Review: Bury the Truth (DI Ryan Hale Crime Thrillers #1) by R.K. Lynott

                                                              

Print Length: 322 pages

Publisher: Alibi & Ink Books (December 9, 2025)

From Goodreads.com: They never proved he killed his wife. Half the station still believes he did.

Twelve years ago, DI Ryan Hale's wife Jaime vanished without a trace. He was never charged, but the suspicion followed him all the way to London, where a brutal kidnapping left him scarred, inside and out.

Now he's back in Chesterfield, leading a new team and searching for answers about Jaime that no one else could find.

But before his feet are under the desk a pair of German backpackers find a gruesome pagan ritual at the Nine Ladies Stone Circle. Someone’s been taking trophies and arranging them as offerings to ancient gods.

As the body count rises and ritual symbols point to Derbyshire's pagan fringe, Ryan must earn the trust of a team who barely know him while half the station whispers "murderer" behind his back.

Then evidence from Jaime's case surfaces. Not by accident. Because the person who took her didn’t just want her gone. They wanted Ryan to suffer. And they're not finished.

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My Rating: 2.5 stars out of 5

For the most part, I enjoyed this story, although there were definitely moments where the characters made absolutely no sense. I mean one of the members of the police has an active social media account, which is fine, I don’t mind that on principle and it’s even encouraged because he’s “inspiring future generations.” Cute idea, sure. But then he decides it’s totally appropriate to climb a rock formation on the way to a crime scene and ask his boss to take a photo of him? I’m sorry, what? That’s not quirky; that’s just weird and unprofessional. And unfortunately, this wasn’t the only instance where someone acted, or spoke, in a way that didn’t feel natural. Every now and then I would find myself pulled out of the story, thinking, “People don’t behave like this.”

Now let's talk about DI Hale himself. And goodness, I really didn’t care for him. Here’s the thing: this is our first introduction to him, and yet we’re handed not one, but two major tragic backstories with zero real payoff. First, we’re told his wife disappeared and he was a suspect (though nothing was proven). Then we’re informed during another case he was working on he somehow wound up with extensive scarring on his face and such severe nerve damage in one of his hands that he can barely use it. Add in the fact that he has complicated history with at least one teammate and two superior officers, and suddenly he’s carrying enough emotional baggage to fill a checked-luggage carousel. But since this is the first book in a new series, we get none of the answers. Honestly, I wish book one had focused on one of these tragedies, preferably the disappearance of his wife, and then book two could’ve explored how he ended up scarred. As it is, everything feels piled on without the depth that was needed to really make the reader care.

Of course, the pacing didn’t help matters either. In fact, in my opinion, the middle section dragged far longer than it needed to. If anything, I would have preferred the murders to be spaced out more. Imagine if the trophies had been taken at different times and preserved beforehand; it would’ve added a deeper, more chilling layer to the story and kept the plot moving instead of stalling.

I also wish the author had leaned more into the pagan angle. There was so much potential there, enough to really steer the reader down a specific path, and it never fully materialized. Instead of becoming a rich, atmospheric thread, it just kind of... existed in the background.

That said, the ending, clearly designed to hook readers into the next installment, actually worked on me. Despite the issues, I enjoyed this one enough to see where the series goes from here. I just hope book two fills in the gaps book one left wide open.

DISCLAIMER: I received a complimentary copy of this novel from the publisher. This has not affected my review in any way. All thoughts and opinions expressed in this review are 100% my own.