Dragon’s Breath by Rhys Dylan

Dragon’s Breath by Rhys Dylan
Publisher: Wyrmwood Books
Genre: Contemporary, Mystery/Suspense/Thriller
Rating: 3 Stars
Reviewed by Fern

In the mountains, some secrets are deadlier than the storms.

A man wanders lost on a filthy night in the Black mountains of Wales.

Despite the valiant efforts of the rescue services, he does not survive.

Is this an accident? Or malice aforethought?

DCI Warlow and team are drawn into a mystery that soon spirals into more deaths and a poisonous trade.

A devious killer is abroad. One that cares for nothing other than their own twisted greed. The dragon’s breath taints everything it touches.

And no one is safe.

DCI Warlow and his team are called in to investigate when a young electrician is left to die in a remote region in the Black Mountains. With plenty of questions – and a distraught family left behind – can they unravel what really happened, when everything merely leads to more questions.

I have been greatly enjoying this series and found this to be a particularly strong addition to the collective. While it’s clear there is plenty of working history and connections now between the team, I still found this mystery to be suitable for new readers to pick up and begin fresh. While there are a few references to things that occurred in previous books broadly speaking I thought there was nothing too onerous or difficult for readers to easily pick up and understand. More importantly, the murder mystery within this book was clearly defined and contained in this story.

I admit I felt a greater connection to the characters knowing their shared history. I was also pleased the team’s personal lives all seemed to make some good progress. In particular DCI Warlow had a breakthrough that’s been clearly needed for at least the last few books, and we also had some good progress with Catrin and her personal storyline which was just lovely to see. This all felt really satisfying along with a very well written murder mystery. I was pleased that I guessed quite a bit of the plot – but there were still enough surprises and freshness to the plot that some of the twists I didn’t see coming at all.

I found this to be a good balance between characters personal story arcs progressing and a well written and deeply interesting murder mystery. The Welsh setting was an absolutely bonus – and this remains the only Welsh mystery series I know of. A lovely change of pace and tone to the more usual British police procedural style of books and a series I can strongly recommend. Thoroughly enjoyable.