Reviewed by Lisa
TITLE: Five Dead Herrings
SERIES: Quest Investigations Book 1
AUTHOR: E.J. Russell
NARRATOR: Greg Boudreaux
PUBLISHER: Reality Optional Press
LENGTH: 5 hours 26 minutes
RELEASE DATE: October 21, 2022
BLURB:
Something’s definitely fishy about this case….
On my last stakeout for Quest Investigations, I nearly got clotheslined by a grove of angry dryads. I expected my bosses to reprimand me, but instead they handed me my first solo assignment. Me! Matt Steinitz, the only human on the Quest roster!
Okay, so the mission isn’t exactly demanding. Obviously, the bosses wanted to give me something they think I can’t screw up. I’m determined to show them what I can do, however, so I dive right in with no complaints.
At first glance, it looks as simple as baiting a hook: A selkie’s almost-ex-husband is vandalizing his boat with unwanted deliveries of deceased sea life. All I have to do is document the scene, tell the ex to cease and desist, and present the bill for property damages. Boom. Mission accomplished, another Quest success, and as a bonus, I get to keep my job.
But then things get…complicated. Suspicious undercurrents muddy up my oh-so-easy case. Nothing is as clear as it should be. And the biggest complication? My inappropriate attraction to the client, who may not be as blameless as he claims.
Turns out those dead herrings aren’t the only things that stink about this situation.
Dammit.
Five Dead Herrings is the first in the Quest Investigations M/M paranormal mystery series, a spinoff of E.J. Russell’s Mythmatched paranormal rom-com story world. It contains no on-page sex or violence, and although there is a romantic subplot, it is not a romance.
REVIEW:
Quest Investigations is a spin off of EJ Russell’s Supernatural Selections/Mythmatched world. Although you don’t technically have to read those books first, I think you would enjoy the interlinked stories more if you had the background to how the agency came to be set up (read the Fae Out of Water series) and who many of the side characters are (lovely Jordan).
Matt is one of the few humans in a paranormal world, and his move from photographer to investigator isn’t going as smoothly as he hoped. So when he finally gets his own case, he needs to make it work.
Enter the grumpy, sexy selkie who is Matt’s first client. Matt is still trying to get over Ted, and he knows that getting under Lachlan is a seriously bad idea, but he can’t help the building attraction. Lachlan has his own worries, over and above the dead sea life turning up all over his ship. He’s convinced he knows the culprit, but he’s proving hard to find.
The plot of this mystery is very twisty, and full of excitement and surprises. It’s not a romance as such, but the romantic storyline is still very engaging and satisfyingly sweet. There is relationship building in this book, rather than an HEA and we will follow the MCs as their bond continues to grow and the series unfolds. In typical EJ styles there’s loads of laughter as well as some deeply emotional elements, but because the relationship will develop over several books, we see more character development than usual.
Greg Boudreaux is fantastic and brings the many and varied characters to life. His audios are always engaging and his pacing is spot on, keeping the action moving. The production values are excellent and I quite often forgot that I was listening to a book because I get pulled into the story so completely. I’m not sure how he manages it because there are so many different characters in this book, but Greg manages to make each one completely different with the perfect voice. Lachlan’s Scottish accent is extremely swoon worthy and Jordan sounds just like the overgrown puppy that he is.
Five Dead Herrings is Whispersynced.
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