reading first third of the novelette at Readercon 2017

Well written and entertaining, but there are similarity with Adrien English mysteries.

4,5 stars

The waiting was worth it! The second installment didn't disappoint: a great mystery, charismatic characters and a lot of FEELINGS!

I’m a BIG fan of Art Crime novels, unfortunately I haven’t come across them too often in the LGBT genre. With The Art of Murder series Josh Lanyon killed two birds with one stone (for me, I don't literally mean the number of deaths in this book, it is slightly more): My mystery-soul is extremely happy and my romance-soul is completely satisfied.



Let’s talk about the mystery. Ve-ry complex, ve-ry creepy, with a brilliantly created spooky environment and thrilling atmosphere. Wow.



James West, FBI Special Agent of the Art Crime Team, investigates a fraud in Fletcher-Durrand Gallery. Legendary FBI profiler Sam Kennedy who since their last case together in Massachusetts has promoted to chief of the FBI Behavior Analysis Unit hunts a serial killer, who leaves a Monet painting at the crime scenes. And Christopher Shipka, a reporter for the Valley Voice on his private mission to find out what happened to the German art student Paris Havemeyer almost 20 years ago. But hold on tight: there are much more!

The fact that all these cases are connected hasn’t come totally unexpected. Key word ART.




What took me (and not just me) by surprise, was a cold and very reserved appearance of Sam at the crime scene and how he purposely ignored his almost boy-friend. (At least it was what we all truly believed, didn’t we?) As if there were no Massachusetts and passion PURE, as if there were no those eight months of sensual phone calls. What the hell is going on? Sam tries to stay aloofly official; James tries to hide his hurt, confusion and embarrassment. Sam pretends they are just good friends, James needs an explanation.

And then this case they have to work together on... A COMPLICATED mayhem of feelings!



The best prerequisites for an emotional romance with a lot of sexual tension.

With Sam & James interaction, Josh Lanyon fulfilled all the most high expectations of the most critical readers of romance novels.



Highly enjoyable and beautiful MM Romance Mystery, that left you craving for more!


***ARC provided by the author to GBR in exchange for an honest review. ***

This book has much more story than Monet. It centers around him, his work, his family his struggles, but it cover so much more. The first world war is prominent from the early whispers of war to the horrible realities of it. Monet, his famous artist friends, journalists, politicians and the community around him he so loved withered, many died. I learned many interesting details about the war in France from a new perspective, it was fascinating and heartbreaking.

Monet was a off centered man. His quirks had quirks when it came to his paintings and his garden. Luckily for the world his quirks fed his genius. This man was an introvert, loyal to his few friends and family. Volatile and moody he destroyed hundreds of paintings in his outrages. Time held him and the changes drove his paintings.There would be dozens of easels set up along his garden capturing the differences, at seven minute intervals. The need to catch each shadow, change of color, wind direction and seasonal changes.

I learned so much from this story. i learned about the lives of people in France during WW1 the changes, hardships, and suffering as well as the hope and fight for happiness. It is not a book I could read quickly I read it in  small bits then found myself thinking about the moments I discovered.

I had no interest in Monet before this.  I purchased a puzzle of his water lily painting then say then saw this book offered and thought, why not ? I finished my very difficult puzzle with the help of my adult children while sharing stories about the book with them. History as it should be written, interesting with personal stories is so interesting.

Monet is quirky, perhaps mad, who am I to judge. I admire his stance on staying true to himself, even under such harsh judgements. The German's have come Paris is being bombed and Monet is not leaving his home.