Reviewed by Becca
TITLE: Badge of Loyalty
SERIES: County Durham Quad #1
AUTHOR: Jude Tresswell
PUBLISHER: Rowanvale Books Ltd
LENGTH: 188 pages
RELEASE DATE: February 28, 2018
BLURB:
Warning: Strong Adult Content
Mike Angells is an openly gay CID inspector based in North East England. There are three men in his life: Raith Balan, Phil Roberts and Ross Whitburn. Mike is particularly close to Ross.
Following a routine but significant investigation into thefts of farm machinery, Mike investigates the suspicious death of a footballer. The suspect’s father threatens to expose a crime Ross committed many years earlier, unless Mike withholds evidence that would incriminate his son. Mike must choose which badge he is loyal to–the one he was given when he joined the Force or the tattoo he wears that symbolises polyamory. His decision leads to a brutal conclusion when two men who bear grudges, an ex-con and Balan’s ex-lover, combine to exact revenge.
Interspersed with Mike’s story are comments made by Raith, Phil and Ross about Mike, each other, and the nature of their polyamorous relationship. It works for them, but, as Phil explains, they work at it.
Neither full-on erotica nor hard-boiled crime, and with many light moments, this is a story about love, hatred, and the price which is paid for loyalty.
REVIEW:
Before I get too far into this, this deals with some heavy stuff. It’s a murder mystery, but the more the case gets opened, it deals with rape and abuse and the wrong side of BDSM. There is also some homophobic comments and such. There is also torture at the end and a beating that should have never happened. It also deals with a suicide. It gets dark in a lot of spots so take care.
It is a good book, however. When you get to the bones of the case, it’s a murder mystery of course. But there is more than that to it. There is blackmail, manipulation, and sly threats. The case is a screwed up one, that’s for sure. Mike is called in to investigate a murder. It almost seems like an accident, and in the end it kind of is. But it’s everything that gets wrapped up into the case that makes it worse. When Mike starts digging, the case gets worse. He finds out some information about his own relationships that is disturbing and it kind of starts a small rift. But then he goes out and does something that makes it worse. And after that, it goes downhill. While he’s digging for information to put someone in prison, he realizes his actions are going to make him have to quit. But he doesn’t quit until the party gets what it deserves. But while all this is going on, one of his boyfriend’s ex is planning on revenge. And he gets it and Mike may not make it out alive.
It’s hard to maintain a normal two person relationship so I’m in awe of those who can handle more than that. But it’s harder when one is a cop. Offenders want revenge and usually take it out on their partners or other things. I feel for Mike in this book and yet I want to smack him just as well. Some of what is going on in this case is because of what he himself has done wrong. And I know he immediately feels guilt but it still was wrong. What frustrated me even more is that he crawled all over his partner, Ross, for something he did. And was just as bad. I understand what he did in this case, he did to end up protecting Ross and everyone else. But it was still wrong. So this book was all about some severe wrongness as well. Every turn it was just lies and betrayals. Revenge and so much more.
But it was good. No matter how F*@ked up the situations in this book, the plot is very good. The characters are a little messed up in their thinking, but hey, we’re all human and mess up. I can’t explain it. It’s just a really good book. Give it a chance and see what you think.
RATING: 
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