From the Bookshelf of Q&A with Josh Lanyon…

Murder Takes the High Road

Josh Lanyon

Start date: May 1, 2018

Finish date: May 31, 2018

Discussion: Book of the Month Club

Why we're reading this: This will be our May 2018 read!!!
[close] This will be our May 2018 read!!!

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What Members Thought

Apr 22, 2018 Chris, the Dalek King rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: mc-pairing-mm, uniforms-and-private-dicks, murder-and-mystery, foreign-uk, contemporary, nerds-and-geeks, love-bytes, bookshops-libraries-museums, owned-ebook-or-audio

This book has it all: Scotland! Book-Groupies! Jealous, Vindictive Ex Boyfriends! Murder?!?

When Carter Matheson originally booked two tickets for a week-long bus tour of Scotland to visit the many sites of inspiration for one of his favorite mystery crime author’s books, he did so as a surprise present for him and his boyfriend. Well two years, and one hellish breakup, later, and things have gone a bit off the rails. For one his ex demanded that Carter hand over his–very expensive, thank you ver This book has it all: Scotland! Book-Groupies! Jealous, Vindictive Ex Boyfriends! Murder?!?

When Carter Matheson originally booked two tickets for a week-long bus tour of Scotland to visit the many sites of inspiration for one of his favorite mystery crime author’s books, he did so as a surprise present for him and his boyfriend. Well two years, and one hellish breakup, later, and things have gone a bit off the rails. For one his ex demanded that Carter hand over his–very expensive, thank you very much–ticket to the new man in his ex’s life (which, yeah, no). And when Carter (rightly) doesn’t, his ex goes ahead an pays for the second ticket himself, so now Carter is stuck on a week-long bus tour with his angry ex and his asshole new boyfriend. Which makes things a bit awkward, to say the least. Then the rumors of a death on the previous bus trip start circulating, people start mysteriously dying, and the stranger now sharing his hotel room is acting all kinds of shifty. It is, to say the least, not the vacation Carter was looking for.

Though not terribly deep, dark, or daunting, Murder Takes the High Road is what I would consider a fun read. I was totally into the story for the entire length of the book, and it was a quick read because I kept wanting to flip to the next page to try and figure out what the hell was going on with this bus-tour.

The characters were by far the standout of the story. Quirky, annoying, mysterious, and downright odd, I found the whole cast to be rather memorizing. Carter himself, well, he was a blast. Especially when he was interacting with his ex. I loved their scenes so much. And while I don’t think John Knight (Carter’s mysterious roommate), and Ben (another fellow passenger) get quite enough fleshing out for my tastes, I found their individual interactions with Carter to work well with the story.

My one gripe with this book, really, is that the mystery–which I very much enjoyed for a large portion of the story–just fumbles around itself near the end. There is this secondary mystery that seems to come out of nowhere, and some character history that feels a bit rushed into the plot so that the story can wrap itself up nicely in a speedy manner. A lot of revelations happen in such a short span of time, that it kinda killed all the fun of discovering these things for myself. It was very much–here’s a clue, here’s a clue, here’s a clue…and here’s the answer! No time to breathe or ponder. I like all the parts that make up whole of the mystery, but the ending was so rushed that I didn’t get to enjoy half of them half as much as I wanted.

Of the two Josh Lanyon books I got the chance to read and review this month, I think I have to say that this one is my favorite…if only by a few decimal places. I just think I had more fun reading this one than I did The Magician Murders. I was never quite sure where this story was going, and while I think it flubs the ending a bit, overall the it was a very nice experience. It ended up being a fairly standard Lanyon mystery novel, but if those are your jam, like they are mine, I have a feeling you will enjoy this one as well.

This book was provided free in exchange for a fair and honest review for Love Bytes. Go there to check out other reviews, author interviews, and all those awesome giveaways. Click below.

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May 07, 2019 JR rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: favorites, mystery, mm

Fun Taking the High Road

Nothing like the Scottish highlands, bad weather, a large cast of characters and murder to provide an entertaining story for a lazy afternoon. An enjoyable, traditional mystery.

1 like · Like · see review

Sep 20, 2019 Calathea rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: mystery-suspense-thriller

The audiobook version is great. The narrator Gary Furlong really helps the story to the next level.

1 like · Like · see review

Apr 26, 2018 Meggie rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: m-m-romance-romance, audio-book, adults-mystery-suspense

Hm, what to say about this book...
Plot was pulling enough with a lot of dialogues and interesting characters. The romance between John and Carter was, hm, emotionally acceptable and gave us an at the end an impression of HEA. Which was great!

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Apr 30, 2018 Bennett rated it liked it

Generally liked it - and having been on author-based tours recognized some of the characters. Found the stuff with the lead character's ex and his new boyfriend pretty boring. ...more

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Sep 25, 2021 2mmommy rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Murder

I love, love, love Josh Lanyon. This was a sweet, sometimes funny mystery. I love the eccentric cast of characters we also get in a JL story. This was a lot of fun.

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