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Harold "Errol" McGowan, 34, and his nephew Jason McGowan, 20, were initially thought to have committed suicide within six months of each other.
But the family of the men believe they were killed by racists after suffering racial harassment in Telford.
 Harold McGowan: House sitting for a friend
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They said the force had failed to entertain the possibility that the deaths could be murder.
But the West Mercia force has now said it is working from a starting point that there was foul play.
John Grieve, the head of the Metropolitan Police's racial crime taskforce was called in to act as a special advisor to the West Mercia force.
West Mercia Chief Constable Peter Hampson said a joint investigation into the deaths, launched on 1 February, was progressing well.
'No stone unturned'
But he said his force had failed to establish an effective working relationship with members of the McGowan family.
"Whilst West Mercia Police has considerable experience in the investigation of serious crimes and suspicious deaths, John Grieve has recent and relevant experience of working with bereaved black families," Mr Hampson said in a statement.
 Jason McGowan had been investigating his uncle's death
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Mr Hampson said a team of 47 officers, lead by Det Supt Mel Shore, would leave no stone unturned in the search for the truth concerning the deaths.
The McGowan family has said police assumed the hangings were suicides.
The body of Harold McGowan was found on 2 July last year hanging from a door handle in a house he was looking after for a friend.
Jason McGowan, who had been investigating the death of his uncle, was found hanging from railings on New Year's Day.
But not all members of the family believe the men were murdered.
Robert King, the father of Jason McGowan, has said his son took his own life and urged an end to "lies and rumours" that he was killed by racists.
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