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emilyexmas's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
funny
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
I don’t know why it took me so long to get into this book, but once I hit the halfway mark I kept going to the end in one sitting. The mystery remained mysterious for the majority of the book, which was refreshing!
kathydavie's review against another edition
3.0
First in the Holmes & Moriarity mystery series about two gay authors involved in crime.
My Take
I must confess that I started reading this thinking this was going to be an Adrien English, so it was confusing until I checked it out on Goodreads. Lanyon incorporates the same sense of humor as Adrien displays...I do so love his quips! But it lacks a homeyness that the Adrien English series has. Of course, it's quite possible that's because I was freezing throughout this story.
Christopher's writing conference starts out chilly with the discovery of a body after he's tried to jump over a washed-out bridge and finally makes it to the lodge, soaking wet. With all the power outages and shunning, it's not surprising this was an icy read!
It's an angst-ridden weekend with Christopher panicking over his future while people are being murdered. I'm not sure if I actually like Christopher. He's such a coward and quite selfish in it. Then there's J.X. That weekend between Christopher and J.X. all those years ago is bringing up even more anxiety. All mixed in with Christopher's snarky attitude and his fear that his next book will be written from prison.
If Peaches wrote a bestseller last year, why is Espie noted as having written some three novels since then that failed??
Writers will empathize with the debate over how to single out a theme on which to base a series as well as the emphasis on the package: the look, platform, and marketability issues of publishing a book.
Mystery-wise, the story is all over the place with its contrived clues and is heavily influenced by Agatha Christie's And Then There Were None with the isolation of the guests, the sense of being picked off one by one, the motives that crop up throughout, and the big "drawing room denouement" at the end. The story's real purpose is to introduce Holmes and Moriarity, toss the snark all about, and have sex. All while making fun of authors and their issues.
The Story
Christopher Holmes' agent insisted he come to this writing conference to pitch a new series idea to the editor of his publishing house. Seems his old tried-and-true series about a Miss Marple-like detective just isn't making the list these days and he's about to be cut loose.
The Characters
Christopher Holmes has been writing about Miss Butterwith for years and making a decent living at it. David is the ex who ran off with Christopher's personal assistant, Dicky Dickison hmmm, any Freudian insinuation here???.
Julian Xavier "J.X." Moriarity is a former cop with the San Francisco PD who has been writing best sellers for about ten years now. He and Christopher had a brief fling.
Rachel is his agent with a number of issues she's hid in her past. Steven "Satan" Krass is the jerk of an editor at Wheaton and Woodhouse. Peaches Sadler wrote a bestselling novel last year. Espie Real is a fun person who writes and was friends with Rachel and Peaches. Mindy is an older author with a boy toy, George.
Edgar and Rita Croft own the lodge in the California wine country where the conference is taking place. Debbie is their college-age daughter.
The Cover
The cover is a nod to Conan C. Doyle's Sherlock Holmes with our view of two nude male torsos through a magnifying glass against a grey-black background.
The title is true enough, Somebody Killed His Editor and it's a crap shoot as to who it is...I suspect they'll throw a party for 'em later.
My Take
I must confess that I started reading this thinking this was going to be an Adrien English, so it was confusing until I checked it out on Goodreads. Lanyon incorporates the same sense of humor as Adrien displays...I do so love his quips! But it lacks a homeyness that the Adrien English series has. Of course, it's quite possible that's because I was freezing throughout this story.
Christopher's writing conference starts out chilly with the discovery of a body after he's tried to jump over a washed-out bridge and finally makes it to the lodge, soaking wet. With all the power outages and shunning, it's not surprising this was an icy read!
It's an angst-ridden weekend with Christopher panicking over his future while people are being murdered. I'm not sure if I actually like Christopher. He's such a coward and quite selfish in it. Then there's J.X. That weekend between Christopher and J.X. all those years ago is bringing up even more anxiety. All mixed in with Christopher's snarky attitude and his fear that his next book will be written from prison.
If Peaches wrote a bestseller last year, why is Espie noted as having written some three novels since then that failed??
Writers will empathize with the debate over how to single out a theme on which to base a series as well as the emphasis on the package: the look, platform, and marketability issues of publishing a book.
Mystery-wise, the story is all over the place with its contrived clues and is heavily influenced by Agatha Christie's And Then There Were None with the isolation of the guests, the sense of being picked off one by one, the motives that crop up throughout, and the big "drawing room denouement" at the end. The story's real purpose is to introduce Holmes and Moriarity, toss the snark all about, and have sex. All while making fun of authors and their issues.
The Story
Christopher Holmes' agent insisted he come to this writing conference to pitch a new series idea to the editor of his publishing house. Seems his old tried-and-true series about a Miss Marple-like detective just isn't making the list these days and he's about to be cut loose.
The Characters
Christopher Holmes has been writing about Miss Butterwith for years and making a decent living at it. David is the ex who ran off with Christopher's personal assistant, Dicky Dickison hmmm, any Freudian insinuation here???.
Julian Xavier "J.X." Moriarity is a former cop with the San Francisco PD who has been writing best sellers for about ten years now. He and Christopher had a brief fling.
Rachel is his agent with a number of issues she's hid in her past. Steven "Satan" Krass is the jerk of an editor at Wheaton and Woodhouse. Peaches Sadler wrote a bestselling novel last year. Espie Real is a fun person who writes and was friends with Rachel and Peaches. Mindy is an older author with a boy toy, George.
Edgar and Rita Croft own the lodge in the California wine country where the conference is taking place. Debbie is their college-age daughter.
The Cover
The cover is a nod to Conan C. Doyle's Sherlock Holmes with our view of two nude male torsos through a magnifying glass against a grey-black background.
The title is true enough, Somebody Killed His Editor and it's a crap shoot as to who it is...I suspect they'll throw a party for 'em later.
gillianw's review against another edition
3.0
I'm re-reading this one. Or rather, I'm listening to it as I have chosen the audiobook version this time around. I have to say, I'm enjoying it way more this time and I don't know if that's down to the narrator or the fact that I'm not comparing Kit to Adrien English like I did initially. Maybe it's both. Either way, I'm revising my initial 2 star rating to 3 stars but it's probably more a solid 3.5.
cutenanya's review against another edition
3.0
Frankly, I am a bit disappointed at the plot because it is simple and not much deductive reasoning is necesary. However, I am surprised at how much I like stories where the charcters missed the opportunity to be together the first time round and takes a while to recover their feelings that have been buried but never quite vanished, like some book called Persuasion by Jane Austen. Although I didn't feel Christopher mature along the way as Anne did, I rather admire his mid life crisis jokes. I totally can relate to him because guess what, I am nearing his age and dreading that slump in my life. Plus JX is a complete darling. I cannot believe how much he loves Chris after the latter seemingly broke his heart. However, I would not say they miss the 10 years together because loss and regret strenghtens a relationship. Had they stayed together and with Chris' career going downhill, they might have split instead of staying.together. Who knows, jealousy and competition can break relationships.
rpow14's review against another edition
lighthearted
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content and Death
Moderate: Cursing, Murder, and Alcohol
Minor: Biphobia
bitchie's review against another edition
4.0
Reread: May 2017. I'd read this years ago, but my memory is crap, so I didn't remember much of the story. I remembered Kid and JX, but the mystery was like brand new to me- I didn't remember who dunnit until the very end! Still, very enjoyable!
a_reader_obsessed's review against another edition
3.0
3.5 Stars
Seriously? What the hell was that ending? You know after reading 18 Lanyons, I should know by now that the abrupt conclusion is coming, but it still slaps me in the face every damn time!! Arrgggh!!
Ok, back to the regular scheduled programming…
This was a great, complex mystery with a different tone that I’m used to from this author. Never short on smart, acerbic, or witty, this also had some great dashes of humor to it.
Christopher has gotten himself into a bit of a pickle. Not only is he trying to save his writing career, but he must also try to stay alive at the worst writers conference ever. Add in the enigmatic JX from his past to make things more complicated, he can barely juggle all the absurd situations he finds himself in.
Definitely lighter, more self deprecating, and funny in tone, it took me awhile to warm up to Christopher for some reason. However, the almost farcical situations he finds himself in contrasted nicely with the more somber moments with JX - all of which made for interesting twists and revelations. More romance and smex would always be appreciated, but again, that’s just another thing I need to accept and expect from this author. I’m still a fan though and probably always will be.
Seriously? What the hell was that ending? You know after reading 18 Lanyons, I should know by now that the abrupt conclusion is coming, but it still slaps me in the face every damn time!! Arrgggh!!
Ok, back to the regular scheduled programming…
This was a great, complex mystery with a different tone that I’m used to from this author. Never short on smart, acerbic, or witty, this also had some great dashes of humor to it.
Christopher has gotten himself into a bit of a pickle. Not only is he trying to save his writing career, but he must also try to stay alive at the worst writers conference ever. Add in the enigmatic JX from his past to make things more complicated, he can barely juggle all the absurd situations he finds himself in.
Definitely lighter, more self deprecating, and funny in tone, it took me awhile to warm up to Christopher for some reason. However, the almost farcical situations he finds himself in contrasted nicely with the more somber moments with JX - all of which made for interesting twists and revelations. More romance and smex would always be appreciated, but again, that’s just another thing I need to accept and expect from this author. I’m still a fan though and probably always will be.
ele_lieb_reads's review against another edition
funny
informative
mysterious
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
luciearan's review against another edition
4.0
Tato celkem nenápadná knížka, v sobě ukrývá příjemně pohodovou, a místy velice vtipnou, Queer detektivku. Což pro pro mě bylo obrovským překvapením, jelikož na knihu jsem narazila čistě náhodou, a do té doby jsem o ní nikde, nezahlédla ani zmínku. A to je podle mě, obrovská škoda. Jako oddechové čtení, je totiž naprosto skvělá.
Zápletka se lehce inspiruje příběhy Agathy Christie, děj plynule přechází z jedné scény do druhé, a vzájemně jej propojuje romantická m/m linka. Knihu je však potřeba brát s nadhledem, nečekejte hluboký a napínavý příběh, protože ten je skutečně laděný, jako cozy mystery. Je však velice originální, svěží a já si u něj příjemně odpočinula, a pobavila se.
Zápletka se lehce inspiruje příběhy Agathy Christie, děj plynule přechází z jedné scény do druhé, a vzájemně jej propojuje romantická m/m linka. Knihu je však potřeba brát s nadhledem, nečekejte hluboký a napínavý příběh, protože ten je skutečně laděný, jako cozy mystery. Je však velice originální, svěží a já si u něj příjemně odpočinula, a pobavila se.
mikibooks's review against another edition
3.0
Meh. Bastante mediocre en varios de sus aspectos escenciales, lo cual es una pena porque se supone que deberían ser los pilares del libro. Habiendo tantos mejores exponentes dentro de los thrillers, la novela negra, las historias de misterio, el romance y el género m/m este libro no pasa de las 2 estrellitas y media. No creo que vaya a leer los que siguen salvo que alguien en quien confíe me asegure su calidad.