When the paranormal crosses with procedural crime, sign me up. When said story is crafted by someone who has a vast knowledge of crime stories for television, sign me up even more. In Dead Matters, Josh Berman, television writer and producer on shows such as CSI and Bones, takes this vast history of storytelling and delivers a gripping thriller where things may not be what they seem.
At 3:02 a.m. in Savannah’s historic district, a hideous, shuffling figure crosses the town square under the eye of a bank security camera. The next morning, FBI agent Ella Penrose is summoned to a nearby house where a man lies dead and partially devoured. Her partner reminds her that zombies aren’t real, but as head of the Paranormal Crimes Unit, tasked with cases that seemingly defy scientific explanation, Ella knows to keep her mind as open as the victim’s chest cavity.
With the security footage already leaked online and racking up views, the pressure to explain the inexplicable is mounting. But each new piece of evidence only deepens the mystery: beetles found on the victim belonging to a species long-thought extinct, the decaying arm recovered near the victim’s home from an entirely different body, and a scrap of fabric at the murder scene linking back to the Civil War. As the contradictions pile up, Ella is forced to confront the possibility that the case may lie beyond the limits of conventional investigation.
Zombie lore stretches back centuries, but in an age of deepfakes and drug-induced psychosis, separating myth from reality has never been more difficult. If something real is hiding beneath the noise, Ella will uncover it. She came to the FBI for justice. She stayed for cases like this…
As a fan of CSI, Bones, True Detective, Mindhunter, The X-Files, and even The Walking Dead, how could I not immediately read this story by Berman? Again, then add to the mix that the person behind the story has worked on television shows like CSI and Bones. Zombies? Paranormal? FBI? Crime scenes? Like seriously. No brainer. Okay, I think you get it.
But in all seriousness, when you dive into a book, even an author debut’s novel, you tend to have a bit more faith in how this story will turn out when they have credentials like Berman’s. It’s just common sense, and boy was I correct. Dead Matters is a slow burning procedural crime story that deals with the paranormal or does it? The mystery is in front of us, but what can we believe or what should we believe, even if you see it with your own eyes.
Now, over the first few pages I started having the feeling that Berman was telling a newer version of one of the best television shows to deal with the paranormal, The X-Files. This wouldn’t be awful, in my opinion, but was also hoping for something a bit different and fresh. Then, in the actual story, Ella Penrose mentions The X-Files and how the Paranormal Crimes Unit was created after unexplained things were happening in the vein of the show. This is when I knew Berman was taking the Mulder and Scully of it all and crafting a new story, that almost pays homage to what has come before it.
The paranormal investigations are only a part of Dead Matters is truly about. Ella deals with a lot of emotional baggage and family drama that she has to overcome and attend to while also searching for something that most people won’t and likely shouldn’t believe. Berman brings depth to these characters while trying to solve the mystery that isn’t easy to explain.
From every sign I can see, including the way this book progresses, the Paranormal Crimes Unit will continue and with plenty of places and ways to go. Dead Matters is definitely a great start to the series and hope to read more from the PCU, but also Berman.
Dead Matters is an intriguing paranormal mystery and thrilling procedural crime story. Josh Berman takes his long history of crafting stories for television shows such as CSI and brings it to the pages of this forensic thriller. Dead Matters is a smart and eerie paranormal crime thriller that left me eager for the next case for the FBI’s Paranormal Crime Unit.
Dead Matters hits bookstores everywhere on January 12, 2027 from Podium Publishing.
