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Detectives Strong and Layne are tracking a killer who is adept at covering his trail, and making their job difficult. His targets are smart women who should know better than to be trapped by him, but somehow are not on guard when they should be.
What's more disturbing is the killer's motive, to produce what he calls art. Jason and Vanessa must race to stop this guy before he creates anymore 'collections'.

Other CLEAN SUSPENSE by John C. Dalglish

WHERE'S MY SON? #1
BLOODSTAIN #2
FOR MY BROTHER #3
SILENT JUSTICE #4
TIED TO MURDER #5
ONE OF THEIR OWN #6

And a new series

CROSSOVER (The Chaser Chronicles #1)

105 pages, Kindle Edition

First published April 30, 2014

208 people are currently reading
323 people want to read

About the author

John C. Dalglish

66 books167 followers
Hello!
Thank you for stopping by.
The short story is I was born in Toronto, Canada. When I was 16, my family moved to Ft. Lauderdale, Fla., and that is where I met my wife, Bev.
We've been married for 43 years and share our home in Southwest Missouri with 4 dogs, 3 cats, 8 chickens, a herd of goats. We have 3 sons and 12 grandchildren that keep us hopping.
I've been known to ride my motorcycle in nice weather, play golf in nice weather, and tend my garden in nice weather. In bad weather, I prefer to stay inside. :)
Thanks to the support of you, our readers, I've been able to devote full time to my writing. Bev does our cover designs.
We hope you our books are enjoyable and you'll let us know.
Please feel free to contact us at: jdalglish7@gmail.com or on Facebook
God Bless, John & Bev

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5 stars
256 (55%)
4 stars
136 (29%)
3 stars
51 (11%)
2 stars
15 (3%)
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2 (<1%)
Displaying 1 - 28 of 28 reviews
Profile Image for Ryan.
201 reviews6 followers
July 10, 2017
This has been a great Christian detective series so far, it's like a faith based police procedurals show. Not only showing the work of law enforcement but what's behind the badge. Each character has there own story as a whole.

In this installment of the series, Detective Jason Strong and his trusty partner, Vanessa Layne, and the rest of the members of the San Antonio Police Department have another case on their hands. a husband returns home to find his wife dead in the basement of there home. A puzzling case for the duo of Strong and Layne. When she is discovered tied to a lawn chair, cuts on her wrists. Jason and Vanessa embark of the case, not knowing what the killer has in store for them.

It is a great series, if you prefer hard-boiled detective novels, still provide a good story with mystery and suspense, but don't want to find too much violence, profanity, and sex scenes. I would highly recommend this series for anyone that wants to read.
Profile Image for Jessica .
282 reviews26 followers
July 22, 2015
"Good Story for a Suspense Novel, but not the best."

Overall 3 Stars
Performance 3 Stars
Story 3 Stars

I think I probably would have enjoyed this one more if it didn't sound like an old time radio play from the 30's and 40's. The only thing missing was the back ground static from the radio noise.

Set in San Antonio, TX, Death Still is a police prodedural drama that takes place over the course of a few days. A madman is on the loose killing women by first making them remove their shoes then tying them to a chair before slitting both wrists with a razor blade which he leaves behind when leaving the scene of the murder.

Marcus is a deranged killer who finds his victims by cruising the Want Ads for people whose homes are for sale by owner. He takes pictures of the property before taking pictures of his victims at the moment of death.

Like most police procedurals Marcus is revealed as the killer pretty early on and the rest of the book is Detective Jason Strong and his partner Detective Vannessa Lane trying to figure out the true identity of the killer and catch him before he can kill again. To be honest there wasn't that much that was new in this story. Detectives Strong and Lane don't employ any new techniques or use any extraordinary measures to catch the killer. It's all just plain old grunt work. I don't know what I expected. The book is less than three hours long so I am not sure how much new technique could have been used, but it might have been nice to put one of the MC's in danger or at least in a tough situation to get out of at least once. Reading about plain old pounding the pavement to get leads to catch the killer is just not that interesting to me.

I have all eleven books in this series including the newest one that just recently released on my Kindle TBR list. I am hoping they get better with more detail and action and sleuthing and stumbling blocks in the other ten books.

The narrator was not horrible, but as I stated before I got the feeling I was listening to a radio program except it was just one person reading a book instead of a full cast dramatization like you might have heard on the radio way back when. I can't say that I was terribly impressed with his voice characterizations.His female characters didn't really sound female at all and the voice of Marcus was cartoonish except for when he was getting ready to kill someone. Then James Killavey tried his best to make him sound menacing, which made perfect sense but then it sounded like two different people entirely; Marcus and then the menacing killer.

I will probably buy more audio books by John C. Dalglish, but only if they are narrated by someone else. I don't see me buying any more books narrated by Mr. Killavey.

I received this book from the author through the Audio Books group on Goodreads in exchange for an honest review.
312 reviews
June 12, 2025
Wow!!

This was a fast paced, non-stop thrill ride! A very disturbed individual is targeting his victims by finding listings for homes up for sale. He gains their trust and entry into their homes by appearing as a professional, clean cut person looking to.buy a home, in one instance claiming it was for his mother. Our dynamic duo of Strong and Layne are racing against time to stop this madman. Another winner in this outstanding series.
Author 1 book69 followers
January 14, 2019
Detectives Strong and Laye are tracking a serial killer who targets smart women.

Jason Strong is a person who could be your next-door-neighbor. A family guy who stands up for what's right.

I've loved this series. It's one I don't have to be concerned about the language or situations. The plot is gripping, the adventure always present. I've already downloaded the next book in the series.
Profile Image for Nancy.
1,317 reviews
July 23, 2023
Good story, good pace. Still lacks good proofreading. I’ll just point out one: “John Patton will have a different roll in the future.” What? A dinner roll? A sub sandwich roll?

It’s “role” people!! You can’t just rely on spell check!!
785 reviews
August 14, 2017
Still rollimg along with this series.

I am really enjoying these books. Great stories, great people that never let you down. What more can you ask for.
305 reviews1 follower
July 26, 2018
When you read this one, remember practice makes perfect!

Jason and Vanessa must do a lot of research on this one to come up with the answers. This one had me on the edge of my seat
113 reviews1 follower
April 5, 2020
Review of: "Death Still"

An outstanding read. With most of the stores closed because of the virus, reading a book by this author is an excellent use of the time.
10 reviews
September 18, 2020
ANOTHER gREAT story!

Books by John Dalglish are fantastic?, they held my interest from beginning to end! I will read all of his books!
53 reviews
July 15, 2025
Another Page Turner

Read this book in one day. Couldn't put it down.
Looking forward to the #8.
New author for me. I really enjoy his books.
Profile Image for Susan.
1,735 reviews40 followers
July 26, 2015
Death Still by John C. Dalglish Note: While this is Book 7 in the series, it works fine as a stand alone.
Detectives Jason Strong and Vanessa Layne are working a new case. The story starts with a woman’s body found in the basement by her husband. She is tied in a chair, both wrists slit. There are slim leads to go on. Once the ME confirms that the death was indeed murder, the detectives have a freer hand in investigating.
Jason and his wife recently had a baby girl and Jason is still adjusting to being a sleep deprived dad. Meanwhile, the whole department is still adjusting to the temporary boss as their old boss heals up from a work-related injury. Jason, and to some extent Vanessa, have more that just the murder to focus on. But once another body turns up, they tune out these other distractions and race against the clock to prevent a third murder. Jason and Vanessa have a camaraderie that comes from years of serving together. They often joke, even if it is sometimes a gallows humor.
Right away, the reader knows who the murder is. We spend perhaps half the book in the murderer’s head. The reader doesn’t have any guessing to do nor any connecting of the dots. Rather, the book is built on the suspense of watching the detectives and killer try to out fox each other. Marcus, our bad guy, is smart. He changes vehicles and identities on a regular basis. He maintains a polite demeanor at all times, which makes him seem perfectly harmless. I found his story line the most interesting because I wanted to know why he kills his victims in such a way. By the end of the story, we know what makes him tick. Indeed, I felt that I knew the killer better than I knew the detectives and I will say that this is the one weakness to reading this book as a stand alone.
The female victims have short parts in the story. They range in age and demeanor. All of them let the killer into their lives and I can totally see how that happened. They were just being human. I liked that Strong and Layne didn’t blame the victims and remained professional throughout the story. Two of the victims get short backstories of their own so that the reader feels they are people and not just stand in victim cardboard cutouts.
I received this book free of charge from the author (via the GoodReads Audiobooks Group) in exchange for an honest review.
The Narration: James Killavey was so-so for this book. He had OK male voices, but his female voices were almost non-existent, though they did get a little better as the story went on. He performed the narration in a near-sports announcer voice that made me think of the old radio dramas. If his voices had had more distinction and were more varied, then that would have worked for this book. Also, the volume sometimes varied and occasionally I heard something in the background, perhaps paper being turned over.
249 reviews2 followers
September 18, 2014
This was a book I had won on Goodreads. I hadn't read any books by this author previously. The story is about murder of a housewife. Found in her basement tied to a chair with her wrists slit, the crime is turned over to Det. Strong and his partner. During the investigation a second murder occurs and the police realize they have a serial killer. The detectives try to uncover the identity of the killer and his motive. The author also tells the story of the killer and his quest for victims and to complete his "art". The book was short and the plot moved along, but I didn't feel like I learned much about the characters, the crime or the city (San Antonio) in this book. It lacks a descriptive voice. If James Patterson had written this it would be 3 times longer and you would feel like you knew the characters. The previous book I read, a Murdoch mystery by Maureen Jennings was filled with descriptive phrasing and metaphors to give you a feel for Victorian Toronto and the characters. This book didn't have that. You only get to know the characters through the brief conversations they have throughout the book. And then most of the relationship is implied or read into the conversation. The plot moved quickly and it is an easy read, so it wasn't a waste of time to read. But I just thought it could have been better. San Antonio is probably a great background for a story, but you never got to know the city or the characters all that well.
Profile Image for Chocalicious Love.
413 reviews14 followers
June 27, 2015
*I was given a free audiobook for an honest review.*

I hadn't heard of the author before so I was a bit weary at first, but I was delighted as I got more engrossed in the story. Solid plot. Great characters. This was my first Jason Strong and it won't be my last. So this can be read as a standalone. It was well-written and filled with enough suspense to hold my attention.

Oh ... and now I know who are FSBOs. But if you want to know, you'll have to read or listen to it.

4.5/5*
Profile Image for Kim Pruitt.
312 reviews
August 18, 2015
**Book provided by the author for an honest review**

Detective Jason Strong is on the hunt again for a serial killer. A killer that is targeting women selling their homes For Sale by Owner. The Det.Jason Strong series is a quick and light read, one that will keep you on your toes though! Each book is like a tv series episode, and the writing style has me coming back for more! I truly enjoy my Jason Strong stories.
486 reviews2 followers
September 26, 2015
House-Hunting Killer

A man who saw his mother kill herself becomes obsessed with that image of her after she dies, tries to recreate that by killing women who have their homes up for sale. And taking pictures of them in various stages of demise. Although not a big fan of serial killer books, this one turned out to be a good read. I enjoyed the characters and their camaraderie. Thank you!
12 reviews1 follower
Read
June 13, 2014
Another good read!

The storyline kept me intrigued throughout the entire book and the author's choice of not bombarding you with profanity is greatly appreciated.
Look forward to the next release.
1,507 reviews7 followers
June 20, 2015
Death Still










I have just finished book seven in the Detective Jason Strong book series . I do like the story line of these books but they get shorter . That is the one thing I do not like about these books.





Profile Image for Marren.
348 reviews25 followers
July 7, 2015
I appreciate the light humour between the detectives and lab workers and the way they worked to solve those murders. The author kept my interest to the end, sometimes less works just fine to work out a case!
Profile Image for Dave.
113 reviews1 follower
March 7, 2016
Detective Strong and Vanessa investigate another suspense filled crime. A thrilling adventure that will keep you from putting this book down until the very last page. Thanks for the great story. Enjoy!
292 reviews3 followers
May 28, 2016
Excellent

As you read these books you will definitely begin to feel as if you have become part of the character family. As I have already said, these books are well written and I feel comfortable recommending them to anyone to read and enjoy. Excellent writing.
Profile Image for s martin.
3 reviews5 followers
December 12, 2014
Good read

Kept your interest easy to follow I enjoy the fact there are so many characters you get confused who is who. Enjoyable reading.
174 reviews
April 2, 2016
Review of. "Death Still"

This author just gets better with each book. I would rate him in the ranks of Patterson and Connelly. Good read.
Profile Image for Rebecca Hollingsworth.
871 reviews8 followers
April 19, 2016
Photography

As a photographer, I'm deeply disturbed by this killers passion, still a great book and I look forward to reading more
19 reviews
January 24, 2017
Great series

Love these short but thrilling novels. Ready to download the next book. Love his writing style and his humor in his books
Displaying 1 - 28 of 28 reviews

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