Reviewed by Carissa

TITLE:  Heat Trap

SERIES:  The Plumber’s Mate #3

AUTHOR:  J.L. Merrow

PUBLISHER:  Samhain Publishing

LENGTH:  255 pages

BLURB:  

The wrong secret could flush their love down the drain.

It’s been six months since plumber Tom Paretski was hit with a shocking revelation about his family. His lover, P.I. Phil Morrison, is pushing this as an ideal opportunity for Tom to try to develop his psychic talent for finding things. Tom would prefer to avoid the subject altogether, but just as he decides to bite the bullet, worse problems come crawling out of the woodwork.

Marianne, a young barmaid at the Devil’s Dyke pub, has an ex who won’t accept things are over between them. Grant Carey is ruthless in dealing with anyone who gets between him and Marianne, including an old friend of Tom and Phil. Their eagerness to step in and help only makes them targets of Grant’s wrath themselves.

With Tom’s uncertainty about Phil’s motives, Tom’s family doing their best to drive a wedge between them, and the revelation of an ugly incident in Phil’s past, suddenly Tom’s not sure whom he can trust.

The body in the Dyke’s cellar isn’t the only thing that stinks.

Warning: Contains British slang, a very un-British heat wave, and a plumber with a psychic gift who may not be as British as he thinks he is.

REVIEW:  

Everything is going fine for Tom and Phil. Everything. Well, there is that thing with Tom’s dad…and everyone seems intent on questioning their relationship…but everything is fine. Then a patch of bad weather (of the roast ’em in their socks variety) comes to town and everything goes a bit pear-shaped.

They find themselves pulled into helping  Marianne–a waitress at The Dyke–get rid of her stalker ex, who seems to be slippery as a buttered eel. But while Phil and Tom find plenty of evidence that the man is shoe-in for Asshole of the Year, Grant Carey also seems to have the unnerving ability to worm his way into people’s lives with his quick smiles, and oh-shucks attitude. Finding a way to get him out of town, and out of all their lives, might be a lot harder than it seems. Especially when someone sets their sights on eliminating them out of the equation.

I hate Grant Carey…and not only because I spent the whole book going, “Carey Grant. No, wait. Fuck, it’s Grant Carey.” Grant Carey is a low-life creep and if anyone deserved his comeuppance, it’s that tosser.  I do however love Grant Carey…because he is a great bad guy. You know he is the thing that even slime crosses the street to avoid, but he riles everyone up so much that it makes the story so very tense.

Heat Trap is a great name for this book. Everyone in this book is trapped in a heat wave of aggressive proportions, and it has temper flaring, and judgment going straight out of the window. It was frustrating some times to see Tom acting like a right idiot over some people’s actions and/or secrets, but with everything pressing down on him, nearly suffocating him, it was easy to see how rational was the last thing Tom was going to be. Or anyone, for that matter.

The mystery in this one was, as always, very entertaining. I never did quite figure it out till the big reveal, though I got a few of the smaller points nailed down as they came along. But still, it was fun to go along with Tom and Phil as they try to pin the primordial slime ball that is Grant Carey. The whole mystery with Tom’s dad did a good job of breaking the tension with Grant, and every time I felt like I couldn’t stand to around the limpdicked asshole (can you see my loathing for Grant yet?) anymore, the story would take a break and I would get a breather. And every time that I thought things were smooth sailings, something would happen to remind me not all is good in this little village.

I do wish we got more about Tom’s ‘dad’ in this book, I was biting at the bit after the revelations of book two, but while there is a few juicy hints here and there, not a lot was done in that story arc. Till the end. And then it ended and I’m left needing book four. Bloody teasers.

I really enjoyed this book, and this series is one of my English favorites. I didn’t hurt that I’ve been on a bit of a mystery kick, lately. All this detecting just gets my blood pumping…though not in the same way that some of Phil and Tom’s more naked interaction do (which, to be fair, are not many in number, but are lovely to read, nonetheless). I totally recommend that you pick up this book (and this series) and settle down for some not-so-quaint English murder and mystery. And if you find yourself loving your hate of a certain lowlife, well, you are probably not alone.

RATING:

BUY LINKS:

Samhain

Amazon

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