Down in the Dirt: A Duke & Rinehart Novel

by Trevor Burbage

Magic is dead. Crime isn’t.

The Magic dried up, the kingdom went to hell, and now the last of the bloody royals is in the ground. It's an unfriendly world, especially for a pair of lowlife thieves like Duke and Rinehart.

Fortunately, their latest job is simple enough: find the runaway sister of a wealthy nobleman and drag her home. But when the girl hightails it into Mudweed—wild country filled with vicious bandits, backwoods cultists, and broken-down ruins leaking sour Magic—Duke and Rinehart get more than they bargained for. With a legendary score in their sights, they’ll fight tooth and nail (and pistol and sword) to get rich or die trying.

Join no-good scoundrels Duke and Rinehart in this rough-and-rowdy heist adventure set in a decaying fantasy world.

275 pages, Kindle Edition

Published April 27, 2026

About the author

Trevor Burbage is an author, illustrator, video creator, and former actor. Like his namesake Richard, he once played Hamlet and has remained fixated on stories of bloody revenge and existential despair ever since.

He is the author of Down in the Dirt, the first in a series of fantasy crime novels.

Trevor lives in the Midwest with his wife, two kids, and a wall of pulp paperbacks.

Reviews

[a. tessi ♡]

[ENG-US first] [PT-BR depois]

3.5

I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.

“It’s been said that dead men never hear the bard’s songs being sung about them—better they never get written in the first place.”

This was an extremely interesting story, and I really liked both Duke and Rinehart’s voices, with him being the cheery, ‘friendly’ one in the duo, and her the stone-faced, “whatcha lookin’ at?” type. The supporting cast was less charismatic, especially the villains — overall, I tend to favor villains over heroes, but, in this case, it was villain versus antiheroes, and the antiheroes won — but they moved the story along nicely enough to excuse them for it.

My full review is on my Substack. You can read it here.

Eu recebi uma cópia gratuita deste livro pelo Booksprout e estou fazendo essa resenha voluntariamente.

“Já foi dito que homens mortos nunca ouvem as canções de bardos a seu respeito—é melhor que nem sejam escritas pra começo de conversa.”

Essa foi uma história muito interessante, e eu gostei muito da voz do Duke e da Rinehart, com ele sendo o mais animado e ‘amigável’ da dupla, enquanto ela é a sériazona do tipo “tá olhando o quê?”. Os personagens secundários foram menos carismáticos, especialmente os vilões — no geral, eu tendo a gostar mais de vilões do que de heróis, mas nesse caso, eram vilões contra anti-heróis, e os anti-heróis venceram — mas eles serviram pra mover a história o bastante pra ignorar isso.

Minha resenha completa está no Substack. Confira aqui.

[Brendan Norton]

This goes down so easy, like a smooth pint at a friendly dive. Burbage pulls off a Venn diagram sweet spot between wild-eyed, bloody-gummed action, masterfully clockwork suspense, and genuinely funny, raw character work, all held together by mud, spit, and broken magic.

Our central pair immediately feel like figures you've known your whole life, maybe ones you never got around to reading before but you've heard everyone talk about. He's Duke, she's Rinehart. He's a natural conman, she's the first punch. Are they bad? Sure, but there's worse. Are they good? ... maybe, does it pay? But there's also something deeper in each, and Burbage teases out the goods the same way he hooks you with tantalizing lore about this larger world that's a pulsing, oozing remnant of its former vainglory.

Terrific pacing and clever POV shifts keep the plot crackling. Shades of Joe Abercrombie and Glen Cook, with a dash of Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead. I'm mad there aren't 10 more on my shelf right now.

[J. Bailey]

What a fun ride! Duke and Rinehart bounce off each other with wit and precision that I’ve only ever seen done by Abercrombie but Burbage knows his stuff and it shows through every thought and page. Down in the Dirt is a great ride and surprise with its world building and depth that’s sprinkled in just enough to get a good grip for this Victorian Era esque world and set up bigger and deeper adventures to come. I highly recommend this to anyone looking for a sharp, grim, character-driven novel that hits all the right tones and beats of your favorite Abercrombie novel. That’s not to say it doesn’t stand apart and on its own because it really does. This could—and I hope—become a long running series to read for years to come. I highly recommend anyone to get on board, jump into the mudweed, and fall in love with the next great duo in fantasy.

—J. A. Bailey (author of Silhouettes, book 1 of The Hollowblade Saga)

[Scarlett Noone]

I honestly did not expect liking this book as much as I did. It grabbed my attention right from the start and wouldn't let me put it down. I love that the main characters duo are not shown like some valiant heros on a noble quest. They are just a team of thieves trying to survive and thrive in a harsh world (that appears to be) devoided of magic. Reinhart gives off an epic "no flying f*cks" vibe and Duke's humorous nature brings some laughs. I think this duo works great together and I would love to read more about their advntures.

I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.

[Sam]

It's not bad

A start with opportunity.
Duke and Rinehart probably don't remember their names at this point as one lie always leads to another and life is hard in Mudweed.

[Hunter Palmer]

Very fun book, I enjoyed the characters and the story. I can see where the author drew inspiration from The First Law Trilogy by Joe Abercrombie. I will definitely be reading more from this author and look forward to the next Duke and Rinehart story.