Reviewed by Annika
TITLE: The Death of Friends
SERIES: The Henry Rios Mysteries #6
AUTHOR: Michael Nava
NARRATOR: Thom Rivera
PUBLISHER: Audible Studios
LENGTH: 7 hours, 25 minutes
RELEASE DATE: March 2, 2020
BLURB:
When a judge leading a double life is murdered, Henry Rios comes to the controversial defense of the prime suspect
Chris Chandler, a long-married California state superior court judge and family man, has been found dead in his chambers—beaten to death with his recent Judge of the Year award. When his young lover, Zack Bowen, is arrested, Henry Rios takes on Bowen’s defense. For Rios, who has kept Judge Chandler’s secret since law school, it means going up against a closed community—including Chandler’s angry wife and son—to defend a man he believes innocent. Then Bowen vanishes.
As Rios copes with tragedies both personal and communal, he finds himself front and center in a case that becomes a test of his own moral courage.
REVIEW:
While the opening, as well as the title, of this book hinted at things to come, there were still surprises waiting. Then again, I feel that’s par for course with this series.
An old friend of Henry’s, well his first love to be more precise, ends up murdered, Henry finds himself in the position to defend the person the police suspect killed him. Soon he realises all is not as they seem and he starts looking into the case. Trying to unravel his friend’s past and present reveals devastating secrets for all involved. At the same time this is going on in his professional life, Henry’s private one is heartbreaking. Josh isn’t doing well, hasn’t been well for some time now. Sadly it’s only a matter of time, and that fact is casting darker and darker shadows over Henry’s life.
But it’s not only everything that was happening with Josh that affected him, obviously losing a friend and colleague also took its toll. And we learnt that cost by taking a few trips down memory lane, getting to know a young Henry falling in love for the first time, finding himself in precarious situations. Each time we get a glimmer of Henry’s life we gain a better understanding of the man we meet (his) present day.
The case was interesting and intricate. I love how there are so many threads to untangle to get a full picture, and at some point you end up suspecting everyone. It’s thrilling. I love procedurals, so these books are a treat for me. But for those of you that aren’t fans of this particular genre, or need romance in your books, you might want to consider something else. But if like you like me can’t get enough of this genre you are in for a good time – figure of speech, as these books are rarely happy. But they are soo good.
I love Thom Rivera’s baritone voice, he genuinely fits Henry and really captures his personality. A bit stand-offish, but hiding so many emotions underneath. Rivera captures all that and more. Nava and Rivera takes you back in time and make you see it all so vividly, they make it come alive making you feel like you are back there experiencing the injustices, prejudices and life as it was back then. They also make you feel like you are fighting beside Henry, doing the best he can to even the odds. I can easily listen to Rivera for days on end, so I’m grateful I have another two books to go.
As always there were twists I didn’t see coming and I’m grateful every time that happens even more so as I’ve had this happen with a few books lately. I’ve grown weary of predictable books, but these are anything but. I can’t wait to pick up the rest of the series.
RATING: 
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