Reviewed by Sadonna
TITLE: Wham Line
SERIES: The Last Picks
AUTHOR: Gregory Ashe
PUBLISHER: Hodgkin & Blount
LENGTH: 256 pages
RELEASE DATE: August 11, 2025
BLURB:
Grief is the price of love.
When an upscale restaurant opens in Hastings Rock, Dashiell Dawson Dane (just Dash) and his friends are excited to get reservations for the soft open. After all, winter on the Oregon Coast is the quiet season, and Dash is looking forward to a little excitement. (And, of course, dessert.)
Instead, their arrival at the restaurant brings them face to face with Indira’s ex-husband, Mal. And when Mal ends up dead, Indira is the chief suspect.
Dash is sure he can prove Indira’s innocence, but before he has the chance, tragedy strikes Bobby’s family. With Bobby drawn back to Portland, Dash finds himself torn between helping his boyfriend and saving Indira.
And the killer isn’t done yet.
REVIEW:
Note: This is the tenth book in this series and it needs to be read in order. The whole dynamic of the Last Picks and Deputy Bobby and Dash builds from the first book.
Oh my! This is a bit of a different book to the rest of the series. There is so much happening here. So many things are happening to the Last Picks.
It’s winter in Hastings Rock and Indira’s niece has been visiting. And visiting. And not leaving. But a new restaurant opening where said niece is working, so at least she’s got a job. The restaurant is having a soft opening that the gang is going – Indira, Fox, Millie, Keme, Bobby and Dash are all up for trying the new place. Nalini, Indira’s niece seems to be flirting and all over Keme, which obviously doesn’t go down well with Millie. All is OK, until Indira goes pale and steps outside.
Next thing you know, there is a murder and there is Indira over the body. Oops! Dash is sure she didn’t do it. The Sheriff tells him to stay out of the way or he could make it worse for Indira. You know that won’t stick.
Bobby gets a call and he has to rush to Portland to his family. Dash goes with him and gets a first row seat to Bobby’s messed up family dynamic. But he wants to be there for him. And he wants to be there for Indira. He’s between a rock and a hard place and Bobby isn’t able to communicate with him. Uh-oh.
Are they going to be able to get through all this? Is Indira covering for someone? Why won’t she tell Dash what’s going on? There are a lot of threads in this one and they are making a knot instead of leading to the killer!
I really liked this installment. It’s a hard one to be sure. There is a lot going on with Bobby and Dash. They end up going through one of the hardest things in any couple’s life – dealing with grief. There is no right or wrong. There is only pain and trying to figure out how to deal with it and maybe let others help. But there is a great couple of conversations in this book that get to the heart of that. It’s a lonely thing. Sometimes you just have to be there when needed – not try to “fix” anything. Because it can’t be fixed. I really thought where everyone ended up made sense. Can’t wait to see what happens next for our crew!
RATING: 
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