Buried Dreams

Buried Dreams by Brendan DuBois is a very highly recommended mystery/crime thriller and the fifth novel in the Lewis Cole series.

Keep in mind this is a re-release of a novel first published 7/1/2004. That threw me off when I recently reviewed #4, Killer Waves on 9/1/23, but I was prepared this time and it resulted in a greatly enjoyed novel. I was eager to read about what Lewis Cole was up to now and appreciated appearances from recently met and known characters, Felix, Diane, and Paula.

In this outing, a friend of Lewis, retiree Jon Ericson, has been murdered. Jon had just called him about a discovery that he had been seeking for years, and just discovered the proof. Jon had spent years looking for evidence of artifacts proving that show more the Vikings had landed on their coast for years. When young he had found a coin, but sold it. He's regretted that for years. Now he excitedly called Lewis to tell him the good news: he has the evidence. When Lewis arrives at his home, what he finds are the police, crime scene tape up, and Jon has been murdered in his home. There are no sign of the artifacts.

Lewis takes Jon's murder personally and contacts his mobster friend Felix Tinios to help him find the killer, assuming it is Jon's brother, Ray, who is the prime suspect. Lewis's best friend, Detective Diane Woods, had asked him to please stay out of it and leave the investigation alone, but he is unable to do so. Lewis is in for a world of hurt this time out.

Having been introduced to all the characters with the previous Lewis Cole novel, I enjoyed Buried Dreams even more. The characters were still fresh in my mind and I remembered them so the character development was not an issue, as it had been when I read #4. I was actually quit happy to see these characters again. This may be a series where reading the previous novels definitely is helpful for the enjoyment of the current novel being read.

The writing is excellent and the fast-paced plot held my complete attention throughout. Lewis is an intelligent character and completely focused on his goal. With the help of Felix, he uncovers clues to establish Jon's activities and he follows up on what he can, ignoring Diane's plea. Lewis chooses to place his safety on the line and seek the truth. The ending is an unexpected twist and very well done. I'm now anxious to move on to number 6 in the series.
Disclosure: My review copy was courtesy of Severn House Publishers via Edelweiss.
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Lewis Cole's friend Jon Ericson is intrigued by local history, and has been obsessed for many years with his theory that the Vikings inhabited the New Hampshire coastline. He finally finds real evidence, but when Lewis goes to see it, he finds the police securing the scene of a murder. Following his moral compass and disobeying a request from his close friend, Detective Diane Woods, he teams up with his shady friend, Felix Tinios to bring justice to the murderer. DuBois does a nice job of shifting suspicion around various perpetrators until the end, and we gain some further insight into Lewis and his family, which has not been featured previously.