Damien Boyd is the UK author of the DI Nick Dixon crime mystery series, which started in 2013. He is a relatively recent author who has made a name for himself among the fans who enjoy the former rock climber turned detective inspector with London police, who now went back home to Somerset to investigate his friend’s death.
Here are the Damien Boyd books in order for his so-far one major series. The list is updated regularly with new additions as the author writes them.
New Damien Boyd Book
Beyond the Point (DI Nick Dixon #1), 2019
DI Nick Dixon Series
- As The Crow Flies, 2013
- Head In The Sand, 2013
- Kickback, 2014
- Swansong, 2015
- Dead Level, 2016
- Death Sentence, 2016
- Heads or Tails, 2017
- Dead Lock, 2018
- Beyond the Point, 2019
DI Nick Dixon Books Overview
As the Crow Flies
Nick Dixon is introduced in As the Crow Flies, the first book in Damien Boyd’s one and only series. Nick is now a detective inspector and when his friend and ex-climbing partner dies in a tragic fall from the mountains, he is asked to investigate. The death could be due to an accident, but it could also be due to murder, especially since Nick’s friend, Jake Fayter, was quite the accomplished climber.
Head In The Sand
The second story in the DI Nick Dixon series takes place in Burnham on Sea area, in the South West. When a severed head is discovered in a bunker on a golf course in the area, Nick Dixon is asked to investigate, especially when it looks like a serial killer is on the loose. When an older man is killed in a Burnham flat, Nick knows that the stakes have been raised, and he is now running against time to solve the murders. The only thing seemingly standing in his way is his own medical condition in the form of diabetes, which he doesn’t really do much to keep in check.
Kickback
Nick Dixon is recovering from old scars from his previous case when he is requested on the scene of a seeming horse racing accident, where trainee jockey, Noel Woodman was kicked to death by one of the racing horses. Was it an accident, or murder? This is the second book that deals with sports-related accidents in the Damien Boyd books.
Swansong
In Swansong, Nick Dixon is undercover as a teacher at a boarding school where a student has been brutally murdered. Except, when he gets there, he realizes that the murdered girl has an uncanny resemblance to his own girlfriend who went missing almost 20 years ago. Could the same killer be at work after so many years? Because he is on duty, he can’t reveal to his boss about his deeper connection to the case, else he will be relocated. Thus, Nick has to solve the case before it is taken away from him for good.
Dead Level
It finally happened. Nick Dixon was placed on working cold cases, so now he is also on paid leave. However, he is called back on duty when the wife of a politician is brutally murdered in a burglary gone wrong, at least by all appearances. To all salt to the injury, Somerset is flooding, and the stakes are now raised. The more Dixon investigates, the more difficult it is to get to the truth. If the politician was a target, why was his wife murdered instead?
Heads or Tails
This book takes us 1990 in Manchester where a serial killer kept the whole city horrified. Now, when a man is left in his van, tied up, waiting for the tide to come in and drown him, the murder is eerily similar to the old case from 30 years ago. DI Nick Dixon is now working with the Major Investigation Team, so with a new partner in tow, he heads to Manchester to see about the old case. The more he investigates, the clearer it is to Nick that the two cases are connected in more ways than one, and they’re not only looking at a copycat killer.
Dead Lock
We’re back in Somerset where young girls seem to go missing. DI Nick Dixon is on holidays, but he has to come back early to investigate the case. When he gets closers to some suspects, they all seem to drop dead, until there is hardly anyone who can confirm or deny that such horrific is in their midst, so close to home. Of course, Monty the dog is back in action as well, with all his doggy charm.
Beyond the Point
When a body of a woman is found at a construction site, DI Nick Dixon is put on the case. He and his team are now hunting for a serial killer, and they track him down at Hinckley Point. However, soon things look much more complicated with stakes much higher than a lone serial killer would provide. There’s a lot of money involved, and whoever is behind it all, is determined in their goals.
Damien Boyd Biography
Damien Boyd was born in London, UK. He attended a boarding school at Taunton, which is the main featured location in his book Swansong. Before becoming a full-time author, he worked as a solicitor.
For his books, he spends around 3 months doing research, and only then he starts putting words on paper. He currently lives in Devon, where he has been living since 1994. Still, he calls Burnham home because this is where he grew up during the 1970s and early 1980s, so for his books, he used the setting found in Burnham-On-Sea area in Somerset. Also, as he worked as a solicitor, he knew where to hide all the bodies. This made research for his books much easier for him. The setting of his first book, As the Crow Flies, is Cheddar Gorge, which is where he spent time in his youth rock climbing.
He even used real characters, some of which he went to school with, in his books. He won’t name them, but the people, when reading the Damien Boyd books, will be able to recognize themselves within.
While most of the cases in his books start in Somerset, the author likes to place his main character, Nick Dixon, in several locations within the UK, such as Briston. Birmingham, London, and Manchester, as well as small locations within Somerset, such as Berrow Beach, Brean Down, the Somerset Levels, Taunton Racecourse, the Mendips, or the Somersetshire Coal Canal.
In addition, for his books, he draws from the vast criminal law experience that he accumulated working in the law field for 25 years. The DI Nick Dixon has sold over a million copies worldwide, and they have been translated into at least five languages. Several of his books have become Kindle bestsellers, with As the Crow Flies becoming an international Kindle #1 bestseller.
Over the years, Damien Boyd has taken part in many literary festivals around the country, including the Chudleigh and Ilminster Festivals, the Weston-super-Mare Literary Festival, and World Book Day with BBC Radio Devon.
Reading the Damien Boyd books in order is recommended, as each book builds from one story to the next. The cases might be different from book to book, but the main characters grow with each book, and their relationships expand as well.
Praise for Damien Boyd Books
Damien Boyd has written a super first book around his character of Nick Dixon. The plot is genuine, fast-paced and also contains one or two twists that the reader does not see coming. Nick is a completely believable and ‘real’ character, as are all the other members of the cast. (Bestsellingcrimethrillers)
Boyd manages to pack a lot in and as a result it is quite fast-paced. There is a lot of plot covered, with various different criminal activities involved in the storyline. The book retains the tradition of British crime novels and we have a new enjoyable police detective series here (The Crime Scene)
Head in the Sand is another thrilling crime fiction by Damien Boyd. It’s a MUST READ for those who like crime fiction. It’s a quick read, very fast-paced, quite graphic, and involves a very great detective (The Blacksheep Project)
References
Books Reading Order » Crime Mystery Authors »
Love them read all the DI Nick Dixon books when will the next be out and what will it be called
i have never been much of a reader.but my daugther recommended me to read the books, i readsix books in about 6 days they certainly makeyou read more