Review: A Lonesome Place for Dying: A Novel by Nolan Chase

A Lonesome Place for Dying: A Novel by Nolan Chase takes the reader to Blaine, Washington, in this very good police procedural. Veteran Ethan Brand has been through some things. He came home, got off the drugs, got on the local police force, and is now 42 years old. He is also now the new chief of police for the town of just over six thousand. The Canadian Border is just north of town with Bellingham, and 90 miles away, Seattle, to the south.

 

It is April and so the tourists have yet to descend in mass. Things should be somewhat easy on his first day in the new job as he has been on the force for a number of years now and pretty much knows everybody. It also helps he grew up there.

 

There have been some strange things happening at his house. There is also the stress of being the new boss. Especially when Officer Brenda Lee Paige was skipped over by the former chief, Frank Keogh, when he recommended to the council they appoint, Ethan Brand. Frank’s son, Mal Keogh, also still works in the department and is clearly not ready to recognize Brand as his boss. Frank has also left him the pollical problem as to what to do Officer Cliff Mooney.

 

He is trying to smooth things over with Brenda Lee, at least a little bit, when Officer Ruiz calls in over the radio and requests assistance out at MO’s Scrapyard on the southeast side of the town. There is a body about a mile and a quarter from the scrapyard. Officer Ruiz was out at the yard on the vandalism call. The owner had thought it was kids and that they were still around on the nearby train tracks. They went looking to see if they could find the kids, or evidence tied into them, and found the body instead.

 

The deceased woman appears to be in her late twenties. It appears she was stabbed twice in her right side. It was raining until just after midnight and her clothing is dry. There is also no sign of anything around the body. Brand is left to wonder if she, somehow, came off of the train as it rolled by on the tracks a few feet away, or some other way.

 

What follows is a complicated police procedural that features a lot of world building. Rich and full small town characters including Brand, and a complicated mystery, are all at work here in A Lonesome Place for Dying. It takes familiar tropes, such as the veteran wounded and back home trying to stay sober, and turns them in new ways that reveal depth and nuance of characters. Those side excursions into backstory don’t slow the forward motion of the tale. Instead, they enhance the read.

 

Everything combines incredibly well together to create a mighty good read. One that hopefully is the start of a series. A Lonesome Place for Dying: A Novel by Nolan Chase is absolutely strongly recommended.

 

Amazon Associate Purchase Link: https://amzn.to/3Unsdlx

 

My reading copy was a digital ARC from the publisher, Crooked Lane Books, through NetGalley and was provided with no expectation of a review.

 

Kevin R. Tipple ©2024