New Life For a Dead Man: A Bill and Martin Murder Mystery

by PM Mahoney

When a woman’s body is found on a bush track, Martin, the man who discovered it while walking his dog, is initially considered a prime suspect and arrested. His faithful dog keeps having nightmares and realises that he used to be a human in a past life and is somehow connected to the deceased. With his master’s freedom on the line, Bill busts out of his backyard determined to track down the clues needed to solve the crime, free his master and understand his past.

400 pages, Kindle Edition

Expected publication June 26, 2026

Reviews

[Joshua · Rating 4 out of 5]

I received this as an Early Reviewer and it was okay. My initial rating was 3 stars, but in writing a review I thalked myself up to 4 stars. I do have some critiques about the book. Some of the dialogue is stilted, the way the characters speak doesn’t feel natural, and no it’s not because they’re Australian haha. Some of the gags go on a little too long, there’s one in the start about being black which was humorous at first, but like… we get it. If it was an actual secret and not revealed in the description, it wouldn’t have been overkill, but the book tries to drive it home a little too hard like it’s trying to convince the reader that the narrator is correct. There’s also a gag in the start and the punchline is poop, and it goes on and on, we know it’s poop, just say it already. That dragging on of the jokes does subside later on in the book, the timing for the reveal is much better by the end.

Other than that, it’s a really interesting premise and did leave me wanting to hear more about the world. I didn’t go back to verify, but I am pretty sure all the chapter titles are song names which was fun. There are supernatural aspects to the story, and it’s clear there’s more going on with some of the characters, or that they are headed down a path of discovery. The police are almost incompetent, but not in a frustrating way. You may spend time flipping between “are they on the right track?” and screaming at them for following red herrings. But the police did go on to surprise me, especially at the very end.

Part of me feels that the evidence isn’t really there for you to solve the murder before the characters, but at the same time, once I got to the end I realized the author was basically constantly pointing at the murderer before you even know they exist. It does all add up, and you can draw the conclusion before the characters, but not solidly if you ask me, it’s more of just a suspicion.

Overall a fun and silly mystery about a guy and his dog, I think I will be back for more.