Reviewed by Annika
This is a Series Review of The Art of Murder Series (Books 1 – 2 )
AUTHOR: Josh Lanyon
PUBLISHER: JustJoshin Publishing Inc.
NARRATOR: Kale Williams
SERIES REVIEW:
Josh Lanyon has delivered two great mystery books that keeps you on your toes and hunting for killers right alongside Sam and Jason. The romance between our two MCs are mostly non-existent and most of the books are spent searching for clues. However, I really don’t mind that, I love trying to solve mysteries so that’s right up my alley, but those of you looking for something hot and heavy might not enjoy this series.
SERIES RATING: 
TITLE: The Murmaid Murders 
LENGTH: 7 hours, 31 minutes
RELEASE DATE: October 7, 2016
BLURB:
Special Agent Jason West is seconded from the FBI Art Crime Team to temporarily partner with disgraced, legendary “manhunter” Sam Kennedy when it appears that Kennedy’s most famous case, the capture and conviction of a serial killer known as The Huntsman, may actually have been a disastrous failure.
For The Huntsman is still out there… and the killing has begun again.
REVIEW:
Remember Sam Kennedy from Winter Kill? Well, he’s back and the focus is all on him – or mostly. There is that pesky little detail of a suspected serial killer on the prowl to be dealt with.
Jason West is on loan and temporarily partnered with Sam Kennedy to solve a homicide that might be connected to a serial killer that Sam caught some years back. To say the match is a happy, welcome or a civil one is not what you’d call accurate. They barely tolerate each other and this thing called cooperation is not really working out all that well. Oil and water works smoother together than these two does. And that’s one of the things that made this such a great read. The push and pull, the friction between them was highly entertaining. Not to say that I didn’t want to smack their heads together and ask them to grow up and work together more than once, but hey, that’s par for the course.
I wouldn’t really call this book a romance as Jason and Sam spends most of the book at each other’s throats. The animosity and mistrust runs deep and they barely tolerate each other. And that never really changes. Relationship wise, the books ends with a potential HFN, if that. It’s more of a “let’s not say goodbye, but keep in touch” kind of ending. But it all works. It’s the mystery that is the primary focus of the book. The who and why, and what ifs. It keeps you guessing and on your toes and sooner than you might like it you’ve reached the end. And if that’s not a sign for a good time, I don’t know what is.
Kale Williams was a good choice for this book. His voice fit the characters, the story and feel of the story. His voices for the characters were distinct and he made it easy to follow along the story. There’s something about his voice that makes it easy to dream away for a while.
I think this is a book that shows a lot of potential for a really good mystery series to come. It’s not all smooth sailing and shiny rainbows. And I can’t really say that I liked, or even warmed up much to Sam in the end, but you know what? That doesn’t matter. I quite like it in fact. It’s refreshing to have to put my own issues aside, and being “forced” to work with someone I don’t particularly agree with and rubs me the wrong way. The Mermaid Murders is a great book to pick up when you want to sink your teeth into a good mystery and not focus so much on the romance. I’m really looking forward to what else this series has in store.
RATING:
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TITLE: The Monet Murders
LENGTH: 8 hours, 57 minutes
RELEASE DATE: September 20, 2017
BLURB:
Jason West and Sam Kennedy are back!
All those late night conversations when Sam had maybe a drink too many or Jason was half falling asleep. All those playful, provocative comments about what they’d do when they finally met up again.
Well, here they were.
The last thing Jason West, an ambitious young FBI Special Agent with the Art Crimes Team, wants – or needs – is his uncertain and unacknowledged romantic relationship with irascible legendary Behavioral Analysis Unit Chief Sam Kennedy.
And it’s starting to feel like Sam is not thrilled with the idea either.
But personal feelings must be put aside when Sam requests Jason’s help to catch a deranged killer targeting wealthy, upscale art collectors. A killer whose calling card is a series of grotesque paintings depicting the murders.
REVIEW:
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.
RATING: 
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