Reviewed by Lesley
TITLE: Having His Back
AUTHOR: Andrew Grey
PUBLISHER: Andrew Grey Books
LENGTH: 102 Pages
RELEASE DATE: June 24, 2025
BLURB:
Child Psychologist Kerry Sutherland’s life gets turned upside down with a phone call. His sister is gone and his two nephews need him. Rushing from Seattle to Olympia, he finds the boys in shock and the police everywhere. Even the dog is affected. The only eventual bright spot in the mess is the detective handling the case, who it turns out not only truly wants to find out what happens, but awakens Kerry’s heart in a way he never thought possible.
The last thing Brian expected was to find someone to touch his soul at a crime scene. He is a professional, and this is not the time for things to get messy… well, more than they already are. Kerry and the boys truly get under his skin… in the best way possible, but Brian has a job to do and that must take priority… for now.
Kerry’s priority is the boys, and Brian’s is finding out what happened to their mother. Each has information the other needs, so working together, they hope to figure out what happened, help the boys begin to heal, and stop a further threat that could tear this fragile family apart, Time is of the essence if they want to be able to build a family after all the pieces come together.
REVIEW:
When Kerry Sutherland gets the call no one ever wants to get, his sister is dead and he needs to come and be with her children, he knows his life has changed for ever and his nephews, Phillip and Henry are now his top priority. When he gets to her house he meets the detective who is leading the investigation into his sister’s murder, Detective Brian Morrow.
This case, with the now parentless two young children really gets to Brian and not because of his instant attraction to the victim’s brother. The iron back bone of the assertive child psychologist appeals to him no end and he knows he wants to be there for him when he does break down.
As the story progresses and Kerry and the children are under threat from the deranged murder, Kerry and Brian become closer than is strictly professional for a cop and a victim’s family member but neither of them can resist the magnetic attraction between them.
This book is primarily a love story with the solving of the crime an added element to it which did enhance the story. I did not warm up to Kerry as person at the start of the book I felt he was thinking a bit too psychologist like about the situation. But then as he spent time with his nephews, he was more interested in protecting Henry from having to talk about what he saw than the fact Henry’s account of what he had seen could help catch his Mums murderer. Come on Kerry, I have seen/ read enough police procedurals to know time is of the essence in solving murders. However, on reflection maybe that is what would happen, switching from business mode to protection mode as he bonds with them. Also I may have gotten into the story more than I realised to have such a strong reaction that I wanted to shake him. Be assured it all ends well.
I don’t know what it is about Andrew Grey’s stories, but I am always shocked by how low the number of pages is when I come to write my reviews of his books. This is the second short book I have really enjoyed this week. I am going to have to rethink whether I like novellas or not.
RATING: 
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