Dead Ground cover art

Dead Ground

Washington Poe, Book 4

Preview

Try Premium Plus free
1 credit a month to buy any audiobook in our entire collection.
Access to thousands of additional audiobooks and Originals from the Plus Catalogue.
Member-only deals & discounts.
Auto-renews at $16.45/mo after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

Dead Ground

By: M. W. Craven
Narrated by: John Banks
Try Premium Plus free

$16.45 per month after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

Buy Now for $26.99

Buy Now for $26.99

Confirm Purchase
Pay using voucher balance (if applicable) then card ending in
By confirming your purchase, you agree to Audible's Conditions Of Use and Privacy Notice and authorise Audible to charge your designated credit card or another available credit card on file.
Cancel

About this listen

Winner of the prestigious CWA IAN FLEMING STEEL DAGGER AWARD 2022

Longlisted for the Theakston Old Peculiar Crime Novel of the Year 2022

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....

©2021 M. W. Craven (P)2021 Hachette Audio UK
Crime Thrillers Modern Detectives Police Procedural Thriller Thriller & Suspense Fiction Mystery Suspense

Critic Reviews

"Heart-pounding, hilarious, sharp and shocking, Dead Ground is further proof that M.W. Craven never disappoints. Miss this series at your peril." (Chris Whitaker)

"I've been following M.W. Craven's Poe/Tilly series from the very beginning, and it just gets better and better. Dead Ground is a fast-paced crime novel with as many twists and turns as a country lane. I can't wait for the next one." (Peter Robinson)

"Dead Ground is both entertaining and engaging with great characters and storyline. I loved this first dip into the world of Tilly and Poe!" (BA Paris)

What listeners say about Dead Ground

Average Customer Ratings
Overall
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    100
  • 4 Stars
    22
  • 3 Stars
    5
  • 2 Stars
    0
  • 1 Stars
    0
Performance
  • 5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    103
  • 4 Stars
    12
  • 3 Stars
    3
  • 2 Stars
    0
  • 1 Stars
    0
Story
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    91
  • 4 Stars
    23
  • 3 Stars
    2
  • 2 Stars
    1
  • 1 Stars
    0

Reviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.

Sort by:
Filter by:
  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Very satisfying tale

Starts off as pretty dry with a fairly complex storyline weaving it’s way through the narrative with lots of twists and turns. Basically the author sets up quite a weighty scenario and then, through his wonderful protagonists, resolves everything beautifully in surprising ways…. Great listen!

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Excellent read, great narration!

This was very enjoyable and kept me intrigued right up to the last page!!
Very well researched and I love Poe’s character as well as his offsider geek.

Definitely highly recommended reading/listening!

Enjoy!
Nicola South Australia

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Dead great!

I can’t say how much I am enjoying this series… my only fear is that, I am about to start the latest/most recent book to date, and will have to wait until the next one is published 😱

Poe and Tilly are mismatches made for each other. Teamed up with ‘DI Stephanie Flynn’ they are fantastic reading. I strongly recommend this series ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

good story

First time I have listen to this author, and really enjoyed it. loved the storyline and plots. Narration was easy to listen to as well. looking forward to listening to more.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Thrilling

Usually the plot to this book would not be one I reach for. But I enjoy Poe, Tilly and the story that they create.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Brilliant, clever and entertaining

First listen I’ve had from this author and wish I hadn’t been so late coming to the party. Incredible and super clever plot. Off to order some more of this. 👏👏👏

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

One of the best crime series out there

I'm editing this review having just listened to the superb first book in the series -- The Puppet Show.
Dead Ground was the first one of the series i discovered and whilst i enjoyed it, i loved Puppet Show, Curator and Botanist even more.
Coming in cold, i wasn't sure if Tilly was overly stereotyped as the autistic genius with a little girl voice. But book 1 establishes her relationship with Poe really well, so I'm deleting that reservation and recommending listening to the books in order.

Loved the characters and the story.
Did wonder about the MI5 agent who doesn't know what luminol is, though (really?)

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Great story

Wow, very exciting story, this kept me guessing to the end. Loved the story and the narration as well. Will definitely read another Craven.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    2 out of 5 stars

I didn’t really enjoy this one. Too complex and difficult to follow for a non army person

While I love the characters or Washington and Tilly I didn’t really enjoy this one. I pushed through to the end but found it too complicated . The criminals kept
Coming until the good ones ended up as horrible criminals too! Have loved the other Washington Poe books so much but this one left me flat!

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

In the spirit of reconciliation, Audible acknowledges the Traditional Custodians of country throughout Australia and their connections to land, sea and community. We pay our respect to their elders past and present and extend that respect to all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples today.