Reviewed by Sadonna
TITLE: Hoodoo House
SERIES: The Declan Hunt Mysteries
AUTHOR: Peter E. Fenton
PUBLISHER: Pride Publishing
LENGTH: 253 pages
RELEASE DATE: June 25, 2024
BLURB:
How far would you be willing to go to keep a secret?
When writer Malcolm Tull is discovered dead at his writing desk, all signs point to suicide. But Malcolm’ s editor isn’ t so sure. There’ s the matter of the man’ s missing computer, a mislaid manuscript and the fact that he didn’t seem the type to take his own life.
Declan Hunt and Charlie Watts are called into action and make their way to the mysterious Hoodoo House nestled on the edge of the Badlands of Alberta. Soon they are embroiled in a case involving blackmail, gay tricks and possibly even murder.
As the secrets of Hoodoo House come to light, Charlie discovers that his boss has been keeping a few secrets of his own, secrets that could impact their romantic relationship outside of the office. And before this investigation is done, Charlie will have to get to the truth, even if it means this might be his final case for Declan Hunt Investigations.
REVIEW:
Note: This is the second book in this series and really doesn’t work as a standalone. The first book sets the stage for Charlie and Declan, their relationship and the cases they are pursuing.
Charlie and Declan have survived their first cases working together and Declan has offered Charlie the job of assistant permanently. Charlie is thrilled although he is a bit worried because he also would like a personal relationship with Declan. He doesn’t think Declan is up to that though – despite what he intimates, so they agree to keep things professional.
While attending an LGBTQ+ charity event as an honoree with Charlie as his plus one, Declan discovers he’s expected to make a speech. He’s rather face a mob enforcer than make a speech. But Charlie convinces him he can do it. And it’s a hit. While there, he also is approached by a man who needs him to find something for him. Sinclair Yamada is an editor for a publisher and one of their writers, Malcolm Tull, has just passed away. Turns out this guy has some incriminating evidence in video form and was trying to blackmail him. There is a missing computer and some question as to how the man actually died.
Charlie and Declan agree to take the case. This requires a visit to Hoodoo House – the remote writer’s retreat where Mr. Hull was living/working. When they arrive, they meet a young goy, Henry Quill, and Mrs. Cameron, the housekeeper and Henry’s guardian. They were the only other inhabitants of Hoodoo House. The police have already been through the house and the computer was not found. But Henry has found a secret in the house that he will only show to Declan and Charlie. During a tour of the house, Charlie and Henry stumble on what might be a clue to the mystery and the location of the laptop. The contents of said laptop may lead to the motive and the killer. Or maybe not.
There are a LOT more secrets in Hoodoo House than meets the eye – and not all of them have to do with the missing laptop 😉
I really don’t want to spoil the mystery here so I won’t say anything else about specifics. Just saying that there is not shortage of suspects in the death of Malcolm Hull, who by all accounts was not a very nice guy. Charlie is worth his weight in gold once again while he and Declan work to unravel the layers of this man’s life and the people he was hurting. While trying to solve the mysteries of Hoodoo House, Charlie and Declan also have some personal business to get though. Declan has to come clean to Charlie about his past and admit some hard truths. Charlie has to decide if he’s up to the challenge of Declan or not. Together they have to figure out a way forward – not just as professionals but in their person lives as well 😉 Things definitely change a lot in this second book, but there are more mysteries to solve and more truths to expose.
I really liked this second book. My only niggle was that Henry read as younger than 13 to me. I don’t know – I was a VERY old 13 year old who had started taking care of newborns when I was 11, so maybe it’s my skewed perception of what 13-year-olds today are like compared to the mid-70s. Charlie and Declan are great characters and I can’t wait to see what happens in the third book. They still have work to do – on themselves and the overarching mystery. Who is Monarch?? And what is their end-game?? Recommended.
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