‘Better Off Dead’ by Sean Watkin.

Published by Canelo Crime,
22 January 2026. 
ISBN:  978-1-83598-132-0 (PB)

DCI de Silva and DS Barclay first appeared in Black Water Rising and are still coping with the personal consequences of their involvement in a case which has now been taken over by the National Crime Agency.  de Silva is coping with the loss of her husband – there are unanswered questions about his life, perhaps main one being  whether she had ever really known him.  Barclay’s own marriage has broken up and he is trying to come to terms with this and how his relationship with his daughter will move on.

They are reassigned to a cold case involving a dismembered body found in Formby woods some years before.  Their investigations suggest that there are links between this and other bodies found in the region.  There also seem to be a link to the current case.  As they continue their work, secrets are revealed - a tangled web of awful crimes with massive consequences for those involved.  

As the introduction says, this is a dark and gritty crime thriller.  The plot is well-written, and moves smoothly between the criminal investigations and the lives of individual characters.  The pace reflects the different storylines, but overall the tension does not let up, as even the smallest specks of light and hope are quickly extinguished.  The drama continues to the final page and, tantalisingly, leaves the reader still waiting for some resolution. 

This is the second in the de Silva and Barclay series and, though it does work as a stand-alone, readers may well feel that starting with Black Water Rising may provide background information to the key figures and their back stories and prepare for the continuing story. 
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Reviewer: Jo Hesslewood
Other books by this author:  Black Water Rising. 

Sean Watkin is an author and internal communications specialist from England. He grew up in Liverpool and studied a BA and an MA in Creative Writing at Liverpool John Moores University, where he began work on his debut novel, a police procedural. He has guest-lectured with undergraduate and MA Creative Writing students and teaches writing courses in the community. He currently lives in Liverpool with his partner. 

Jo Hesslewood.  Crime fiction has been my favourite reading material since as a teenager I first spotted Agatha Christie on the library bookshelves.  For twenty-five years the commute to and from London provided plenty of reading time.  I am fortunate to live in Cambridge, where my local crime fiction book club, Crimecrackers, meets at Heffers Bookshop.  I enjoy attending crime fiction events and currently organise events for the Margery Allingham Society.