Reviews

3.5 stars.

I was happy to begin another Lanyon audiobook narrated by Kevin R. Free. He does a great job with these stories. But oh, Christopher, Christopher, Christopher, what a clusterfuck you are. There were times during this story that i wanted to slap Christopher Holmes. His flawed decision making

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like letting a bunch of strangers, including a screamingly obvious stalker fan into his and J.X's new home.

drove me crazy, and the ever patient J.X Moriearity deserved a medal for sticking with him and his indecisive nature.
Again, this series delivers with gorgeous, graphic, descriptive sex scenes, and they were a delight to hear. I love how J.X. is pushing Kit's boundaries. It's clear that the sex life he had before, with his ex-boyfriend David, was vanilla and boring, and J.X. is making him feel things, and desire things he never knew he wanted.
Overall, this was another entertaining murder mystery romp.

leelah's review against another edition

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5.0

I reread both book in series prior release and in my opinion [b:The Boy with the Painful Tattoo|16219338|The Boy with the Painful Tattoo (Holmes & Moriarity, #3)|Josh Lanyon|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1354556854s/16219338.jpg|22198520] is the best installment. There is so many good things going on:

Mystery- Ok, it's not fair to say: "Josh is back!" since he released several post-sabbatical works. [b:Stranger on the Shore|20738173|Stranger on the Shore|Josh Lanyon|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1395710577s/20738173.jpg|40068387] is a mystery, good one at that, but mystery in TBWTPT was top notch. Kit and J.X. just moved together in their new house in San Francisco. Kit decided to stay and unpack their things while J.X. went to a convention. But, in a box where his china was supposed to be he finds a body. Now, my first thought was: "Only you, Kit... this can happen only to you." :D Personally, I couldn't guess neither who the killer was nor how to body even got there in the first place, but it's not just that- mystery has that quirky, to-the-point-of-ridiculous vibe we got used to reading every time Kit stumbles upon the body. I always thought that's a thing with his series. And just to spice it up, Kit also has two men chasing after him: one crazy lunatic and one psycho stalker. Lovely fellows. I have to say, though, that I had issues with

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the whole stalker thing. Jerry was so obviously creepy- he has done by-the-book creepy things every stalker does. Up until the end I was convinced Jerry was involved in robbery and he was just pretending to be stalker so he can get inside the house and look for coins. I still think that would be much clever plot development, but I am not sure Kit's writer ego would survive it. ;)

There is this scene at some bitten, off-the-road motel that was pure awesomeness. I reread it several times, because I was laughing so hard, and those are some nerve-wrecking moments. I love that scene to pieces.
Romance was perfectly balanced with mystery. If you prefer one over another you certainly won't be disappointed, since it has enough of both. I don't even know how to describe it, but this book is... substantial. So many things is going on, several parallel plots that somehow tied perfectly at the end.
Hence,we get just enough of Kit and J.X. being couple, doing things couples do. I guess that's the deal with most of us, but I got to Holmes & Moriarity after finishing Adrien English series. Now, that is my favorite series in genre, but Adrien and Jake were emotionally draining, I was a complete wreck with them. Kit and J.X. on the other hand were more relaxing to read because they were funny and they didn't have issues except Kit's insecurities and reluctance to dive into it completely. Well, hello complexity... I didn't feel like that in book #2, but here I found myself understanding some of Kit's issues. Yes, he is kind of a smartass. And he is reluctant and insecure. And he is a nag. But, despite what comes out of his mouth (or we read what's he thinking) he always ends up doing things that show us he wants this thing with J.X. to work. He is a complicated, high-maintenance puppy and I am pretty sure Kit will cause J.X. a heart-attack one day with his sleuthing adventures (poor guy, he was scared more than once). But it's not like J.X. is all perfect... I always thought of him as this knight in shining armor because he was so like the voice of sanity and his love was never in doubt and he always did the right things. So, I welcomed the fact that I saw some dirt on all that shine. He does think he is always right and he is pushing his case whenever he's got chance.

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I personally disliked sexual dynamic talk. I actually thought Kit had a point there- J.X. whole: it has to be like that because I know you like it and that's what you need" didn't really fly with me. :|

They fight. They discuss. They also have hot, earth-shattering sex (J.X., talking verra dirty during sex since 2009.) and they have it a lot. They are just being a normal couple; two people who are crazy about each other and that's never in the question.
Since I was dutifully avoiding every spoiler or excerpts of TBWTPT, I have no idea if it was a known fact, or intention Josh made clear somewhere. The thing that blew me away completely is...fan service.

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I literally squealed on Adrien and Jake cameo. This series is over, Josh said it more than once. I can even understand it: Adrien- Adrien's heart can't take another life-threatening situation. But, I looooove these two with the strength of 1000 burning suns! To get a glimpse; seeing they are doing just fine made me happy and I teared up. I did. I am not ashamed.

Then there were these funny, laugh-out-loud little things. Like Chandler quote that suits Kit's mood perfectly (brings back Adrien memories)...or the wicked, clever, awesome reason for title of this book... or Edna Mole reference... Or Harry Hole almost-pun...Or every damn thing that crosses Kit's mind.

I am gushing; I loved it.

susssu's review against another edition

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4.0

This was really more of a three-and-a-half than a four but I'll round up because it's Lanyon.

I think maybe the reason these Holmes & Moriarity books aren't as good for me as the rest of Lanyon's books is that Christopher reminds me so much of, well, me. And I don't really like him, which makes me feel all kinds of uncomfortable. And I really don't like J.X.'s controlling nature either - it's something I would not be able to live with in a million years.

In this one, the mystery didn't really seem to be up to par, either. Maybe because there were so many elements to the eventual plot, so many characters playing a part without seeming altogether necessary. Sometimes less is more even in mysteries.

But I did finish the book in two days, which is quite fast paced for me these days, so I suppose not all hope is lost. Most likely it's just a case of way too high expectations, a consequence of having a favorite in any genre. I've come to expect entertaining and riveting reads from Lanyon, so anything less will always dissapoint.

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