From the Bookshelf of Q&A with Josh Lanyon…

The Movie-Town Murders (The Art of Murder, #5)

Josh Lanyon

Discussion: Book of the Month Club

Find A Copy At

Group Discussions About This Book

Showing 2 of 2 topics — 4,118 comments total

Book of the Month Club

* Candidates for Next Month's Read
By Josh · 3043 posts · 623 views

last updated Feb 21, 2024 10:37PM

February 2025: The Lemon Drop Kid
By Karen · 15 posts · 20 views

last updated Jun 14, 2025 04:47PM

showing 5 of 5 topics view all »

What Members Thought

Jun 07, 2022 Grace rated it liked it

Shelves: mm-smut, mm-romance, arc-or-free-reads, mm-law-enforcement-military, mm-mystery

2.5 rounded up

This was fine, but ultimately disappointing.

It's been less than a year and a half since I read the last book, but this one takes place *right* afterwards and a lot of the book heavily references the events from that book, which I only vaguely remembered--I'd highly recommend a reread of that book before this one if you don't want to spend the first 25% a little lost.

I continue to like Jason and Sam together, but I'm starting to grow a little weary of the world's slowest burn. It's 2.5 rounded up

This was fine, but ultimately disappointing.

It's been less than a year and a half since I read the last book, but this one takes place *right* afterwards and a lot of the book heavily references the events from that book, which I only vaguely remembered--I'd highly recommend a reread of that book before this one if you don't want to spend the first 25% a little lost.

I continue to like Jason and Sam together, but I'm starting to grow a little weary of the world's slowest burn. It's been 5 books, and I just barely feel like they're in a solid relationship. They live across the country from one another and spent almost this entire book apart--I did think there was a decent focus on the romance despite that, and Lanyon is known for more plot-focused mysteries, but I did want a bit more here. And then, just when we think there's going to be some movement, once again Lanyon just fucking ends the book in the middle of the action--it's so fucking annoying! And bizarre! And honestly doesn't make me want to read more, it makes me want to say fuck this and spend my valuable time reading books that don't constantly end on cliffhangers.

Besides that, the mystery was just weird. Way too much random facts about old films, the entire concept of the case made no sense, and then we *also* get no resolution to it. (view spoiler) I honestly was SO baffled and confused the entire last chapter, and then the book just ends, answering no questions. I'm just so bummed because I've really enjoyed this series but it seems like the author has lost their interest/investment in it, and at this point I really hope the next book is the last one and they just wrap up the romance and stop stringing us along.

Thanks to JustJoshin Publishing, Inc. and NetGalley for providing me with a free digital copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. ...more

9 likes · Like · see review

Jun 02, 2022 Marge rated it it was amazing

Shelves: romance, mystery, m-m, favorite-author, stars-5, want-to-reread

Another excellent book in the series with some fun surprises for regular Lanyon readers. The background on how so many old movies have been lost and some rediscovered was fascinating. The relationship scenes between Jason and Sam were special, but their discussions show that the long-distance part is not working as they'd hoped. I really look forward to the next book! ...more

1 like · Like · see review

Jun 23, 2022 Pete W rated it really liked it

The long awaited book 5 of The Art of Murder series. This one was as intriguing as ever but it also adding more plots than solving it.

This book conitnued soon after the end of last book. As Jason was facing the consequence of his actions. (view spoiler) ...more

Like · see review