Heads-up! Kevin Tipple warns that Jim Nesbitt’s The Dead Certain Doubt is dark and very violent. Because there are no spoilers in Kevin’s reviews, I thought I’d highlight that comment. Thank you, Kevin, for sharing this review with us!

The Dead Certain Doubt Jim Nesbitt March 2023

Dallas Private Investigator Ed Earl Burch has a love/hate relationship with West Texas. Loves the land and its stark beauty. Does not care for many of the people— especially the ones that have repeatedly tried to kill him. But, truth be told, he never felt more alive than when working out there being the manhunter deal where one kills or is killed. It was like working Dallas Homicide without the red tape. Get the bad guys and gals, dead or alive.

In the wake of the savings and loan collapse the last decade, these days he is off the pills and making a good living going after the fugitive partners of real estate deals that went bad, finding hidden asserts, and nailing dead beat developers. He has done so well that he got his lawyer paid off and that meant he was free and clear from that shyster. Also did well enough to open an IRA and play in the stock market a little. He is a regular guy these guys with bad knees, mental and physical scars, and is absolutely bored out of his mind.

He’s spending his nights at Louie’s when he can’t sleep, drinking, and sharing war stories with a bunch of retired Dallas cops and other folks. Those old stories bring back a lot of memories. Also tends to sooth the voice of his long dead partner.

One memory from the past brings a lot of pain and guilt. Juanita Mutscher, at one time had an ex-mother-in-law, Theda Bayer. That woman had a daughter, Rhonda May Bayer. After Theda Bayer died as a result of her own toxic ways, Burch pulled a few strings and greased the wheels so that Rhonda Mae, who was six or seven back then, could go back to Juanita to live at her place out in the country between Midlothian and Venus.

It should have been a good deal.

It was until her Daddy came back in Rhonda Mae’s teen years, got full custody, and had Rhonda Mae move in with him. Things spiraled out of control. Burch intervened the first few times as she did drugs, booze and more, and repeatedly found herself deep in in consequences and trouble with the law. But, being off the Dallas PD by this time meant he had far less sway or markers to call in to help. He also got fed up riding to her rescue.

Now more than a decade later, Burch decides to go see Juanita and to make amends as best as he can. The years have not been kind to her and she makes it clear to Burch she is not long for this world. Her husband is dead and the next stroke she has will no doubt will send her on her way to him in the afterlife.

She would not have called. But, since he is at her place seeking redemption, she wants him to find Rhonda Mae. Been over a year since Juanita last heard from her. All she knows is that means the young woman is in trouble, not surprising since she is out in West Texas and mixed up in one of those Texas secession groups. While all the various groups preaching that nonsense are bad news, some are far worse than others.

Which one Rhona Mae is in, Juanita does not know. Juanita did save the letters that Rhonda Mae sent and she wrote some about what she was doing so that might help. Most of them were postmarked in Faver. A small town along the border. A place that Burch knows and he also knows the Sheriff down there pretty well.

With a starting point, a couple of ideas, his guns, and a handful of memories and ghosts, Burch packs up and goes down to see if he can find Rhonda Mae. It is a quest for redemption and to save the living, if he can. It does not take long for Burch to find blood, bullets, and mayhem. For Burch, this is the way.

The Dead Certain Doubt: An Ed Earl Burch Novel is the latest read in the series that began long ago with The Last Second Chance. As such, one expects the read to be complicated, violent, and graphic in terms of that violence as well as intimacy between partners of the night or long-term relationship. Such is true here as author Jim Nesbitt pulls out all the stops in every area.

At the same time, a significant part of this book is about Burch’s history and past cases. He has seen a lot and those deals are a major backbone of this book. Some situations, major parts of previous books, are detailed here in multiple paragraph odes of remembrance. As such, it would be best to have read the previous books before embarking on this read.

The Dead Certain Doubt: An Ed Earl Burch Novel by Jim Nesbitt is a powerfully dark and very violent crime fiction read. It is also incredibly good. 

My reading copy was an ARC provided by the author with no expectation of a review.

Kevin R. Tipple ©2023