When a murder occurs in a small town in Upstate New York, retired police detective Graham Sanderson is drawn back into the vortex of violence and deception, facing a case that demands a terrible personal reckoning.

Graham Sanderson thought he’d left it all behind. His years as a Washington, DC, homicide detective, his tragically dead wife, pain, violence. Taking over his father’s house in the remote Finger Lakes region of rural New York and looking after his shut-in brother, Tommy, seemed like a respite. That is, until the first body is found.

The chief of the town’s small police jurisdiction, who is also a family friend, asks for Graham’s assistance. Graham’s instincts immediately kick in, and he soon discovers there’s more to the area— the people, its brutally quiet, sophisticated hierarchies—than he or his family ever knew.

David Swinson’s latest novel is a soulful, rural noir story about belief: the extremities to which it pushes a community, the fear it instills in the hearts of adherents and doubters alike, and the need for it nevertheless. As Graham delves deeper into the strange and then stranger circumstances of the murders, his own beliefs become challenged. What do you finally stand for when you’ve got nothing left to lose?

Praise for From the Dust

"Mr. Swinson, himself a former police detective . . . keeps readers engrossed by methodically recounting the specifics of police work, including the business of obtaining warrants and interrogating witnesses . . . A surprise-filled interrogation scene brings this absorbing and accessible book to its affecting conclusion."
Wall Street Journal
"Swinson . . . [salts] his narratives with bits of insider cop stuff that can steal the show . . . [FROM THE DUST] calls up an unbidden association with, of all people, Agatha Christie, with dabs of un-Christie-ish sex and violence. Like Marple or Poirot, [Sanderson] goes about talking to villagers, winnowing what he hears until contradictions are resolved. Then it’s back to police matters—cannoli or raspberry Danish in the donut shop?"
Don Crinklaw, Booklist
"[FROM THE DUST] walks an emotional tightrope . . . Told almost entirely in the first person, the novel’s interior dialogue is sharp, authentic, and accentuates the sense of small-town claustrophobia."
Library Journal
"Swinson's moody regional mystery . . . convincingly evokes his gloomy setting and shades Graham, Tommy, and Finn with care."
Publisher's Weekly