Tuesday, November 18, 2014

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!

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