From the Bookshelf of Q&A with Josh Lanyon…

The Boy with the Painful Tattoo (Holmes & Moriarity, #3)

Josh Lanyon

Start date: October 5, 2014

Finish date: October 31, 2014

Discussion: Book of the Month Club

Why we're reading this: A BRAND NEW RELEASE!
Book of the Month October 2014
[close] A BRAND NEW RELEASE!
Book of the Month October 2014

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What Members Thought

Oct 05, 2014 Susan rated it it was amazing

Shelves: i-copyedited-this

Book 3 in the Holmes & Moriarity saga, The Boy with the Painful Tattoo, has now arrived to the delight of Josh Lanyon fans everywhere. When this third installment in Josh’s contemporary mystery comedy series opens, Kit and J.X. have just started living together and have moved into a newly purchased house in San Francisco. First up though, J.X. is off to a mystery fiction convention in Las Vegas while Kit remains at their home to deal with the myriad details of getting everything organized. What Book 3 in the Holmes & Moriarity saga, The Boy with the Painful Tattoo, has now arrived to the delight of Josh Lanyon fans everywhere. When this third installment in Josh’s contemporary mystery comedy series opens, Kit and J.X. have just started living together and have moved into a newly purchased house in San Francisco. First up though, J.X. is off to a mystery fiction convention in Las Vegas while Kit remains at their home to deal with the myriad details of getting everything organized. What ensues is IMO the funniest book Mr. Lanyon has ever written, while still giving his devoted mystery readers a healthy dose of what they have come to expect from the master of the whodunit.

Never one to discuss plot points – I feel each reader needs to discover the story for themselves - I do however want to comment on several elements that drew me in and held me in its grip, page after page. First, Josh’s riotous sense of humor was ever-present and spot on from beginning to end. I laughed so hard and so often I felt at times I was near convulsing. Second, the new house was an important character in its own right in this tale, and Josh’s illuminating descriptions, both inside and out, were truly breathtaking. I so wanted to take up residence there! Third, Kit’s and J.X.’s relationship evolved throughout this work in ways that are rarely seen in series writing once MC’s have established their close connection. Included in this beautifully-realized dynamic (and Mr. Lanyon truly outdid himself here) were original, thoughtful, passionate sex scenes designed to highlight formerly unexplored aspects of their personalities. And lastly, as an added treat for many of us, Kit & J.X. spent time at Cloak and Dagger Books with everyone’s favorite couple. All this, combined with an engrossing, well-crafted mystery filled with murder and mayhem in the JL tradition, made for a perfect reading experience.

A brilliantly written, thoroughly entertaining, hilarious next chapter in this very popular series. Josh has never been better. Highly recommended.
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Aug 18, 2013 Sagajo rated it really liked it

Good. Kits indecisiveness is a bit annoying at times, it's like he stumbles through life in this book. Felt he had more direction in the previous books, even though he stumbles in those as well. ...more

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