What good is a lady you can't take for a dance?

An unusual and violent murder mystery which immediately draws in the reader by the bizarre suicide witnessed by a man waking, hungover, by a bridge crossing a fast running river. The man he saw jump hadn't seemed like someone who wanted to die: but still he not only leapt from the bridge, he simultaneously, and with considerable difficulty, shot himself in the back of his head. The rushing river dragged the body away.

The book is also populated almost entirely with unlikable characters, with the exception only of Toby, a just teenage boy on the autistic spectrum, the main protagonist s uncle (brief appearance only), and Diane, wife of the Chief of police and brother to Sean Coleman, unlikely hero and the man who witnessed the suicide, himself a surly, hard drinking loner disliked and mistrusted by the whole town.
No wonder the super tracker Native American, Ron Oldhorse, lived outside of Winston, keeping to himself and also despised by the town's inhabitants. Great characterisations, growing naturally as the story progresses.

The book developes with sections written from the point of view of various protagonists including that of Sean, the police chief, his wife, the uncle, young Toby, a woman named Lisa, Oldhorse and others. It is not until about four hours before the end, the suicider's tale is told, this last in the first person. Yet despite the movement through the different perspectives, and even time shifting through some character rememberances, with the exception of that first person recounting, it all fits well. The book would have improved with the removal of this part, relying instead on what has just been flagged - the contents of a letter - and the continuing investigation and descovery. It's all there, anyway and just needs to unravel. Perhaps that part works better in text.

Violence, murder and numerous grouchy characters: not an easy book to narrate. Chiquita Joaquim Crawford has a great voice, perfect for this story, medium deep with just a hint of gruff. He reads with good intonation and his coverage of the numerous characters is individualistic and appropriate, read with good understanding. Unfortunately, his reading of the text is slightly disjointed, broken with strange little pauses, and there are occasional short fluctuations in sound, editting glitches, I assume. Speeding playback to 1.25 helps to minimize these problems.

From a Dead Sleep is, presumably, the first of a new series starring Sean Coleman in a new role as a private investigator. If so, this is certainly one which I will want to follow. Unpleasant characters are always more intriguing (even if I personally would not want to live in Winston amongst them!). So my thanks to the rights holder who, at my request, freely gifted me a complimentary copy, via Audiobook Boom. This was a good read.

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