Like several other reviews, I have some seriously mixed feelings about this one. A strong, compelling debut novel with good writing (even though more aggressive editing would have helped) but with a very problematic romance at the center.

It's one thing to have complex, flawed love interests, it's another to excuse manipulative, deceitful, and ultimately selfish behavior on the basis of an abusive childhood and smoldering charisma. Very much not okay, especially without a redemption arc before the HEA.

Attraction does NOT = True Love. Friendly people are automatically good people. Feeling sorry for someone isn't the same as needing to put up with their B.S. Let's have romances that address these issues before letting characters end up together.

And yet, I did gallop through this novel thanks to the strength of the storytelling. The mystery could have been tighter and the plot more grounded, but all in all few complaints there. ( )

For a lot of this book I kept thinking 'is this really a m/m romance? Or just a police procedural with a gay lead.' The case was interesting, but the romance part was not very enjoyable for me. I wasn't tempted to set it aside though, so it had me engaged at least that far. At the very end we finally get some insight into the other character, and I think I could maybe like them as a couple going forward from that point (in a following book). But in this book they were kind of a wreck. Still, I was entertained, and I am looking forward to reading the next book. ( )

It took me a little while to get into this novel, but wow. I read half of it in a day, and it's not short. Incredibly compelling, beautifully told from one point of view, murder mysteries and a terribly complicated romance are just the tip of the plot iceberg. Wow. ( )

This was so good! I still fell kind of stunned. ( )

Detective Sergeant James Henderson is rapidly moving up in the world of London's Metropolitan Police Department. But the murder of a local attorney looks like it will be a challenging case to solve. And his initial investigations put him in contact with a new crowd of people, connecting his social life, his case, and his father's world of elitism and privilege. But James thinks he may have found love--and that will make it all worth it, right? Especially if he manages to solve his case along the way...

I like the character of James, even if there were times that I wanted to reach through the pages and shake him--and I still can't quite believe he was truly as naive as we are led to believe as readers. And Ben, for all of his own past, was not the greatest person where James is concerned. I have a hard time with anyone who knowingly toys with another person's emotions, regardless of their "endgame". But this is an interesting read, and I didn't solidly figure out who the murderer was until shortly before it was revealed in the book--the mark of a good mystery as far as I'm concerned. ( )