This is the first book I have read by Malcolm Hollingdrake and its the first in a series, and it will be a series I will be continuing. Great read and now for the next one 😀 ( )

When the bodies of two infants are discovered in the grounds of a college the investigation is given to DCI Cyril Bennett and his team headed by DS David Owen. Meanwhile a male is using sulphur mustard in attacking various people.
Two interesting stories in this mystery book, a good solid start to the series with some likeable characters.
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What an introduction to a new crime series! I loved every single word that Malcolm Hollingdrake has carefully chosen in this first instalment of the DCI Bennett series. The writing is so descriptive that a picture is painted before your eyes as if you're watching it on screen, which DCI Bennett can't do as he doesn't have a television, or an 'Idiot's lantern' as he calls them.

It didn't take long for me to feel an affinity with DCI Cyril Bennett. He's a typical Northerner, who loves a pint of Black Sheep (my favourite beer), is thought of so highly by his colleagues that he has a humorous nickname and is getting on with his job despite suffering from an outbreak of Bell's Palsy, causing temporary paralysis to his face. Partnered with young and naïve DS David Owen, the pair investigate when two infant bodies are found. At the same time, a killer is targeting care workers by infecting them with sulphur mustard, harvested from bullets left behind during the First World War. Bennett has his hands full with both cases but I had no doubt that his good old-fashioned police work would reap rewards.

I read Only the Dead just before the awful events in Salisbury where nerve gas was used on a former Russian spy and his daughter. The real life events had little care for who would get infected by the toxin, whereas the perpetrator in the book was a killer with a conscience as he warned the targets to contain themselves to avoid innocent people being infected. Without delving too deeply, it also brought to light some of the conditions that our elderly population have to suffer in care homes. I know we only hear of bad stories, but I do hope that there are more good care homes out there than bad ones.

Although it's only a 254 page book, Only the Dead epitomises the saying 'quality over quantity' and, with not a word out of place, shows the rest of the field how a book should be written. I'm really looking forward to continuing the series with Hell's Gate. ( )