David C. Dawson is an award-winning author of gay mysteries and romances.
A Death in Berlin was a LAMMY finalist in 2023.
The Necessary Deaths, won a bronze medal in the Adult Mystery & Suspense
category of the FAPA President’s Awards, and Heroes in Love was a finalist in
the International Book Awards.
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Latest novel
The stage is set for murder
It's the summer of 1929 and there's a serial killer on the streets of London. Bodies of young women are dumped at the stage doors of London theatres.
Noël Coward's assistant Florence Miles, known to her friends as Bill, is dragged into the inverstigation when the body of her former secret lover is found outside His Majesty's Theatre.
Bill forms an unlikely alliance with The Chronicle newspaper's senior reporter Simon Sampson.
Together they discover that the killer has friends in high places...
This is the prequel to the LAMMY finalist A Death in Berlin. It explores the secret world of the 1920, a time when your sexualty could make you a lawbreaker. When gay men and women were constantly on their guard, careful about how they presented themselves in a hostile society.
LAMMY Finalist
Berlin 1933: When the parties stop...the dying begins
The city that’s been a beacon of liberation during the 1920s is about to become a city of deadly oppression. BBC foreign correspondent Simon Sampson risks his life in a bid to save thousands of gay men from the growing Nazi threat.
Simon moves to Berlin where he meets British author Christopher Isherwood and his lover Heinz. He’s also reunited with his banter-partner Florence Miles, better known to her friends as Bill. She’s recruited him into the British intelligence services and he’s got the task of hunting down communist spies.
But when Simon is ordered to spy on an old college friend, his loyalties are brought into question. Who are his real enemies? And how much can he trust his masters?
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Everyone has secrets… but some are fatal.
1932, London. Late one December night Simon Sampson stumbles across the body of a woman in an alleyway. Her death is linked to a plot by right-wing extremists to assassinate the King on Christmas Day. Simon resolves to do his patriotic duty and unmask the traitors.
But Simon Sampson lives a double life. Not only is he a highly respected BBC radio announcer, but he’s also a man who loves men, and as such must live a secret life. His investigation risks revealing his other life and with that imprisonment under Britain’s draconian homophobic laws of the time. He faces a stark choice: his loyalty to the King or his freedom.
This is the first in a new historical series. A richly atmospheric novel set in the shadowy world of 1930s London, where secrets are commonplace, and no one is quite who they seem.
Award-winning Debut Novel
A young man lies unconscious in a hospital bed.
His life hangs in the balance from a drugs overdose.
Attempted suicide or attempted murder?
British lawyer Dominic Delingpole investigates, with the help of his larger than life partner Jonathan McFadden.
Compromising photographs of senior politicians and business chiefs are discovered.
Is the young man a blackmailer?
Dominic and Jonathan uncover a conspiracy reaches into the highest levels of government and powerful corporations.
Three people are murdered, and Dominic and Jonathan struggle for their very survival in this gripping thriller.
Sequel to an Award Winner
A man is murdered, and takes a deadly secret to his grave.
Is the murdered man Dominic Delingpole’s former lover?
And were they still seeing each other just before his recent wedding to husband Jonathan?
Or are these simply lies?
In the sequel to the award-winning The Necessary Deaths, it's more than a story of deceit between husbands.
A man’s death plunges Dominic and Jonathan into a world of international espionage, which puts their lives at risk.
What is the ruthless Charter Ninety-Nine group, and why is it pursuing them across Europe and the United States?
Dominic and Jonathan are forced to test their relationship to its limit. What deadly lies must they both confront? And if they stay alive, will their relationship remain intact?
Third in the series
There’s a murderer stalking the gay bars of Berlin.
It’s September, the time of Folsom Europe, the city’s annual festival for gay men in leather.
And Berlin’s become a dangerous place for them.
British lawyer, and part-time sleuth, Dominic Delingpole is in town. He’s come to Berlin to visit Matty, the teenage son he first met only a year ago.
When Matty is arrested for the attacks, Dominic teams up with German lawyer Johann Hartmann, a good-looking man with a seductive charm.
As they battle to prove Matty’s innocence, Dominic and Johann discover the attacks are linked to a sinister, Russian-backed experiment.
But whose side is Hartmann really on?
Finalist for the International Book Awards
Can forbidden love stand the test of time?
Will its strength inspire lasting love in today’s generation?
There are not only heroes, but unlikely heroes, who are determined to see love win.
Billy’s life changes in a single day when he meets Daniel, who becomes the love of his life.
Billy’s aging client Chuck has a dark and sad secret to reveal.
As Billy and Daniel fight to help Chuck reunite with the love of his past, their own fledgling relationship is threatened.
Who will remain the heroes in love?
A Passionate Romantic Suspense
A handsome naked man.
Unconscious on a bathroom floor.
He’s lost his memory, and someone’s out to kill him.
Who is the mysterious Luke?
British TV anchor and journalist Rupert Pendley-Evans doesn’t do long-term relationships. Nor does he do waifs and strays. But Luke's different. Luke's a talented American artist.
With a dark secret in his life.
As Rupert falls deeper in love with Luke, he discovers the reason for Luke’s amnesia. And the explanation puts them both in mortal danger.
