Reviewed by Sadonna

TITLE:  The Magnolia Murders

SERIES:  Sawyer and Royce: Matrimony and Mayhem

AUTHOR:  Aimee Nicole Walker

PUBLISHER:  Self-published

LENGTH:  329 pages

RELEASE DATE:  February 14, 2022

BLURB:

Everything old is new again in love and murder.

Work together, live together, and play together is the name of the game for Royce Locke and Sawyer Key. But one of those things changes when Chief Mendoza taps Sawyer to lead the newly formed cold case unit. His first task: solve the Magnolia Murders that spanned three decades and suddenly stopped in 2000.

Chaos ensues when a fourth Magnolia Queen contender is murdered during a preliminary round. With the pageant’s one hundredth anniversary looming, the pressure is on to produce results. Royce and Sawyer, along with their new partners, have to team up to solve the Magnolia Murders—old and new.

As the investigation continues, a surprise visitor and an unexpected phone call force the men to face painful things from their pasts. The future Royce and Sawyer dream of is within their grasp, but first, they’ll need to uproot the seeds of discontent they’ve buried deep.

The Magnolia Murders is the first book in the Matrimony and Mayhem trilogy, the second story arc for Royce Locke and Sawyer Key. ** New readers should start with the Zero Hour trilogy before reading Matrimony and Mayhem. ** The Magnolia Murders is a continuation of Royce and Sawyer’s happily ever after as they move into the next phase of their lives—professionally and personally. Though some storylines span the trilogy, this book does not end in a cliffhanger. Heat, humor, heart, and homicide abound. You have been warned. 18+

REVIEW:

NOTE:  This is the start of a new trilogy, but it won’t make a lot of sense if you haven’t read the Zero Hour trilogy first where this couple gets together.

Oh man.  This was a fantastic kick-off to the new trilogy from Aimee Nicole Walker starring our beloved Locke and Key.  I was so happy to get back to these two.  This series picks up three years after the events of the zero hour trilogy and Locke and Key are very happy living and working together.  But their boss has some new assignments for them that will break up their working partnership.  At least that’s the plan – until a new murder merges their new teams.  These new jobs and the overlap are good and bad for out boys.  They are working around the clock to solve the new case while also hopefully figuring out then who was responsible for the original cold case murders that stopped 20 years ago.

The mystery is really well-done in this one and there are enough suspects with sketchy motives to keep the reader guessing.  While we got to revisit old friends and family, there is a lot going on with these two and their relationship as well as work stuff.  Royce still struggles that he’s good enough for Sawyer.  Sawyer just wants to be bound forever to Royce, but he realizes he has to let his boyfriend work his way through things in his own time.  There are also other fun things going on, like a wedding to plan for in the family as well as some stressful stuff – including a continuing estrangement.  But all these things intersect as both Royce and Sawyer work to solve the old and new murder.

Then there is the issue of Sawyer’s past with the Sherriff’s department.  He discovers some not so pleasant goings on after he left years before.  Things are not only not better, but seem like maybe they have gotten worse?  He’s getting bad news from both former colleagues as well as his journalist source – and that’s putting additional pressure on him.  Should he let it go?  Should he try to get back on the horse and maybe attempt to do something fix it?  There are a lot of things to consider and frankly, he’s too tired to do it at the end of this very trying case.

Sawyer and Royce are ships that pass in the night a lot in this new world.  They are used to being in each other’s hip pockets at work as partners.  When they don’t have the same work schedules and don’t have the same cases to discuss together, they have to work harder to make time for themselves as a couple.  I loved the way Sawyer did his best to try to take care of Royce when he needed it and vice versa.  I also really enjoyed time with Evangeline – Sawyer’s mom.  She is a pistol and I just love her.

I cannot recommend this series highly enough.  If you love this couple and are fans of the Zero Hour trilogy, you will LOVE this book.   Read it now!

RATING:

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