Death of a Pirate King (The Adrien English Mysteries, #4) in Q&A with Josh Lanyon

Mar 10, 2012 Meep rated it it was amazing

Shelves: cosy-mystery-crime-detective

The puppeteer seemed obvious and I think the 'relationship' tension made the investigation feel like distraction. Definitely doesn't feel like two years has passed. Adrien is far too passive with the men in his life. Jake too much a toxic mess trying to have all the things. Marriage sounds a trial, but it's his choice and poor disrespected Kate. The ending doesn't give warm fuzzies.
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I'm not sure the full sense of two years having passed is here. Perhaps because for a two year relationship th The puppeteer seemed obvious and I think the 'relationship' tension made the investigation feel like distraction. Definitely doesn't feel like two years has passed. Adrien is far too passive with the men in his life. Jake too much a toxic mess trying to have all the things. Marriage sounds a trial, but it's his choice and poor disrespected Kate. The ending doesn't give warm fuzzies.
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I'm not sure the full sense of two years having passed is here. Perhaps because for a two year relationship there's no sense of inside knowledge or permeance about Guy. He's a temporary stand-in never real enough to drop the fake accent. At the same time he does offer some insight into Adrien. Perhaps seeing Adrien clearer than Adrien ever bothered in return!
The book is Adrien's pov and it's worth noting the descriptions of other characters are coloured by his rather dry jaded perspective - Adrien had never planned to live long, so he's never fully embraced commitment is if only subconsciously hijacking his own love-life, self-destructing by picking people who wont push for too much from him. (view spoiler)

The mystery is a tangle. As this is a re-read I can't fairly comment on how predictable it is; this time around it seems obvious who the puppet-master is, but hindsight blurs. The story is more the dancing strings and what it shows of the players, the suspense being what way the final curtain will fall.

Jake. The conflict is strong in this one. Poor Adrien having his fearless pirate dreams run aground. (Rosa's review gives the best insight into that) Paul sophisticated, insidious. But more so my sympathy lay with Kate. The only fully innocent party. The wife - someone whose suffered a loss and who has hopes and dreams of her own. And at the centre of the maelstrom Jake. Lies, expectations, hurt. The pressures on him are clear but look at the destruction he's caused. It's a long way from stolen kisses at the Ranch. Credit to the author for making him come across sympathetic and likeable, despite his deeply flawed reality; for making me want things to work out between them, while by no means championing Jake. ...more

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