JOSH LANYON'S PAGE: The Holmes & Moriarity mystery series

SOMEBODY KILLED HIS EDITOR (Holmes & Moriarity #1)
JOSH LANYON
Justjoshin Publishing
$19.99 paperback, available now

Rating: 4* of five...barely

The Publisher Says: Turning forty has left much to be desired for mystery writer Christopher Holmes. After both his boyfriend and long-time publisher dump him, he worries his life is officially at the start of a steep decline. Stranded at a writing conference for the weekend, he never expected to bump into an old flame... or stumble across a dead body in the woods.

Ex-cop JX Moriarty is soaking up all the newfound fame from his successful crime fiction. When the only bridge into the conference venue washes away to reveal a dead body, Moriarty falls back on old skills to secure and investigate the crime scene. But even his years of experience couldn't prepare him for the discovery of a second body: his ex-boyfriend Christopher's editor.

With all fingers pointing to Holmes, Moriarty has no choice but to clear the name of the man who broke his heart. Can the ex-lovers solve the murders and rekindle their passion, or will a killer attendee write them into the body count?

Somebody Killed His Editor is the first book in the madcap Holmes & Moriarty romantic gay mystery series. If you like tongue-in-cheek humor, crazy twists and turns, and sizzling chemistry, then you'll love Josh Lanyon's quirky novel.

I RECEIVED THIS BOOK FROM THE GOODREADS M/M GIFT EXCHANGE. THANKS!

My Review: I enjoy mystery fiction. I enjoy gay fiction. I should batten like a tick on this series of gay-themed Moonlighting-lite mysteries.

I liked this one fine. I was not enraptured, delighted, or more than amused (the banter between the exes was funny at times). That is, however, more than enough to get me to go further into the series. It really struck me how different it is to have my PoV character be forty. It's a lovely change from romances without mystery elements that feature hot boys. Kit (as he is called) Holmes being at a career and personal-life crossroads felt so relatable because it wasn't his first go-round...he's lost his audience for the mysteries he writes, and is doing whatever he can to get them back or find new people to amuse.

The romantic interest between Kit and JX is paced oddly, yet I found myself more intrigued by it because of that. We don't discover they're exes until almost halfway through this story! I mean the synopsis gives it away but it isn't established until later...this was peculiar, but worked for me, as Kit's strangely willing reluctance to get involved in JX's plans for what to do after the body's discovered made me feel really curious about this off-kilter attitude. In many ways this is the heart of the story...reuniting, re-meeting really, with a history neither of you is ready to confront and could never decide to confront. That's what makes dealing with older people so relatable. I'd guess most of us past forty have had this experience, probably not with a romantic entanglement though.

I did find my eyes rolling a bit when Kit declaims the solution to the mystery before a "you must be wondering why I've summoned you here" style audience. The murderer agrees with him. And that, laddies and gentlewomen, is that.

It's not the way I myownself prefer to get off the horse, but it's got the virtue of clarity. I will say I was not expecting the killer's motive, so points for that, Ms. Lanyon. I also note for more modern readers that the women in his story are repellently girly, all dressed pointedly in pink and mincing ever so ladylike through the action. It would demand howls of outrage if a man wrote it...it was uncomfortable to me anyway.

Decent series mysteries with gay leads are rare enough that I recommend it with only mild reservations.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

ALL SHE WROTE (Holmes & Moriarity #2)
JOSH LANYON
Justjoshin Publishing
$18.99 paperback, available now

Rating: 4* of five

The Publisher Says: Giving screwball mystery a whole deadly new meaning.

A murderous fall down icy stairs is nearly the death of Anna Hitchcock, the much-beloved American Agatha Christie and Christopher Holmes's former mentor. Anna's plea for him to host her annual winter writing retreat touches all Kit's sore spots: traveling, teaching writing classes, and separation from his new lover, J.X. Moriarity.

For J.X., Kit's cancellation of yet another romantic weekend is the death knell of a relationship that has been limping along for months. But that's just as well, right? Kit isn't ready for anything serious and besides, Kit owes Anna far too much to refuse.

Faster than you can say Miss Marple wears boxer shorts, Kit is snooping around Anna's elegant, snowbound mansion in the Berkshires for clues as to who's trying to kill her. A tough task with six amateur sleuths underfoot, six budding writers with a tangled web of dark undercurrents running among them.

Slowly, Kit gets the uneasy feeling that the secret may lie between the pages of someone's fictional past. Unfortunately, a clever killer is one step ahead. And it may be too late for J.X. to ride to the rescue.

Warning: Contains one irascible, forty-year-old mystery writer who desperately needs to get laid, one exasperated thirty-something ex-cop only too happy to oblige, an isolated country manor that needs the thermostat cranked up, various assorted aspiring and perspiring authors, and a merciless killer who may have read one too many mystery novels.

I RECEIVED THIS BOOK FROM THE GOODREADS M/M GIFT EXCHANGE. THANKS!

My Review: Note to self: this is a sippin' series, not a bingein' series.

Kit and JX are more in focus now, more dealing with relationship stuff...Kit's just enough older to feel insecure about JX's greater hotness indicating a willingness to, um, stray when offered opportunity to. JX is a romantic, a guy who needs his man to be sweet-nothing-spouting and, if not prone to offering, at least amenable to receiving romantic gestures. That ain't Kit, the sarcastic and self-protective pragmatist.

This is more relatable to me than the establishing of the relationship was...these are ral issues I've dealt with and understand, and make caring about the couplehood of Kit and JX more natural for me as a reader. “I threw a quick look back at J.X. His weary, drawn face reminded me of a young, handsome Don Quixote. I wouldn't have been surprised to spot pieces of broken windmill scattered in the sheets around him.”

That said we're still in a mystery series, so what was the mystery like? “Anyone who wasn't half-stoned on pain meds would have instantly realized what a really bad idea this plan was, but since that didn't include me, I didn't worry about it.”

It was fine. I didn't believe it particularly as it seemed far-fetched but it did the job. “This went beyond talent and hard work, this was gifted. This was the kind of acuity you were either born with or you weren't. Like having perfect pitch or Brad Pitt's cheekbones.”

You've got examples. You like the writing? You want a mystery that's got enough substance to it to keep you involved? Here you go.