Art crime agent West is paired up with seasoned profiler Kennedy in the investigation of a young woman's disappearance in the town where Kennedy had previously caught a serial killer. Kennedy had ruffled feathers politically in his lase case, so West's "assignment" is to report back any dirt that can supervisors can use against Kennedy.

An entertaining, by the numbers m/m procedural. Good performance by Kale Williams. ( )

first-in-series, small-town, local-law-enforcement, local-gossip, serial-murder, FBI, M/M Mystery, M/M Romance, investigations, twisty, crime-thriller, fiction, suspense, suspicion, friction, secrets, lies, erotica*****

I've read later books in the series and really wanted to go back to the beginning of their relationship (I already knew that the mystery would be excellent).
Special Agents Jason West and Sam Kennedy work on opposite coasts with West is on the art crimes task force while Kennedy is a profiler in Washington DC but spends more time on the road than most agents. West is told to be backup for Kennedy in a case that seems to be closely connected to one from ten years earlier that Kennedy solved and the subject sent to prison permanently. The two seem to be polar opposites and yet there is a spark. The case takes a lot more than due diligence and is personal in different ways to each agent. Excellent read!
Voice actor Kale Williams has a great voice quality and really knows how to use it to the listener's advantage. ( )

Let's see... I liked the dynamic between the guys, although it seemed a little over the top at a critical point, for plot purposes. That's never my favorite.

I knew who the bad guy was early on. That's not the author's fault, I just am familiar with the genre.

I liked Sam Kennedy more than our POV character Jason West--despite Kennedy's bad habit of not sharing. West has his good points, but man, he has a lot to learn. Which, fair for a series. There is enough here for me that I will read more, just to see how the dynamic evolves. ( )

3 1/2 stars

( )

As Kennedy and West begin their investigation, it is clear that Kennedy would prefer to work alone but he takes it in stride and soon discovers that West’s art history knowledge and experience offers a complimentary dynamic to the team. I kept wishing that they could have at least "liked" one another more and been less antagonistic, since they both must have at least felt the attraction from the start from the things that were thought and said. After interviewing residents and pouring over old case notes, clues start to reveal possible suspects. While West is open about his sexual orientation, Kennedy remains an enigma until one night Kennedy makes his preferences known, and I thought "well about time!". Being total opposites, there is already tension that you could cut with a dull knife, but they do manage to find a working balance that opens the door to a bit more chemistry. Kennedy shares just how appealing he finds West and thought things were off to some type of relationship, working and otherwise. The mystery of the dead girls and the mermaids is more than good. I had my suspicions from the beginning but was wrong more than once and NEVER would have guessed the end. The way the clues revealed some twists, it kept my interest until the very end. I am looking forward to continuing this series to see what transpires between Kennedy and West. For those who enjoy a murder mystery and don’t mind the main characters being a same sex couple, will like this series. Josh Lanyon can do few things wrong in her books. ( )