The Private Lie, by Keith Dixon

The Private Lie is Dixon's second book in the Sam Dyke series and the follow up book to Altered Life, which we've already read. You can find out more about Keith Dixon, and the first Sam Dyke book Altered Life, here: http://www.bdabooks.com.au/books/books-weve-enjoyed/altered-life.html

Review

by Belinda D'Alessandro (29 January 2009)

What really stands out in Keith Dixon’s The Private Lie, the second instalment in his Sam Dyke series, is its skilful mix of the American “private eye” mystery, with all the “American brashness” one expects of a private investigator, with the “sensibilities” one might expect of the British detective.

Dixon cleverly infuse two stories: Sam Dyke, not knowing he had offspring until he after he discovers the identity of his ex-wife’s murderer, meeting his son Dan for the first time as Dan’s barely becoming an adult; the other follows father and son as the two get to know each other on a mission to find the almost adult boy’s missing girlfriend. Convincingly written and well visualized, both flow together to create an elegantly moving tale.

In addition, Dixon keeps his readers on the edge of their seats by introducing some chilling scenes into the tale.

It’s another exceptional tale from Dixon which will keep the reader intrigued to the end. It’s the elegant use of language, the fully realized characterizations, and the effective play of tension and conflict that all come together to make this novel that moves forward with an irresistible force. It is an excellent piece of work!

Keith Dixon – a biography Keith Dixon has worked as an advertising copywriter, a lecturer in English, a writer of online training courses and is currently working as an organizational psychologist. His first typewriter was a Remington whose keys you had to practically stand on to depress them. During his twenties he wrote ten novels whose manuscripts, he is now glad to reveal, finally rotted in a damp basement after years of abuse and neglect. He did win a play-writing competition with a play about Isaac Newton and published a science fiction short story that, miraculously, earned him two weeks’ salary. Dixon lives in Cheshire, in the north of England, but rather wishes it was LA. He is currently working on translating a work from French to English and editing another work (in English).