Reviewed by Annika
TITLE: Guilt by Association 
SERIES: Hazard and Somerset #4
AUTHOR: Gregory Ashe
NARRATOR: Tristan James
PUBLISHER: Self-Published
RELEASE DATE: December 18, 2018
LENGTH: 11 hours, 37 minutes
BLURB:
Everything in Emery Hazard’s life is finally going well: his boyfriend, Nico, is crazy about him; he has a loyal partner at work; and he has successfully closed a series of difficult murders. By all accounts, he should be happy. What he can’t figure out, then, is why he’s so damn miserable.
After a fight with Nico, Hazard needs work to take his mind off his relationship. And someone in town is happy to oblige by murdering the sheriff. The job won’t be easy; the sheriff had enemies, lots of them, and narrowing down the list of suspects will be difficult. Difficult, but routine.
The arrival of a special prosecutor, however, throws the case into turmoil, and Hazard and Somers find themselves sidelined. With an agenda of his own, the prosecutor forces the case toward his favorite suspect, while Hazard and Somers scramble to find the real killer. As the people they care about are drawn into the chaos, Hazard and Somers have to fight to keep what they love–and to keep each other. To find the killer, they will have to reveal what each has kept buried for years: their feelings for each other.
And for Hazard, that’s a hell of a lot scarier than murder.
REVIEW:
By far the best part of this series are the mysteries. They are intricate, layered and complicated. There’s also far more going on behind the scenes of that small town than what’s healthy. I think I might have mentioned that I’d recommend any and all prospects to run for the hills and go somewhere, anywhere else.
This time Emory and Somers have the delicate task of solving the murder of the town’s sheriff. A task that unravels motive after motive – and suspect after suspect – as the sheriff was less than law-abiding himself and had many side business, none of them legal. And when a special prosecutor arrives at the scene and steers the investigation things get dicey and emotions run high.
Personally the romance/s doesn’t work for me. Not because of the romance in itself but because I don’t really like Somers. And my dislike of him spoils what could have been something really great. It’s different from many mainstream romances – but different in the best way, so I really wish I could love Emory and Somers together. I totally see the appeal of it and why others do love it, sadly I just can’t.
In the previous books I’ve loved Nico. He lightened and brightened the book whenever he was present. I loved him and Emory together. But the happy, shiny guy I (and Emory) fell for in the first book is gone and replaced by a snarly, mistrustful and childish body double. I missed the original man that’s for sure.
I love that there are so many layers to this series. That things aren’t always what they seem, or very rarely so in this case. I also love how the titles depict that. Not only do they tell you what the book is about, but also about the layers. Take the last two title for example; Paternity Case and Guilt by Association. Each of those gives an image, an idea of what the book is about. Yet only after finishing the book you realise how cleaver the title really is, how it tells you about what’s underneath. I won’t tell you in what way because that would spoil the books for you.
Tristan James almost has it all; the wonderful voice, the accents, the wide range of voices, great pacing and passion– and you get my drift. He’s widely talented and knows what’s he’s doing and doing it great. The only thing speaking against him is that he narrates in a monotone voice. Then again no one is perfect, and James’ narration is pretty close to it.
While I might not be a fan of Emory and Somers as a couple, the mysteries draw me in and have me wanting more.
RATING: 
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