Mercedes is a great storyteller. Her prose is effortless and her characters are unique and refreshing. No cookie cutter bullshit here. Very three dimensional and surprisingly deep work. Reminds me a bit of Neil Gaiman, in the best kind of way. Well Done. 4+ Stars

I have to start my review as many other readers who reviewed [b:Pretty Boy Dead|18683723|Pretty Boy Dead (a Kendall Parker Mystery #1)|Jon Michaelsen|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1381975047s/18683723.jpg|26523328] by Jon Michaelsen - be aware THIS BOOK is not ROMANCE. Otherwise it wouldn't have been nominated for 26th Lambda Literary Award(2014) in the category Gay Mystery. BTW, the jury's selection for this year was top-class. You can have a look at the other finalists here.

Unfortunately gay mystery genre will be very often misinterpreted, partly thanks numerous characters in MM Romance genre. Police officers, private investigators or special agents are more thrilling professions than accountant, and offer more possibilities for a hot MM romance than other occupations.

The plot:

Homicide detective Sergent Kendall Parker has lost his lover in an accident weeks back. Though people in his environment, including his cop partner since 5 years Perelli, doesn't know that Michael was more than just a friend to Parker. Because he is deeply deeply closeted. No wonder, working in such a homophobic Police Department in Atlanta. When a dead body has been discovered in Piedmont Park, not far from a gay bar, it raises first the suspicion that it could be probably bigotry, or hate-crime. And Police is not very motivated to solve the case. There is not only Parker who doesn't believe in it, but also investigative reporter who got a strange call the night before the corpse has been found. The investigation leads to a gay nude club, into high political circles, and to a mob-connected relative of a crime family in Chicago.



There are two kind of mystery's books. In one of them you have to rack your brain up to the end to find out who is the murder, in others you get to know a murder at the beginning, and you have just to witness and judge an investigation's routine. [b:Pretty Boy Dead|18683723|Pretty Boy Dead (a Kendall Parker Mystery #1)|Jon Michaelsen|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1381975047s/18683723.jpg|26523328] is a mix of both kinds. We know, WHO killed a young man, or better to say, WHO recruited a hit man, but we don't know WHY and as the story proceeding, it becomes clear that everything WE BELIEVED to know is WRONG.

I like the ending, the writing is great, and I'm looking forward to reading the next book in the series. I hope only the author will put a bit more of private Ken into the series. He is sensitive and loyal and simply a good guy. No, it doesn't have to be turned into a MM Romance, but the character of Kendall Parker has a potential to become popular detective in the genre, and a bit romance could be only a win-win all around.

A well done solid mystery.

A serial killer stalks the streets of Savannah...

Homicide detective Elise Sandburg and her partner, profiler David Gould, are all too familiar with the terrible costs of chasing evil. Despite their wounded psyches, the detectives delve into the deranged killer’s twisted mind, determined to unravel the clues in the taunts he leaves behind.

A city gripped by fear...

When his daughter becomes the killer’s next victim, a grief-stricken mayor comes down hard on the police, demanding that they catch the psychopath—now. Feeling the pressure, department officials enlist the aid of an FBI profiler who has unresolved business with David.

A cunning and elusive madman...

In a heart-pounding race to stop the next homicide, the detectives uncover their own role in the madman’s deadly game. Will they outsmart the killer before another horrific murder takes place in their beautiful city? Or have Elise and David finally met their match? [ synopsis from goodreads ]

 

This series always manages to throw me for a loop.

 

It was the first Elise Sandburg book that caused me to become an Anne Frasier fan (and I'll admit to being an Anne Frasier fan up-front in case I get all fan-girly later), and this delivers more of the same, in the best possible way.

 

Elise and David are always fun to read about. I like their banter and their relationship, and I like that they are both haunted by their pasts to some degree, but that it makes them better police because of it.

 

Their pasts are front and center in this one, with both of them dealing with serious (but old) family issues, and not always in the best way.

 

Watching Elise struggle to handle the bombshell that was thrown at her in the last book was intriguing, and I felt for her, even when I thought she was being overly dramatic about certain things.

 

David's problems broke my heart, perhaps because they hit closer to home than Elise's. The thought processes felt extremely real, and watching him try to pull himself together (with a few tears in my own eyes at times) and handle everything else that was going on (because do these two ever catch a break? No, they do not.) was heart-wrenching.

 

The introduction of a few new characters was fun, although the characters themselves were not always. I had very close to Umbridge-level hatred for one of them, though how much of that was due to said character's dislike of a character I did like I don't know.

 

I totally called the killer at 15%, and I feel brilliant because of it. I don't think I was supposed to catch said murderer that early, and it was one of those odd moments where things come together and I suddenly felt like a cop myself. It was beautiful.

 

Even knowing early on who I was pretty sure did it (I never completely trust my instincts on such things, given everything going on in a novel like this), this was an enjoyable ride with a hefty number of twists and turns. I doubted myself again and again, as did the characters, and having everything come together in the end the way it did was wonderful.

 

I can't wait to read the next in the series, given how things ended, and I will be eagerly anticipating it. If you haven't dived into this series, start with the first book, Play Dead, but do start if you like atmospheric crime thrillers with well-developed characters and lots of hilarious one-liners thrown in for even more charm.

 

This book was provided to me for free by Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.