When a new Poe and Tilly comes around it always feels like a return of friends as this series and author continues to captivate and wow us readers with his darkly comic yet serious and brilliant crime thrillers.

This 4th book in the series finds Poe and Tilly , working outside of their usual remit as they are tasked by a secretive government agency to investigate the murder of an American pilot, who’s body has been found dead in what appears to be a part time brothel.

With all of M.W? Craven’s usual trademarks, this is an another wise cracking, whip smart thriller, with a powerful story at its heart.

Team Poe and Tilly are quite the double act as ever , but for me, Tilly almost takes a back seat in this one as Poe really steals the show.

It’s cracking stuff, the plot lines are well crafted, intelligent and up to the minute, and whilst I had my suspicions about the eventual killer, Craven nails it and the finale 100 pages are crime writing at its finest.

With a review to follow on the upcoming blog tour , it’s safe to say Craven, Poe and Tilly have smashed it, and I enjoyed the final chapters as the continuing back story is opened wide.

Top Class Crime,

🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥

Detective Sergeant Washington Poe is in court, fighting eviction from his beloved and isolated croft, when he is summoned to a backstreet brothel in Carlisle where a man has been beaten to death with a baseball bat. Poe is confused - he hunts serial killers and this appears to be a straightforward murder-by-pimp - but his attendance was requested personally, by the kind of people who prefer to remain in the shadows.

As Poe and the socially awkward programmer Tilly Bradshaw delve deeper into the case, they are faced with seemingly unanswerable questions: despite being heavily vetted for a high-profile job, why does nothing in the victim's background check out? Why was a small ornament left at the murder scene - and why did someone on the investigation team steal it? And what is the connection to a flawlessly executed bank heist three years earlier, a heist where nothing was taken . . .

Thank you to the publishers for sending me a copy of this novel

I first discovered this author in lockdown. I saw them all over instagram and bought the first three books in the series. I devoured the first book in one sitting. I knew it was a new detective series form.

I have read the other two books over furlough and was so happy to be asked to be on the tour for the fourth instalment.

This book does not disappoint any Poe fans out here!

As with the other three books, this book is fast paced, full of twists and takes the reader on a real rollercoaster. The book has a very clever plot and one I did not figure out.

I highly recommend the Washington Poe series to any crime lovers.

In the authors note he writes that this book in the Poe & Tilly series is his favourite so far, and do you know what M.W.Craven ? I fully agree with you.
Dead Ground has so many twists and turns you are on a rollercoaster of a ride when you read it. It takes you downs alleys you never knew could exist.
As someone who lives in the area I like the name dropping of places and Cravens explanations of them are spot on.
Can't wait for the next one.

Dead Ground by MW Craven
I give this book 4.5 stars

Detective Sergeant Washington Poe and the socially awkward programmer Tilly Bradshaw delve deeper into their next case, they are faced with seemingly unanswerable questions: despite being heavily vetted for a high-profile job, why does nothing in the victim's background check out? Why was a small ornament left at the murder scene - and why did someone on the investigation team steal it? And what is the connection to a flawlessly executed bank heist three years earlier, a heist where nothing was taken . . .

This book can be read as a standalone or as book 4 in a series.Poe and his sidekick Tilly are back and l love the dynamics between this duo!
The authors brilliant writing skills deliver a clever,complex and twisty plot that add up to a superb crime thriller.Yet another read by MW Craven that l didn’t want to put down!
With thanks to Netgalley,MW Craven and Little Brown Book Group for my chance to read and review this.

Sergeant Poe is fighting to keep his beloved Herdwick Croft but before his court case can be ruled upon he and Tilly are whisked away by MI5 Operatives to assist them in solving the murder of a man connected to the nearby International Trade Summit.  As a matter of national security Poe and Tilly are against the clock and must discover the motive and, of course, the killer before the summit begins.

Well, he has done it again! Mike Craven is arguably one of the best crime authors of our lifetime.  He has opened our hearts to the dynamic duo that is Poe and Tilly and I cannot get enough of them.  Their relationship is comical yet heartwarming and I dare anyone to show me a better pair of characters.

The storyline of Dead Ground is as complex as all previous Craven novels.  Everytime I thought I understood where the story was going - BANG! I question sometimes whether Craven has an external hard drive of knowledge which he just plugs into his brain as how one individual can have this level of knowledge and creativity in their mind boggles my brain!

Dead Ground is compelling - as with all other Mike Craven novels you are instantly gripped from the first page.  The action is explosive, fast-paced and detailed.  Add that to a pot and add in Poe and Tilly you have a delicious book to read. Another 5 star read for Craven.  Absolutely brilliant!

Thank you to @mwcraven, @thecrimevault, @bethwright26 and @NetGalley for the advanced copy of Dead Ground in exchange for an honest review.
#deadground #teampoe #teamtilly #teamcraven

M W Craven has really outdone himself on this one. The simplest way to describe this book is that you’ll be lead into myriad moments where you think you’ve worked out where the story is going to end, only to find that the thing you thought was going to be the dénouement happens in the next chapter and passes by like a twig down the rapids. Metaphorically, it’s like trying to swat a fly; the story moves before you’ve even twitched.

So, let’s dig in a little without spoiling any fun. Let’s start with the characters. They are going to have to play the 12″ mix of the closing song when they roll the credits on what must surely be a Hollywood version of this book, because there are lots of people in this story. From the bank heist, to the shadowy government agents, to the hotel preparing for a big event, there are people all over the place. For any mortal author, this would be a problem. We have all read a book where the machine-gun of names and faces leaves us stunned and confused, but Craven ignites all the key people with real life force. All the personalities shine every time they talk, wink, or fake a case of IBS, so there is never a moment where you are wondering who is who.

As if chiselling out fists full of vibrant personalities wasn’t task enough, the plot dodges like a gazelle. Once the scene has been set, the pace lurches into fast forward. This kicks in just before the half-way mark… and I challenge anyone to stop reading once you’re pointing downhill. Not realising this would be the case, I found myself trapped for an entire evening and night as I couldn’t stop (and I’m paying the price today!)

If you like a solid slice of crime fiction, with dollops of British humour and the best investigative duo in modern fiction, Dead Ground is genre-masterpiece that contains more A-ha moments than ‘Headlines and Deadlines’.

WOW, Mr Craven is back with book 4 of the Washington Poe and Matilda ‘Tilly’ Bradshaw series, which I have to admit is my favourite duo since Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s Sherlock and Watson pairing. I absolutely love this series. It’s one that never disappoints. There is always action, suspense, tension and the normal humour with Poe and Tilly and some of the conversations they have.

Dead Ground starts with a bank robbery by a group of men wearing James Bond masks from the earliest bond up to the latest Bond. But how does that tie in with he later events? Poe is in court trying to save his home from being turned back to its original condition with the help of Tilly. When they are basically summoned to what is meant to be a secure location but Poe knows exactly where they are being taken, of course Poe being Poe he doesn’t give in quietly to the demands made when they reach their destination. Until Alistor Locke of the security services comes down to see them. Along with Locke is the return of FBI agent Melody Lee who readers of The Curator will know, she is now fully reinstated.

A helicopter pilot has been brutally murdered in a pop up brothel, his job was to be flying in delegates to Scarness Hall for a major political summit. Because of this murder the security services are worried about the security, as to whether someone is targeting the summit itself or someone who will be attending, or is there no link. It’s up to Poe and Tilly along with Melody Lee and MI5 agent Hannah Finch.

This story sees Poe looking at an incident that had taken place during the war with Afghanistan back 15 years earlier, but how does that link with anything else? Why was the pilot murdered?

I don’t want to give to much else away as this is a book to be enjoyed, I read through it as quick as I could as I wanted to know what was happening and how it was going to end, but then had that sad feeling when you come to the end of the book and you want more. Knowing I now have to wait a year until the next Poe and Tilly book will be released.

If you like a well plotted police procedural, with plenty of red herrings that will really have you guessing, then you cannot do wrong if you read any of Mike Craven’s books this series is one of the best out there right now. With some fantastic characters, that you get to know throughout the books they just get better with each novel.

I would like to thank #netgalley and #LittleBrownBook for an eARC of this book in exchange for an honest, fair and unbiased review. I will look forward to re reading this again when my pre ordered copy arrives on publication day.

I chose to read and review a free eARC of Dead Ground but that has in no way influenced my review.

Flipping heck, another absolutely stonking book from the pen of M.W. Craven. He can do no wrong in my eyes! Dead Ground is the fourth book in the Washington Poe series (although we all know the series is unofficially called 'Tilly and Poe', right?) and it's an intense and gripping page turner of a read. I devoured it's 448 pages in a little over 24 hours because it was impossible to put down. If you're a crime fiction fan and you haven't picked this series up yet, then you need to correct that ASAP!

In the middle of fighting for his beloved shepherd's croft, moments before the magistrate delivers his final decision, two mysterious men enter the court room and summon Tilly and Poe to their vehicle. Poe is reluctant to leave but powers far superior to those he normally answers to have made the call. It doesn't take Poe long to work out who the men are and where they are taking them. But the 'why' remains unclear. Until they're shown grisly crime scene photos of a man beaten to death inside a brothel. As Tilly and Poe begin to scratch the surface, nothing seems to make sense. Who was the victim and why are MI5 so interested in him? As they dig deeper, it's clear the pair are uncovering something with far reaching and dangerous implications...

Dead Ground was an absolute joy to read! It's twisty and thrilling and all the things I want in my crime fiction. I adore both Tilly and Poe. The dynamic between the two characters is just perfect. Craven has created two very different people who bring out the best in each other, and spending time with them is like being reunited with old friends. I loved the banter, the sense of friendship and loyalty, and how the author evokes such strong feelings of fondness for them in his readers. By far the best crime fighting duo out there (and I will fight you if you disagree ).

Tilly and Poe are once again in deep. Nothing is ever simple, nor easy for these two. But if you've got a complicated case which needs solving, I can't think of two people I'd rather have working it!  The author has written an exciting and intense story with several seemingly unconnected threads which had me on the edge of my seat. The investigation is on an epic scale and I couldn't help but wonder how the author was going to tie everything together at the conclusion of the book. But oh boy, does it all come together. And when you think it's all solved, there might just be another fantastic, unexpected twist to add to the mix!

Would I recommend this book? Most definitely. The entire series is magnificent and I heartily recommend you get your mitts on all four books. Dead Ground is a compulsive and irresistible addition to an outstanding series. I fall a little more in love with these characters with each book so I'm counting down the days until book five is released next year (fingers crossed!). Poe stands head and shoulders above his counterparts in the same genre, and with the help of the incredible Tilly, they are a force to be reckoned with. A must read for all crime fiction fans, do whatever it takes (within legal boundaries and reason, of course!) to get hold of a copy. I promise, you'll be hooked before you know it! Highly recommended.

I chose to read and review a free eARC of Dead Ground. The above review is my own unbiased opinion.

Thank you to NetGalley and Little Brown Book Group for granting me for an eARC of Dead Ground!

I'm a big fan of the Tilly and Poe series and so I was absolutely ecstatic about being approved for Dead Ground but reading it just felt like a completely different book and it felt like it was missing the Tilly and Poe magic that the other books have included. I think for me, this could have been any old detective/crime novel especially with the focus on the military side of things. I think that was my problem with this book that I just didn't feel interested in the book plot; the military bits were just really not interesting to me and it really felt like we could have had any detectives leading this case. I think the fact that we had more side characters this time and no Flynn really came across and even though Tilly was in the book, I feel like we lost a lot of her magic too.

I said in my last review that I hoped they didn't just gloss over the events of the third book and it really felt like they did. We get a couple of comments about Flynn's hard birth of her child... and a brief scene with how she was doing... and that was it?! Like seriously, SPOILER REDACTED

I want to make it clearly I didn't hate this book and I did enjoy bits, but it really felt like it could have just been any old detective novel and missed that magic i've found in the previous books in the series.

I'll still be interested to see where the series goes next.

If you are looking for and action, mystery, tension and laughter filled read, then you know you've it's going to be a pretty save bet that the next book in the Washington Poe series by M.W. Craven is going to fit the bill. And fit the bill it does, with Dead Ground proving once again why Poe and Tilly Bradshaw are one of the best crime fighting teams around. Corruption, cover ups, murder, aggravating some of the countries top Spooks ... All in a day's work for this duo.

We're used to Poe being engaged in some slightly unusual murder investigations, and, by that respect, the style of murder in this book seems almost, well, pedestrian in comparison. Almost ... This wouldn't be a Washington Poe novel if everything was really that straightforward. After teasing readers with an opening chapter that is seemingly incongruous with the story that follows, Poe and Bradshaw soon find themselves invited to participate in an potential murder investigation with links to a major political summit that is due to be happening in Carlisle. And by invited, I mean, given no choice. And you know how Poe is when he is not given a choice ... Cue the tension, and the humour, and those wonderful sparks of Poe's contrary character that we all come to love so much and you know that this is going to be one hell of a fun ride.

What I loved about this book was the way in which the author takes us deep into the world of the military and the Afghanistan war, an environment that most of us would only really know from what we have seen on the television. It informs rather than overwhelms the story, but it is important and the way in which the violent history of the war is woven into the narrative is authentic and accessible, and with the author's own employment history you can understand why. You get a sense of the tension and the emotional impact of the conflict, but only in a way which enhances and drives the action of the main investigation. And the way that those on the periphery of the investigation - the suspects, the bereaved family, even the extended military family - really rings true. A blend of resilience, discipline and something just a little more.

This series, though, is really nothing without it's characters. From the straight talking, no nonsense Poe, the often far too literal Tilly, and all of those that they come into contact with, M.W. Craven has really made sure that every single personality counts. I especially liked the character of Alastor Locke. Not a man you can necessarily settle with or trust, for reasons that will become apparent in the reading, but he has the measure of Poe as Poe does of him, and the back and forth between the pair really did bring a smile to my face. He was someone I'd actually happily see come back in another story. And if you have read The Curator then you'll spot another very familiar face make an appearance. Very different in character to Poe and Tilly, larger than life in personality, but definitely a great boost to the story. The author really has a knack for bringing them all to life, making them believable, if not always likeable, and using this to send us off in a direction we weren't expecting.

I know it is often said, but this was a story that really did keep me guessing to the end. With emotion infused throughout, a good deal of tension, good pacing, top notch characters and a whole heap of misdirection, ( and bearing in mind who Poe has to work with this time, that is almost a given) this book delivered an ending that was very, very satisfying. And the narrative is, as always, littered with the kind of unintentional (Tilly) and downright sarcastic and deliberate (Poe) humour that has come to typify this series. If you don't love the banter that happens between the characters, and the comedy gold of the literal interpretations of incorruptible and far too innocent Tilly, then you have no soul.

Mr C you have pulled another blinder. Definitely recommended.

I was really excited to receive a review copy of the latest book in the Poe and Tilly series and once I’d started reading it I couldn’t put it down until I reached the last page!
Poe, an investigator with the National Crime Agency and Tilly, a rather unusual computer whizz, are an unlikely crime solving duo. The gruff Poe and the unworldly and extremely loyal Tilly, have a great relationship and work well together, investigating crimes.
When they are summoned by British security forces to a secret location and tasked with looking into the murder of a pilot , the duo are rather bemused. Bierman, the victim, has been found dead in a brothel but MI5 are concerned as his firm has been assigned to provide transport for a secret world summit taking place at a location in the heart of the Cumbrian countryside; they fear his death has something to do with terrorists targeting this meeting.
British security and the Americans in the guise of FBI agent Melody Lee are keen for the murder to be solved as quickly as possible. Melody has appeared in a previous book in the series and it is great to catch up with her again.
Poe and Tilly gradually discover information about events during the war in Afghanistan which are somehow relevant to the present day murder. There are as many characters as there are red herrings and the reader is not sure if all has been sufficiently explained, even at the denouement towards the end of the book.
Poe and Tilly are two of my favourite characters and I really enjoy watching their relationship grow as the series progresses. I love the way Poe looks out for Tilly whilst trying to help her fit in with others, despite her quirky personality.
There is also much humour in the book despite it being about a serious subject. Tilly’s lack of knowledge about the meaning of certain phrases and their meaning leads to some entertaining reading.
I thoroughly enjoyed “Dead Ground” and my only disappointment was when I got to the end and realised I’d have to wait an awfully long time before my next meeting with this wonderful dynamic duo.
This is definitely a five star read and recommended to all crime thriller fans.
Thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for my arc in exchange for an honest review.

The award winning MW Craven's latest addition to his moreish DS Washington Poe and Tilly Bradshaw, from the Serious Crime Analysis (SCAS) unit of the National Crime Agency (NCA), series has been eagerly anticipated, it is a fast paced and utterly riveting novel of retribution, looted art and murders in the past and present. Poe is in court fighting not to lose his isolated Herdwick croft, being ably defended by the genius Tilly, only to be urgently picked up by MI5 operatives. Despite, or perhaps even because of his inability to follow orders, he and Tilly are to look into a gruesome murder that has national security implications for a international trade summit to take place at the heavily guarded Scarness Hotel. The pair are joined by FBI Agent Melody Lee, now vindicated and reinstated after events in The Curator, and representing American interests at the summit and MI5's Hannah Finch.

The victim is Oliver Bierman, an ex-military Brit hero living in the US, running a helicopter service with his partner, the American Patrick McDaid, flying in delegates to the summit. Strangely his body was discovered in a unprepossessing part of the town, in a temporary pop up brothel, how would a visitor unfamiliar with the area possible know of its existence? His face has been bashed in by a baseball bat and the PM carried out by the esteemed pathologist, Estelle Doyle, reveals he was tortured horrifically prior to being killed. A ceramic rat stolen from the crime scene leads the team to a curious failed bank heist carried out 3 years ago by men in James Bond masks, nothing was taken, but left behind in one of the security boxes is a identical rat, along with the shot dead body of one of the robbers. Poe and Tilly find themselves facing one of their most challenging cases that including taking in deadly events in Afghanistan, a visit to Southampton, and a ruthless killer on the loose.

Once again Craven provides the usual thrills and spills galore, along with the trademark humour and banter between Poe and Tilly, now including Melody, and recurring characters such as Estelle Doyle. This is a compulsive read that had me turning the pages as quickly as possible, and I didn't stop until I reached the end. With twists and turns coming thick and fast, the complex plotting and the stellar characters of Poe and Tilly, particularly Tilly, guarantee that this crime read will become a favourite with fans, old and new. I loved it, although I admit to having a few niggles, like the over the top representation of teenager Emily, and I wasn't completely convinced by the final reveal either at the end. I am already looking forward with great anticipation to the next in the series! Many thanks to Little, Brown for an ARC.