Death’s Honesty
The Lyle Dahms Mysteries
By Brian Anderson
About the Book:
Publication Date: July 14, 2025
Genre: Mystery. A hardboiled PI novel with family dynamics.
On his deathbed, Minneapolis private investigator Lyle Dahms’s father, a retired suburban police patrolman, asks his son to reach out to a dark figure from their shared past. Despite his reservations, Dahms feels he cannot refuse. But the visit sets off a chain reaction that will expose long-buried family secrets and provoke dangerous enemies. As threats mount, Dahms must protect not only his family, but also that of his dad’s former partner—a man he is not sure he can trust.
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Excerpt:
The drive home took a lot less time than the drive up to the motel. Driving home always seems to take less time. I fiddled with the radio, but I couldn’t seem to focus on the music. Instead, I thought about Donnie and Mindy. I didn’t believe in their future. There was too much of the past in their way. I didn’t even think I owed them anything. But now I knew their secrets. Now, they were my secrets, too.
I thought about my dad. Donnie’s secret had been his as well. He’d hid it away. He’d let it eat at him. He died trying to be rid of it. He died passing it on to me.
I arrived home more tired than I remember being before.
Naomi was tall and round, yet oh so shapely, with full, womanly breasts and an unmistakable aura of strength that seemed even more potent the times she yielded to me. Her small mouth, now primly fixed, seemed to hold secrets. But there was light dancing in her blue eyes as if to say that those secrets were merry things eager to spill out. Her freckle-splashed cheeks were framed by marvelously long tangles of hair—the color of embers—that shone lustrously as though spun from the afterglow of a radiant sunset.
Despite our recent troubles, I was deeply aware of the hold that she had on my heart—a hold that I feared, once released, would leave me profoundly diminished. There was no question that I’d be a fool not to fight to hold on to her. And no question that fighting wouldn’t be enough.
What Readers Are Saying:
Death’s Honesty. A Lyle Dahms Mystery. Readers have called the series “funny and well-crafted” and say that “author Brian Anderson does a terrific job of channeling a combo of Hammett and Chandler with a sassy sense of humor of his own.”
Author Interview:
At what point did you decide to be an author, and what was your path to publication?
I’ve been writing pretty seriously since college. I’ve always loved mysteries, from the first time as a grade schooler reading Sherlock Holmes, to Agatha Christie and, later, to the hardboiled American mystery writers like Dashiell Hammett and Raymond Chandler, to more contemporary masters of the genre like Robert B. Parker and G.M. Ford. I created the Dahms character back in the late 1980s, writing the first draft of what became The Shiver in Her Eyes before the birth of our first daughter. She’s thirty-two now.
The book went through many rejections and many revisions before I pitched it to The Wild Rose Press at the annual Pacific Northwest Writers Association conference. By then, I’d written drafts of four additional novels in the series and had been named a finalist in their mystery/suspense contest three times. I received an email back from The Wild Rose Press saying, “Before we can even talk about a contract, you’ll have to make the following changes.” I stared at the email. The changes would be a lot of work, but it was that word “contract” that stood out. I made the changes, worked through multiple drafts with my editor, and The Shiver in Her Eyes was released in November of 2022.
What do you do when a new idea jumps out at you while you’re still working on a book? Do you chase the squirrel (aka “UP syndrome”) or do you finish your current project first?
I tend to stick with a project until I am satisfied that I have a complete draft. When ideas come, I first try to determine if they can be incorporated into the book I am writing. If they cannot, I make sure to write them down in a kind of slush file I keep, knowing that if the idea or line of dialogue or description is worthy, I will be able to use it down the line.
Who is your favorite character to write, and why is that person your favorite? If picking a favorite character would be like picking a favorite child, which character seems to be the most demanding of your attention and detail as a writer?
My favorite character to write is my main protagonist, Lyle Dahms, an overweight, none-too-successful Minneapolis private investigator. He’s not the sharpest tool in the shed, and hides his vulnerabilities behind bravado and snappy comebacks, but he is loyal, dogged, and eventually gets the job done.
Describe your writing process. Do you outline, plot, and plan, or is your writing more organic?
I’m what they call a “pantser” and not a “plotter.” I start with an idea and an opening scene, and watch as themes develop. Most writers advise you to keep writing the draft, waiting to do revisions until after the draft is complete. That doesn’t work for me. When the plot takes a turn that requires changes in what came before, I go back and make the changes before forging onward. Again, that’s not the advice you hear most often, but it’s my process.
What are some books or authors that you would recommend to our readers?
Not surprisingly, I read a lot of mysteries, particularly P.I. novels. I love Robert B. Parker and G.M. Ford, but also authors like D.D. Black, Robert R. Doyle, Robert Dugoni, and lighter fare like Britain’s Steve Higgs and the Holly Swimsuit series by Susie Black.
Tell us what you enjoy most about writing mysteries?
Finding out how they end. Pulling all the pieces together into a satisfying whole.
What have you found to be most challenging about writing mysteries?
Pulling all the pieces together into a satisfying whole.
Have you been able to incorporate your previous experience in your jobs/education in your writing?
I first conceived of the Lyle Dahms character and many of the friends he surrounds himself with while working at a 24-hour restaurant and pub in the Minneapolis neighborhood of Dinkytown. Dinkytown is adjacent to the University of Minnesota and is fascinating for its mix of erstwhile students, frustrated artists, and genuine nutbars.
Do you identify with your main character, or did you create a character that is your opposite?
Dahms is sometimes too well aware of his limitations and vulnerabilities. And he hides them behind a wisecracking façade that his true friends (and readers) can see through. He’s complex, like all of us..
Describe the book or series in 10 words or less for people just learning about it.
A P.I. reconciles with the memory of his dead father.
Is there anything you would like people to take away from your book?
Family is important. Both the family we are born into and the family that we gather around us.
Do you have any odd (writing) habits?
I don’t know if it’s odd, but when I’m working on a project, I like to write every day. When I’m finished, I like to take a break. But the ideas, lines of dialogue, and descriptions keep coming, and I jot them down until they coalesce into my next project.
What has been the toughest criticism you have received as an author? What has been the best compliment?
I’m pretty tough-skinned. I tend to view even harsh criticism as potentially constructive. The best compliment I can receive is “You made me laugh.”
Share some advice for aspiring authors. What advice would you give to your younger self?
Just keep writing. I wasn’t published until I was in my sixties. I’m not famous and will likely never crack any bestseller lists. But I believe in the work and am happy to have the readers that I have.
What is your favorite line from your book?
“Life ain’t usually in the making sense business, friend.”
I had to admit that he was right about that. I mean, there I was standing in an elementary school parking lot, beat to hell, both hands wrapped around the biggest gun I’d ever handled, facing off with a malevolent clown and an armed Count Chocula. Times like these make a man re-examine his life choices.
To date, what is your favorite (or most difficult) chapter you have ever written?
The penultimate chapter of my third Dahms novel, Soundings in the Dark, was a huge challenge, pulling all of the disparate plot lines together and delivering a powerfully emotional punch. I strive to do that in all my novels, but I like to think I nailed that one.
What is your take on book boyfriends? Do they actually exist? Or do they set the bar for “real-life men” impossibly high?
Alas, I do not write romance, so this isn’t a thing for me. I do, however, strive to depict genuine relationships.
Have you ever experienced writer’s block? How did you deal with it?
Life can get busy, and sometimes the writing doesn’t take precedence. But it is always there, nagging, pestering, urging itself into creation. Eventually, it always wins.
What do you like to do when you’re not writing?
I volunteer at my local food bank, I cook, and my wife, dog, and I take long walks on the beach. Life is good.
About the Author:
Brian Anderson is a graduate of the University of Minnesota whose Dinkytown neighborhood provides the setting for his mystery series featuring private investigator Lyle Dahms. The Dahms novels spring from his lifelong love of mystery fiction, especially the works of Dashiell Hammett and Raymond Chandler, as well as more contemporary masters like Robert B. Parker and G.M. Ford. He is a three-time finalist in the Pacific Northwest Writers Association mystery and suspense contest.
Brian spent much of his professional career working to alleviate domestic hunger serving as the operations director of the Emergency Feeding Program of Seattle & King County as well as the manager of the Pike Market Food Bank in downtown Seattle. Married with three beautiful daughters, he now lives and writes in Ocean Shores, a small city on the Washington coast.
Contact Links:
Website: www.brianandersonmysteries.com
Author Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/author/brianandersonmysteries
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/22749823.Brian_Anderson
Facebook: www.facebook.com/brianandersonmysteries
Instagram: www.instagram.com/brianandersonmysteries
Giveaway:
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Thank you so much for sharing.
Thanks for sharing!
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