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Murder around the Bend

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A body is reported lying on an isolated country road.
The Stone County Sheriff's Department sends out its newest homicide investigator - Dan Cutter.
Cutter discovers a baffling scene that leaves him with few clues and no obvious motive.

Experienced at working murder cases, Cutter finds himself with a different problem - he's in unfamiliar territory.
Stone County isn't the big city he came from, and finding the killer will test him in ways he never expected.
Can he adapt and solve this complicated case of a MURDER AROUND THE BEND?

300 pages, Kindle Edition

Published September 6, 2019

298 people are currently reading
96 people want to read

About the author

John C. Dalglish

66 books166 followers
Hello!
Thank you for stopping by.
The short story is I was born in Toronto, Canada. When I was 16, my family moved to Ft. Lauderdale, Fla., and that is where I met my wife, Bev.
We've been married for 43 years and share our home in Southwest Missouri with 4 dogs, 3 cats, 8 chickens, a herd of goats. We have 3 sons and 12 grandchildren that keep us hopping.
I've been known to ride my motorcycle in nice weather, play golf in nice weather, and tend my garden in nice weather. In bad weather, I prefer to stay inside. :)
Thanks to the support of you, our readers, I've been able to devote full time to my writing. Bev does our cover designs.
We hope you our books are enjoyable and you'll let us know.
Please feel free to contact us at: jdalglish7@gmail.com or on Facebook
God Bless, John & Bev

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Community Reviews

5 stars
401 (61%)
4 stars
182 (28%)
3 stars
55 (8%)
2 stars
5 (<1%)
1 star
6 (<1%)
Displaying 1 - 30 of 43 reviews
Profile Image for Rajesh.
415 reviews9 followers
October 8, 2019
Some prefer simplicity. This was too simple for my tastes.
Profile Image for Lis Carey.
2,213 reviews139 followers
November 21, 2019
St. Louis police homicide detective Dan Cutter has retired from that high-stress position to a rural life in Stone County, where his old friend is the sheriff--and an on-call job as the county's homicide detective. He's had a little time to get to know his new colleagues and neighbors, but is still "You moved here from St. Louis, right?" when a well-like businessman turns up dead near his truck some miles from home, shot to death almost execution-style.

Dan soon finds himself comforting the grieving wife and daughter, while he and his partner, Liz, a full time detective in this slower-paced community, start piecing together the evidence.

Who knew Frank? Everyone. Who were his enemies? The only one with a motive that looks strong enough to kill over was sitting in jail at the time, and had been for several weeks.

Yet, clearly, someone did kill him.

A lug wrench has a thumb print that doesn't match anything in the criminal fingerprint database. Both wife and daughter had handled the threatening note they received, and only has their fingerprints recoverable on it.

Stone County may have a slower pace than St. Louis, but it's not any less complicated.

I like the characters who are clearly going to be the regulars, and everyone gets enough characterization to seem human and plausible. This looks like a good start to an enjoyable new mystery series. Recommended.

I received a free copy of this audiobook from the author, and am reviewing it voluntarily.
Author 1 book69 followers
August 4, 2020
The Stone County Sheriff's Department sends out its newest homicide investigator - Dan Cutter to investigate a body lying on an isolated country road. It's a baffling scene, leaving him with few clues and no obvious motive.

The first scene - fishing. I love it! Whenever in Springfield, on our way to Branson, we try to stop at Lambert's Cafe. So good. That makes the setting memorable.

Frank is murdered, and Cutter had to tell the parents. The worse thing a detective must do. Dalglish gives the reader a "front-row" seat to an investigation. Simple, yet in-depth, each scene reads. I never have to be concerned about curse words or rated "R" scenes. It's what makes John's books so good. 5-Stars all the way.
Profile Image for Sandra Barker.
Author 22 books26 followers
January 24, 2023
This is the second of the clean suspense novels I've read by John Dalglish. I very much appreciate a "clean" story, so hats off to Dalglish for writing many such books. The plot in this book was not as riveting to me as the previous, "Boston Homicide," which I read by him. Nonetheless, it was a good book with a very likeable main character, Dan Cutter, who tells the story in first person POV. Dan has retired from working in Homicide in the big city and has moved to a small town where his good friend Joe is sheriff. Joe has asked Dan to become a part-time member of his team to help stem the tide of growing crime that has spilled over from the big city. This is the story of Dan's first case and introduction to life in a small town.
30 reviews
March 28, 2021
Suspense at it's Best

I thoroughly enjoyed this first book of John Dalglish's that I've read. The characters were interesting, and the suspense was great. The author kept you guessing until almost the end of the story, and the outcome was a complete surprise. I eagerly look forward to reading more books by this 5-Star author.
45 reviews
April 22, 2021
Max

Slow paced and cumbersome, interesting and curious to know who done it, but will not be reading book 2+#$-"'$#+-"'-#+$'$#"'+$3"'+$3"#+$-"'$3+"'$#++"$#("+'$#(+"'$#("+$3(+"+%#"(#%"++%3"+-%$"+$%"+-%$"+%3"+%3"+-3%"+%3'+-"%3+-"7+%3"''%3(+"'%3" (+'%3+"(%3'7" (%3"78%$"(7%3"'%$+7"-3-+3%
78 reviews
April 10, 2020
Surprise

This first story for Detective Cutter was very well written. The characters development was well written, which lead to the twist in the end. I like to be surprise when I read a book. That is worth Five stars.
14 reviews
Read
January 21, 2022
Excellent beginning for a new series

Enjoyed this book from beginning to end. Good descriptions by the author setting the stage for the mystery. Good character development of each person in the story. I look forward to reading the next book.
Profile Image for Cindy .
265 reviews9 followers
July 20, 2022
I was browsing in Kindle Unlimited and came across this author's books. The description sounded good and a big plus was that they were clean reads. I very much enjoyed his writing and the story moved along well. Am planning on looking up other books he has as there seem to be a good many.
232 reviews
August 12, 2022
Phones

So close to real life. Tracking killers by cell tower is so real. Had jury duty once and that is how the cops traced the gang members. Good red herrings for the first half of the book.
6 reviews
September 11, 2023
Good story line.

I appreciate the fact that a book can be written without swear words and still be good. I know the Springfield, Mo. area because I have family there. It made it even more interesting because I could envision the places mentioned. I'm glad I found this author.
713 reviews
June 9, 2024
A New Job/A Puzzle/A Murder!!

A new job starts off with a bang as there’s an investigation with no easy answers. But partners Dan & Liz go step by step & then some parts of the puzzle begin to fall in place. Then it’s a matter of working it all out.
Profile Image for Chloe Thomas.
81 reviews
August 23, 2024
Easy murder read

Good story, sometimes repetitive with a predictable ending. I don't need to know the colour of a folder repeatedly or the explanation of the history of a road name unrelated to the actual plot
113 reviews1 follower
March 27, 2020
Review of: "Murder around the Bend".

Another well written book by this author. Once you start it you don't want to put it down. I read it while eating my lunch.
1,249 reviews6 followers
December 17, 2020
3.5

It was a quick and enjoyable read. It seemed just a little too folksy, but that may just be my own pet bias.
Profile Image for nancy r rains.
24 reviews
December 25, 2020
Book 1 was a great read.

I have read all of the other books written by this author John Dalglish and to say they were a great read doesn't seem to be enough.
4,374 reviews28 followers
May 7, 2021
Good

a book about how two friends from years ago are working together in law enforcement. a retired dective agreed to work part time.
2 reviews
January 30, 2022
great read!

Another great read. Story flowed nicely . I have to say I was suspicious of the Martinez “ladies” from the beginning. Still a good clean story.
4,417 reviews43 followers
March 13, 2022
Who killed Frank Martinez and why??? Dan Cuttter sure was surprised and so was I!!! Hope to hear more about Max!!! However, I enjoyed the story and recommend the book.
72 reviews
March 20, 2022
Short and Not So Sweet

This is a good read with a twist. Figured it out with the introduction of one character.
Good author. Read it.
Profile Image for Debbie Culligan.
64 reviews1 follower
June 19, 2022
Page Turner

I look forward to the next book. Enjoyed all the characters. Can't wait for more stories. Keep writing you have a way with words
2,354 reviews27 followers
August 1, 2022
I enjoyed reading this story. Good descriptions and character development. I was surprised by who the murderer was as I had thought it was someone else.
22 reviews
February 25, 2023
Thought provoking

Rarely is a good detective story available on a clean format. I found the characters to be portrayed realistically. The storyline was enjoyable.
Profile Image for Jill.
1,218 reviews9 followers
February 27, 2023
Fantastic first book in this series. I have ot read this author before but I have already purchased book 2!
Profile Image for Judith.
698 reviews
August 11, 2024
Murder Around the Bend, Stone County book 1

Rating 3.5 This is a good story with a twist. I do think Mr. Dalglish needs to put a little more evidence in his stories instead of using the phone dump so much to solve crimes.
960 reviews2 followers
October 2, 2024
Really great read

The author has created an interesting and unique plot to go with a great group of characters making this hard to put down
6 reviews
December 30, 2020
Quick read

This book flows nicely and was a good read. It keeps the reader engaged from cover to cover. Looking forward to the next book in this series.
Profile Image for Nancy.
1,316 reviews
July 19, 2023
Read it in an afternoon! I enjoyed the straight-forward story without a lot of angst-ridden main characters. Nice twist at the end. Looking forward to more of Dan, Joe, Liz, Sophie and Max.
Profile Image for gwen graves.
1,227 reviews3 followers
June 29, 2022
Great

The story was good, but the ending was absolutely great. The twists were unbelievable. The first one I began to have suspicions but the second one blew me away.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 43 reviews

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