It appears that when we read It Dies With You, by Scott Blackburn, we are dealing with an author’s first novel. That does affect my evaluation – new authors get some slack from me, especially when they show promise. Which is certainly true in this case.

Hudson Miller is a boxer, temporarily suspended from the sport, surviving on bouncer gigs. He hasn’t talked to his father for years, so when he misses a couple of his calls, he doesn’t return them. Not long after, he learns his father has been murdered, shot to death in the office of his auto salvage yard.

To his astonishment, Hudson soon learns that the old man left him some rental properties and the salvage yard itself. He figures he might as well learn what he can about the yard before he sells it off, so he travels the short distance to his home town, and moves into one of the rental houses. His guide to the world of auto salvage is Charlie, an old curmudgeon who worked for his father. Hudson is not greatly concerned about his father’s murder, as he seems to have been trafficking illegal guns.

Then Charlie digs up a crushed car, buried behind the shop, and finds a human body in it. The body proves to be that of a young, missing Hispanic man. Soon the young man’s feisty teenaged sister shows up, asking embarrassing questions, determined to find her brother’s murderer, because the cops aren’t doing anything. And Hudson and Charlie are shamed into helping her – in part just to protect her.

I quite liked It Dies With You at the beginning – partly because I’ve become such a timid reader. Author Blackburn provided good writing, interesting characters, and good dialogue, without a lot of dramatic tension, and if the mystery of Hudson’s father’s murder didn’t carry a lot of weight, that suited me fine. But once the teenaged girl appeared, the story (in my opinion) went downhill. She was such a stereotypical “spunky girl,” and so prickly about her ethnicity, that I had trouble liking her, or believing in her. The final scene where the mystery is revealed was theatrical and implausible, and the murderer’s identity no great surprise.

On the other hand, the Christians (except for the Baptist pastor) are treated pretty respectfully.

So, my final judgment is that It Dies With You was, it’s an imperfect book by an author who shows promise. You might enjoy it.