The Mermaid Murders by Josh Lanyon

4 STARS

Art of Murder Mysteries - Book 1

I am satisfied the way one is satisfied after a wonderful meal of a great burger made just the way you love it and an order of the best fries ever. With a chocolate milkshake. :)

I really enjoy cop/detective buddy mystery/romance type books and this is a good one. I loved the characters because they were mature, not kids - 33 and in his 40s - and they have flaws and are even unlikable every once in a while. We get to know the younger one, Jason, far more than Sam Kennedy, the older part of the duo, because the book is written from his viewpoint. *LOL* The whole romance/relationship thing happened a bit fast and wasn't really delved into deeply, but that kept the focus more on the mystery, I think. And that's okay - this is the first of a series, it seems. The Art of Murder series.

The mystery. It worked for me. I had no idea whodunit until right near the end - when I think I was supposed to figure it out - right before the climax of the novel. There was a nice netful of red herrings, clues that I only realised were clues when I realised who the murderer was, and dead ends that were actually dead ends. :) And as far as the actual explanation of the murder... it worked for me in that, for a change, it wasn't all complicated and convoluted.

A worthy companion to the buddy mysteries I love - Ty & Zane, Tommy & Prophet, the Psycop series.

Death of a Pirate King by Josh Lanyon

3.5 STARS

Adrien English Mysteries - Book 4
This fourth volume of Adrien English mysteries keeps up the tradition of the other three. It's two years after the previous book and there's a good mystery, terrific characters and a couple of interesting and important side plots. There's Adrien's mom, his step-sisters, his step father and there's Guy and yes... there's Jake. *sigh*

I cannot begin to tell you the antipathy I feel towards Jake. I don't want him with Adrien and I don't believe he's good for Adrien and I detest the way he talks and treats Adrien. I find myself wanting to shake the hell out of Adrien every time he gets personal with freakin' Jake. I understand conflict and disagreements and somehow insurmountable hurdles in a relationship, but in my mind, there's no reason for Jake to be so mean and nasty.

While Adrien runs his bookstore and plays with his writing endeavours and worries about his health, he does his amateur sleuthing at the behest of one of the main characters, much to the - of course - dismay, obnoxious and unpleasant dismay of Jake who is now a police lieutenant. The murder involves the movie community and the glitterati this time and wasn't quite as important to the narrative as a whole as were Adrien's reactions to the major players in his own life. Had the balance been tipped a little more the other way, I think I'd have rated this a full 4 stars.

I would really like to see more of Adrien with his mom, Lisa, and with his youngest step-sister, Emma. I like the energy that they bring to their scenes, which are always among my favourites.

So yep, another good read from Josh Lanyon and the series remains among my faves and easily recommendable. :)

The Hell You Say by Josh Lanyon

4 STARS

Adrien English Mysteries - Book 3

This is the third book in the Adrien English series and I enjoyed it as much as the first two. The mystery was sufficiently mysterious and puzzling, the characters were very good - and bad, and the sexytimes were interesting, integral to the over arcing story of Adrien's life.

I really enjoy Adrien's voice. There's a bit of sarcasm and cynicism there, as well as humour and warmth. And he has a lovely sense of the ridiculous. He's smart - too smart for his own good, probably, but it's a mystery series so he sort of has to be. :) He has a blind spot... well, okay.. maybe not an actual blind spot, but a weakness for the police detective Jake the Jerk who, as far as I'm concerned is the biggest tool in the shed.

So in this mystery, we have satanism, demons, pentacles, Wiccans, possible human sacrifices and all that these entail. We have blind alleys and red herrings that work quite well, in my opinion. I wasn't certain who the good guys were until quite near the end. I know what I WANTED to believe, but couldn't quite bring myself to. It did kind of feel like the wrap-up was a bit rushed, but that might be my own penchant for details. Every day details.

The subplot of Adrien's mother's engagement was fun and added to the mystery when it needed to. I enjoyed the new characters and am looking forward to seeing more of them in the next book. Yes, this is a series that I will definitely be continuing and recommending to those that enjoy a good mystery with a dash of sexy romance.

A Dangerous Thing by Josh Lanyon

3.5 STARS

Adrien English Mysteries - Book 2

This is the second of the Adrien English mysteries and was just as enjoyable as the first.

I really like the character of Adrien, I like his voice, his inner musings, his sense of humour and his intelligence. I like that he has flaws and acknowledges them. I like that he's not perfect.

As for his erstwhile paramour, Jake... well... I disliked him a lot in this book. I hated the way he treated Adrien for the most part and I hated his snarky attitude. I had a very hard time seeing what Adrien sees in him aside from the outer package. I wanted to smack him all through the book.

The mystery was good. Interesting and kept me guessing all the way through. I do like the way little bits get solved and new questions get raised and for the most part, the whole thing hung together rather well. At least I didn't know the guilty party before the end of chapter three! *LOL*

So yep, a good mystery read!

Fatal Shadows by Josh Lanyon

4.5 STARS

Adrien English Mysteries - Book 1

I do enjoy a good mystery and this one didn't disappoint. This wasn't the first Josh Lanyon work that I've enjoyed but I think it is the one that settles me firmly on the Lanyon bandwagon.

It's not a romance. It's a mystery with a sort of romantic subplot.

Adrien (with an 'e') English is the owner of a used bookstore and an about to be published mystery author. His high school friend is murdered and the adventure begins.

I liked Adrien a lot. He's not perfect, he has flaws, but they are flaws I can relate to. He has moments of uncertainty and confusion. He can be a bit of a smartass at times. And he has bitchy moments. And he basically has my dream job - second hand bookstore and writer. *LOL*

The other characters were nicely formed and those that needed fleshing out were fleshed out. There are a couple of weird ones and I'm looking forward to learning more about them further into the series. I do lament the killing-off of one of them and up until the scene where it happened, I had no idea it was coming.

The mystery was pretty good - it kept me wondering until the last couple of chapters. It really could have gone either way in my mind. And it did keep me turning the pages to find out what was going on - and isn't that the hallmark of a good mystery?

I really enjoy Josh Lanyon's voice too. I like how he writes, the way he puts stuff together, the balance between action, dialogue and exposition and just the overall rhythm of his books. He's good. :)

So I'm a fan. Adrien English has stolen my heart a little bit and I'm looking forward to reading about his next adventure and seeing where that ending - which by the way, was perfect in it's open-endedness - takes us!

This Rough Magic by Josh Lanyon

3.5 STARS

Shot in the Dark - Book 1

I enjoy Josh Lanyon. His writing isn't fancy, it doesn't have an agenda or a cause to espouse, it's just good old-fashioned story-telling.

This Rough Magic is a mystery set in the 1930's and is the first in the "Shot in the Dark" series. It stars a 'hard-boiled' private eye and a wealthy (to the outside world) playboy. There's a stolen work of Shakespeare, quirky relatives, the sweet secretary, polo ponies... all that good stuff.

Neil Rafferty, the private eye is not as hard-boiled as say, Sam Spade, but he's been around, is somewhat cynical and at times world-weary, but the man has a heart of gold. Brett Sheridan, the wealthy playboy, doesn't really come across as a playboy. He's sensitive, almost to a fault at times, somewhat self-centred and quite honestly, I wanted to smack him a couple of times, but then he'd come up with a snappy remark or some wry observation and get back into my good graces.

The mystery worked for the most part. I would have liked more time and attention given to what transpired at the Brett's mother's house and maybe a little more explanation of the 'why' at the very end, but it seems to me that today's 'romance' writers are afraid to have even a little bit of extra padding in their stories - and it's not really extra padding, I just can't think of the proper description, but I find that so many of them are so sparse! That's mostly why This Rough Magic didn't make 4 stars. Too sparse.

But very enjoyable!

Ooops!

I was a bit naughty... see... I said in my last review that I'd be waiting to buy more books in the Men of Honor series, but see... there was this sale. Deep, deep discounts. So I filled in series. Men of Honor, Whyborne & Griffin, Southern Arcana, Adrien English. 13 new books all told. That TBR pile? Becoming a mountain...

Ain't it grand?

Edit: So, I went back... 20 new books for less than $12.

The Dark Farewell by Josh Lanyon

4 STARS

My first foray into Josh Lanyon. :) 

I really enjoyed this! Everyone who reads m/m practically worships this author as one of the the genres superstars, so I was actually ready to be disappointed, as one often is. But I wasn't!

The Dark Farewell is a novella set in the mid-1920s. There are murders, there are seances, there are spirits, there is humour, there is sad reflection on loves past and there is some lovely intimacy between the main characters, Flynn, the almost-cynical reporter returned from The Great War, and Julian, the special man who claims to hear spirits. Lanyon is a terrific writer, if I can judge by this. The atmosphere is perfect, the characterisations right on for people of those times, the plot works, and most importantly, it made me want to read and know more - more about the characters and more stuff written by Lanyon. 

In a genre that's so full of crappy writing, it's tough at times to find new authors to add to your list, but I can safely and heartily recommend that you add Josh Lanyon to yours.