Reviewed by Annika
TITLE: Blue on Blue
SERIES: Bitter Legacy #3
AUTHOR: Dal MacLean
NARRATOR: Gary Furlong
PUBLISHER: Tantor Audio
LENGTH: 13 hours, 27 minutes
RELEASE DATE: May 12, 2020
BLURB:
After three years working as a private investigator, newly reinstated Detective Inspector Will Foster still holds himself responsible for the death of an officer under his command. But he’s returned to the Met bent on redeeming himself and that means bringing down gangland boss Joey Clarkson.
Will’s prepared to put in long hours and make sacrifices for his work, even if it comes at a cost to his nascent romance with international model, Tom Gray. After all, Tom has a history of wandering but crime is a constant in London. And Will has committed himself to the Met.
But when a murder in a Soho walkup leads Will into the world of corruption, he finds himself forced to investigate his own friends and colleagues. Now the place he turned for redemption seems to be built upon lies and betrayal. And someone is more than willing to resort to murder to keep it that way.
REVIEW:
Blue on Blue is the third book in the Bitter Legacy series and it mainly follows the couple from the second book; Object of Desire, but also James from the first book play a significant part. I would say you’d enjoy this book more if you’ve read the first two before starting in on this one. This time around the book is told from Will’s POV and we catch up with him at an engagement party for James and Ben, the couple from the first book. It’s not long before he’s called away on a murder. A murder that’s not quite what it seems, and raises questions he never wanted to ask, causing him to question the loyalty of the people around him.
That he and Tom are having issues in their relationship doesn’t help matters, neither is the fact that someone is deliberately trying to break them up, by having them followed and sending pictures meant to cause trouble. Then there is the fact that Will was constantly called away for the case and their relationship starts to fray even more.
For the most start when you re-visit a couple in a series, you expect them to live their happily ever afters once they’ve finally gotten together. There might be the odd challenge, but not to the point where you question if they’ll make it. In this book we question it and it’s not the odd challenge Will and Tom faced. The love was there but the lack of a solid foundation made itself known. Personally I enjoy the uncertainty – to a point – that they have to fight for their relationship and for each other. As with the previous books, the romance aspect is never really in the forefront, the investigation is the driving point
I’m a huge fan of police procedurals and Dal Maclean once again delivered an interesting mystery full of twists and turns. Suspects are coming out of the woodwork and it plays on your paranoid mind, not knowing who to trust and at the same time knowing that trusting the wrong person could get them killed. I can’t, or rather won’t, discuss the plot in too much detail as it will reveal too much for anyone who hasn’t read or listened to the book, but suffice to say Mclean stays true to form.
Gary Furlong is talented, there’s no two ways about it. This book definitely put his talents to the test, and he excels them all. I remember one part right in the beginning where he throws out one accent after the other – it was great, it made me nostalgic and it made me smile. I do love his accent in general, it adds so much to the sense of place. He also added much emotion to his performance and made you feel the toll the dancing around each other Will and Tom did. How much it hurt, how much they loved each other, but not knowing if it was enough. Furlong made it a joy to listen to this book and I believe this series wouldn’t have been what it is without him.
I’m loving every book Dal Maclean puts out and I can only hope there will be more books in the future.
RATING: 
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