I Like!

It's been eight months since we said goodbye to Jason and Sam and their tentative beginning of something more. Life and cases has kept them in different parts of the country. That all changes when a German national ends up murdered and Sam calls in Jason for help as a painting resembling Monets works has been found on the scene. In the last book, I never really warmed to Sam, but I did have some hope by the end of it that he had and would continue to change going forward. Lo and behold, it's now 8 months later and he's back to square one. I wasn't happy. Relationship-wise I feel like we just started over, like the first book never happened. I was back to disliking Sam. Feeling Jason was back to being a bit of doormat who constantly being kicked around by Sam and that's not a feeling I particularly enjoy. While we got to know Sam a bit more and understand his reasons for pulling back from Jason, I still don't feel like that was enough. The constant back and forth with Jason is getting a bit tedious and exhausting, almost like watching a tennis match. I'm deliberately not talking much of the mystery as I don't want to give anything away - I mean, what fun is a mystery if you already have all the answers? I will say that as always Lanyon delivers a great mystery plot with lots of twists and turns – just as it should be. I feel like Kale Williams struggled a bit with this book. The voices he had for Sam and Jason were at times exactly the same so the read wasn't as effortless as it could've been or was with the first book. I still very much enjoy listening to his voice, and the narration of this book, I just wish he differentiated more between the different characters and keep them differentiated throughout. The Monet Murders should be read for the mystery, not the romance. The mystery will keep you on your toes and guessing who the culprit is right up until the explosive end. While I didn't enjoy aspects of the book, the mystery alone made this a very enjoyable read, which is why I'm jumping straight into the next book in the series. A copy of this book was generously provided by the author in exchange for an honest review for Love Bytes

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Great romance. Inriguing tale.

Loved it. The birthday party was my favorite moment. Kale has the perfect voice for these stories.

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thoughts on the monet murders

The good: The plot is fascinating and really moves. You are kept in the moment trying to figure out who killed who and why but more than that the subplot is incredible. You have a family that has everything and they are just a bit on the unstable side in some ways. They have some incredible art but their morals are questionable. You have a romance that is not on the front burner but still has hints throughout and you have two men that are struggling to figure things out in their mind. the feelings and attraction is there but there are battles happening neither can truly grasp. Sam-the guy comes off as arrogant to many but to me he is just lost in his thoughts. He is on a mission and can’t escape his past. He is a good guy but so determined in his vision that he forgets to look around him or think of what is going on in his world he only sees stopping those that harm others. I love that swoony moment at the end. Meh: Jason was on good and meh. Overall like him as a character but his indecision and how he seemed to invest alot in the thought of sam sometimes goes to far. He also does something on the island that I was not happy with. He is a great agent but hasn’t quite learned how to handle Sam yet. I like his following of his gut. That was great. I liked how he worked things out I just wish he could apply that to Sam at times so he can see things without being all muddled and frustrated. Granted Sam could be frustrating but he was also honest so if asked he would tell him straight up things. The tie in to old mysteries was a bit thready. We don’t really get the whole story and than we have the doctor who is obsessed with Jason. That isn’t quite meshing either for me. Overall : Like the story and series so far. The characters drive the plot forward at times and sometime the plot draws you subtlety in and I love that.

Addictive series!

Kale Williams makes this series believable and life sized. Don’t ever let anyone else do Sam’s or Jason’s voice! I’ve just discovered this series and I hope there will be many more.

I really want to like this series

I'm going to be the dissenting voice in the reviews. I genuinely want to like this series. I've got several of Josh's books, and I'm particularly fond of her All's Fair and Adrien English series. I find that Josh is one of the few M/M romance/mystery authors who can pen an engaging story that avoids many of the cliches that a lot of authors in the genre fall into. Perhaps it's because I read the far superior All's Fair series before this one, but The Art Of Murder just falls flat for me. I was neutral on the first book in the series, but I found it superior to this one. At least it had the setup going for it, before it established the characters and their relationships. Now that they're familiar in book 2, I'm just not buying Sam and Jason as a couple. It isn't just that their relationship is rocky, it's that they actively seem to dislike each other, and have been written with very little chemistry between them. Josh seems bored. I get we need a little angst before we get to the happily-ever-after, but these two seem like the only happy-ever-after they can get is with other people. Of the two, I prefer Sam, but that's not a compliment on his characterization particularly, he's just the least vapid of the two. Jason, who is terrible at his job, can be even less likable. He hits a new low when he meets privately with creepy stalker Chris Shipka, who's story arc ends in the least interesting way possible. The scene is bad - not for the reasons behind it, but because it's just so pointless, and well, dull. I get why this scene took place, it just didn't add anything to the story, or move it forward in the slightest. Much like Jason, it just sort of laid there not doing much, and that's a trap Josh usually doesn't fall into. The worst book that Josh Lanyon has ever written is Winter Kills. This is a step above. That's the best I can say about it. I've read the other reviews and wonder what it is that I've missed. I wish I could like it just as much as everyone else, but it's just not my cup of tea. My adventures with Jason and Sam ends here, and I'll eagerly away Josh's next series.

EXCITING!

The first book in the series was very, very good. This one will leave you breathless. I'm enjoying this every bit as much as I enjoyed the Adrien English series.

enjoyed it

Did the story keep me engaged: yes Were there any parts I found annoying: Jason's (regular) inner 'why did Sam dump me' for the first half of the book. Did I feel an emotional connection to the characters: I did by about the three quarter mark - but it took a while to get there. Would I listen to it again: I wouldn't not listen to it again, but it wouldn't be my first choice. Good mystery with a good pace. I liked it more than book 1, but i'm still on the fence about the two main characters. I liked Jason better in this book than the first and Sam is showing some redeeming qualities (he feels slightly 'softer' in this one), so they are both growing on me. Kale Williams does a great job of bringing characters to life. Josh Lanyon is the master at dragging out a relationship - now that the relationship is moving forward i'm more interested in giving the rest of the series a listen.

Bloody paintings & lovely endings

Josh Lanyon is a must read and this is no exception. Brilliant in all ways. Kale Williams's voice simply purrs along with all the characters and their quirks. I love Sam Kennedy. His perfectionism being tossed out of his box by Jason was a pleasurable thing indeed. They each try to figure out the hows and whys of some bizzar killings while also finding their own footing.

Well-written mystery with a few issues

I hate to give a less than stellar review of anything Josh Lanyon writes, because I really enjoy her writing style and the mysteries she creates. However I never really warmed to either Jason West or Sam Kennedy in The Mermaid Murders the way I did Lanyon's other protagonists, and this book only soured my impression. Kennedy comes across as a sociopathic jerk and Jason is his human doormat, and spends half the book wondering whether Kennedy likes him and generally acting like he's in middle school. The other half is spent doing investigative work, and while I enjoy the mystery, I can't help thinking that Jason West really isn't all that great an FBI agent. In the first book (also not my favorite from Lanyon), I feel like West just let the mystery happen around him and the outcome of the case would have been pretty much the same without his involvement, which is, er, not something that you want anyone to say about your protagonist in a mystery/suspense novel. Here he's marginally more independent and useful, but not much; everyone else seems to do his investigating for him, and he's way too emotional and whiny for an FBI agent and, frankly, a bit of a wimp. I don't necessarily need him to be a superagent but it would be nice if he were just a little bit less, um, noticeably unfit for his job. One last thing, and beware of minor spoilers here. At one point, Jason discovers a body, and is immediately hauled in by the police for questioning and treated very poorly. Now, I guess I don't know how these things work, but I find it very, very difficult to believe that an FBI agent, working on a case, would be treated as poorly as Jason is here. I'm not the type of person who stops reading something every five seconds to say "No, no, that's not how things work!" but in this case: no, that's not how things work. On the other hand, maybe the police just sense the kind of emotionally needy, useless wreck that Jason is and figure they can get away with it. The book is well written like all of Lanyon's books, and the mystery is fascinating, but the unlikable protagonists really take this one down a few notches for me. Kale Williams does a fine job as usual, neither detracting from nor particularly adding much to the experience.

Great story. Great narration.

The connection between Sam and Jason is a bit tense this book. The over arcing plot thread and the tension between Sam and Jason are pointing in an interesting direction.