the end but it was more keystone coppers then an intense thrill ride.
December 22, 2025
My least favorite cold case book, John seemed dense the whole case even though I know it is a prequel but nah.
December 28, 2025
Good book - fast-paced. I rate it 5 stars.
December 29, 2025
A Good Read
Book kept me turning pages although some of the terminology was not that great. There are also errors a proof reader should have caught. I did enjoy it overall.
Book kept me turning pages although some of the terminology was not that great. There are also errors a proof reader should have caught. I did enjoy it overall.
December 29, 2025
Nice beginning for a series
December 30, 2025
THAT was an unbelievable read. Bravo!
January 2, 2026
An sich nicht schlecht (besonders wie Detective Stone alle anderen durchschaut), aber es ist völlig unrealistisch und leicht, den Überblick zu verlieren.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
January 10, 2026
CC1
This was an excellent novella for the Dead Cold Mysteries. 10 stars plus!!!! Thanks, Carl Stone and Regain make a good team.
This was an excellent novella for the Dead Cold Mysteries. 10 stars plus!!!! Thanks, Carl Stone and Regain make a good team.
January 15, 2026
Good read
Really good 👍 story Relaxing intriguing and suspenseful Could not put it down Looking forward to the next story Thank you
Really good 👍 story Relaxing intriguing and suspenseful Could not put it down Looking forward to the next story Thank you
Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews