Reviewed by Annika
TITLE: Fresh Kill
SERIES: Jimmy McSwain Files #6
AUTHOR: Adam Carpenter
NARRATOR: Joel Leslie
PUBLISHER: Tantor Audio
LENGTH: 9 hours, 6 minutes
RELEASE DATE: June 17, 2020
BLURB:
Jimmy McSwain returns, but the question lingers: Now that he has finally solved the 15-year-old murder of his NYPD cop father, Joseph, who has he become?
Busy concentrating on family issues, Jimmy hasn’t taken a new case in nearly three months, and when a call comes in from Philip Connelly, who wants proof that his wife, Myra, is cheating, Jimmy is torn. Take the case or say no. He rejects it, only to learn a week later that Philip has been found dead in a park on Staten Island. The police believe it was suicide, but Myra – a self-admitted adulteress – is convinced he was murdered. Jimmy agrees to take the case. But it seems his decision to rejoin the world has also affected the other areas of his life: His sister is facing a health crisis, an old friend from his father’s past has resurfaced, and his lover, Captain Francis X. Frisano, is working a difficult case in Chelsea where gay men are being attacked.
If that wasn’t enough, Jimmy is on the hunt to bring down his new nemesis, the criminal mastermind Mr. Wu-Tin. A fire at one of his warehouses stirs fear in Jimmy that the man is trying to destroy evidence of his crimes. That’s when life throws him a twist, and suddenly Jimmy feels that just as he’s hoping to find answers, new mysteries emerge about whether the path he’s on leads to a fresh start or a fresh kill.
REVIEW:
It’s a new dawn for Jimmy McSwain. No longer is his father’s unsolved murder haunting him. But that doesn’t mean all is well in his life. The man who ordered the hit that put his sister Mallory in hospital is still out there. Lurking. Waiting. And he wants nothing more than to bring him down once and for all. Jimmy being Jimmy of course gets talked into a case. A case of what appears to be suicides. Something he doesn’t believe. And when his current case crosses paths with his sisters’ the sense of urgency grow exponentially – as does the danger. The case has many twists and turs and will have you guessing and re-checking what you think you know and nothing makes me happier in a mystery than to be on the bit clueless side trying to connect all the dots. A few things I reluctantly saw coming – others I did not. It’s nice not to have all the answers, to be able to be surprised, nowadays it seems to be the rare book that has that effect on me.
On a more personal note; in theory now would be the time for Jimmy and Frisano to fully commit to the relationship they’ve been dancing around since book one. The obstacles that kept them apart were no more. So it was time for them to move forward. However, things are on shake grounds for our two lovers and not at all the bliss that I expected going into this book. On the one hand I want Jimmy to have some happiness, to settle in bliss for at least a little while before trials start up again. On the other, life is messy, it’s unpredictable and I’m overjoyed when an author decides to take a turn into the unexpected and add some trouble – and not for the sake of it either.
This series isn’t m/m romances, they are gay fiction, and I think it’s an important distinction to make. It’s not sweet and fluffy, it’s not romantic or even happy most of the time. At times it can even be harsh and brutal. But that’s also what makes them so great and in my mind refreshing. They come with a hefty dose of reality and sometimes that’s just what you need.
Joel Leslie did a great performance of this book. He and the listener with him, lived in Hell’s Kitchen with Jimmy. Waking beside Mallory’s bed. Desperately searching for answers, for justice. Leslie makes you feel the emotions of the characters; the tension between Jimmy and Frisano, not knowing if this was the beginning of the end or just a rough path they had to muddle through and be stronger for it in the end. The need to bring Wu-Tin down, and all the love he had for his family. Leslie knows his craft and it shows.
I hope Carpenter will be adding to the series, there is much more to be explored in this world and I would love to spend more time in Hell’s Kitchen with the gang I’ve come to care so much about.
RATING: 
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