| Used bookseller Adrien English had had it! He was tired of LAPD Detective Jake Riordan waffling back and forth between wanting to have a relationship with him and being too scared to admit that he could have feelings for another guy that didn't involve S&M and bondage. So Adrien threw some stuff in his car, left his beloved store in the hands of his less-than-able assistant, and headed out to his grandmother's Pine Shadow Ranch, which she left to him when she died.
Adrien hadn't been to the ranch since he was a little kid and he was looking forward to the peace and quiet so that he could work on his latest guy-whodunit, which wasn't going so well. However, running into a dead body in his driveway was not the best way to start a vacation. By the time Adrien had contacted the sheriff and explained the situation, the body was gone. Vanished. T he sheriff was sure that Adrien was just imagining things and saw a drunk trying to sleep it off and Adrien let himself be persuaded for the time being. Unfortunately, things didn't look too much better in the morning. Adrien soon discovers that his supposed "caretaker" was growing marijuana on his property and he had forged Adrien's name to give permission to the local university to run an archaeological dig on his land. Too bad he is missing and Adrien can't find him. Before Adrien can do much else, Jake shows up on his porch demanding to know why the police are calling to ask questions about Adrien. When Jake hears that Adrien is involved in another murder mystery, he tries his best to persuade Adrien to go back to Hollywood where he belongs. But Adrien is positive that the dead body he saw that first night was the body of his caretaker and is determined to get to the bottom of the many mysteries in the sleepy, small town. This is the second book starring Adrien English, following Fatal Shadows, and it was just as good, if not better than the first. This one is much longer and has a more fleshed out and fully developed story. All of the characters are fun to get to know and it is amusing to watch Adrien and Jake try to get along together and figure out what they are going to do about their supposed "relationship." I also really enjoyed the mystery(s). The plot was fast paced and very interesting. I sat down and read the book in a couple of hours, it was that good. The fact that the main character is gay may put some readers off, but this is a fine mystery in its own right. | ||
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Plot & Themes Tone of story - very upbeat How difficult to spot villain? - Difficult, but some clues given Time/era of story: What % of story relates directly to the mystery, not the subplot? - 60% Special suspect? - investigator him/herself Misc. Murder Plotlets - Proving innocence of very obvious suspect Kind of investigator Kid or adult book? - Adult or Young Adult Book Any non-mystery subplot? descript. of violence and chases - 20 % Planning/preparing, gather info, debate puzzles/motives - 30 % Feelings, relationships, character bio/development - 30 % How society works & physical descript. (people, objects, places) - 20 % Crime Thriller Yes Murder Mystery (killer unknown) Yes Main Character Gender - Male Profession/status: Age: - 20's-30's Ethnicity/Race Main Adversary Identity: - Male Age: - 20's-30's Profession/status: Eccentric: Yes Motive of antagonist - jealousy How sensitive is this character? Sense of humor - Strong but gentle sense of humor Intelligence - Smarter than most other characters Setting United States Yes The US: - California Farm/Ranch? Yes Farm/Ranch: - ranch Writing Style Accounts of torture and death? - moderately detailed references to deaths Explicit sex in book? Yes What kind of sex: - descript of kissing - homosexuals doing their thing Amount of dialog - significantly more descript than dialog |
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