Review: Winter Kill by Josh Lanyon

Clever and ambitious, Special Agent Adam Darling (yeah, he's heard all the jokes before) was on the fast track to promotion and success until his mishandling of a high profile operation left one person dead and Adam "On the Beach." Now he's got a new partner, a new case, and a new chance to resurrect his career, hunting a legendary serial killer known as The Crow in a remote mountain resort in Oregon.

Deputy Sheriff Robert Haskell may seem laid-back, but he's a tough and efficient cop -- and he's none too thrilled to see feebs on his turf -- even when one of the agents is smart, handsome, and probably gay. But a butchered body in a Native American museum is out of his small town department's league. For that matter, icy, uptight Adam Darling is out of Rob's league, but that doesn't mean Rob won't take his best shot.

I'm a newly converted Josh Lanyon fan, or fanyon as we are affectionately known. So, while I'm still discovering this author's backlog of work, I still managed to to get caught up in the hype and excitement of waiting for his new release, Winter Kill. And I wasn't disappointed. Not even a little bit - though some fanyons were.

Before I get to that though, I want to take a moment to admire the front cover. Don't judge a book and all that, except I totally would and, even if I'd never read a Lanyon in my life, this cover would have persuaded me to pick up this book. I have a bit of a thing about wintry scenes anyway, but that with the gun pointing straight out - it promises a good read inside the pages. To me anyway.

The mystery of this story, the crimes that were starting to pile up, were really well executed, in my opinion. I didn't work out 'who dunit' until the author wanted me to know, even though all the clues were there. It's been a while since I found a crime author I enjoy as much. Lanyon manages the set up, the clues, the sleight of hand really well though. It makes an enjoyable read. The kind where you are guessing and second guessing all the time who the perp is and why!

Okay, so the crime bit was good. What about the romance?? Well this is, I think, where some fanyons were disappointed. For me though, I liked the relationship between Rob and Adam. Firstly, I have to say the Darling jokes reminded me of Blackadder, and I could only hear the word Darling in Stephen Fry's dulcet tones.

(I have no idea if you get Blackadder across the pond, but if you do get a chance to see it, I would recommend it.) That's a bit by-the-by though! Back to Winter Kill.

Rob and Adam. I liked these guys I really did. I liked how their relationship developed, the quick fuck, the regret, the yearning. It worked for me. HOWEVER - I do agree the epilogue was too rushed. Lanyon is the king of series and I could absolutely see these two as the next Adrien & Jake. Scrap the epilogue, give them another book, move the romance along in that, the same way it was in the rest of this book, one step forward and two back. I'm not going to deduct hearts though, because, at the end of the day, I still thoroughly enjoyed this book.

Read around the reviews...maybe try it for yourself. IS it a yay or nay for you? I'm very firmly in the YAY camp.