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3.71 AVERAGE
3.71 AVERAGE
Tom & Phil
Romance and crime story. Endearing complex characters. Witty british writing. Loved it!
Romance and crime story. Endearing complex characters. Witty british writing. Loved it!
Hello!! I really liked this! Both the romance and the mystery were super fun to follow and I had a great time.
Tom Paretski, 29, plumber, has a special gift for finding things... including dead bodies. When called as a consultant to find the trail of a missing young girl, Tom runs into Phil Morrison, private investigator and one of his old school bullies. A boy who had mocked him for being gay and who turns out years later, to be queer also. Huh. When the missing girl turns out dead, they both team up to investigate the events that led to her demise... while getting closer in the process.
The investigation was fun, we could see both of them follow many leads and I had no idea who was the culprit, even though I did have my suspicions, until the very end. It might not have been the cleverest mystery, but it worked for me! The romance was also very nice, I loved the tension and the history between them. It's not really a bully romance, even if Phil did take part in Tom's bullying years ago (and in the event that led Tom to run into oncoming traffic). They take the time to get to know each other as adults before they jump into a relationship and that was great. I loved the tension building throughout the book, parallel to the investigation, that was a lot of fun. Both Tom and Phil were interesting characters and I thought this first book did a good job to set up future character arcs (Tom and his gift, Phil and his late husband) and I'm very excited for the rest of the series!
One thing I did not like though is the couple borderline fatphobic comments from Tom ("if I keep eating like this, i'll be as soft as Gary" etc) and some kind of mysogynistic-leaning stuff as well. Will see how that evolves in the next books
Tom Paretski, 29, plumber, has a special gift for finding things... including dead bodies. When called as a consultant to find the trail of a missing young girl, Tom runs into Phil Morrison, private investigator and one of his old school bullies. A boy who had mocked him for being gay and who turns out years later, to be queer also. Huh. When the missing girl turns out dead, they both team up to investigate the events that led to her demise... while getting closer in the process.
The investigation was fun, we could see both of them follow many leads and I had no idea who was the culprit, even though I did have my suspicions, until the very end. It might not have been the cleverest mystery, but it worked for me! The romance was also very nice, I loved the tension and the history between them. It's not really a bully romance, even if Phil did take part in Tom's bullying years ago (and in the event that led Tom to run into oncoming traffic). They take the time to get to know each other as adults before they jump into a relationship and that was great. I loved the tension building throughout the book, parallel to the investigation, that was a lot of fun. Both Tom and Phil were interesting characters and I thought this first book did a good job to set up future character arcs (Tom and his gift, Phil and his late husband) and I'm very excited for the rest of the series!
One thing I did not like though is the couple borderline fatphobic comments from Tom ("if I keep eating like this, i'll be as soft as Gary" etc) and some kind of mysogynistic-leaning stuff as well. Will see how that evolves in the next books
adventurous
funny
mysterious
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Original read Oct 2013
Re-read Jun 2016
Re-read Oct 2019
Re-read Feb 2024
It really says something that in 10 years of re-reading this book my rating hasn't changed. I have bought the whole series on a sale during my previous re-read, but I still haven't managed to finish it. Here's hoping!
Re-read Jun 2016
Re-read Oct 2019
Re-read Feb 2024
It really says something that in 10 years of re-reading this book my rating hasn't changed. I have bought the whole series on a sale during my previous re-read, but I still haven't managed to finish it. Here's hoping!
4.5 stars. Psychic plumber is such a refreshing take to detective stories. This is a very funny murder mystery suspense story with some great insightful moments and a definite feel of 'realness' despite the whole psychic angle.
I really liked the protagonist who has a heavily humorous side with a bite, but he's also such a sweetheart, especially towards women. The love interest is his former bully and tons of bickering ensues.
Such a great read that has a lot going on but still feels balanced. I started the second book immediately.
I really liked the protagonist who has a heavily humorous side with a bite, but he's also such a sweetheart, especially towards women. The love interest is his former bully and tons of bickering ensues.
Such a great read that has a lot going on but still feels balanced. I started the second book immediately.
This book was just ok for me. The MC's were OK, the supporting characters were OK, the mystery was OK. The ending made no sense
There was not enough of anything to call this enjoyable. If this is a sample of the author's style, I won't be reading any more.
Spoiler
The murderer just puts the gun down and walks away... I don't think so!There was not enough of anything to call this enjoyable. If this is a sample of the author's style, I won't be reading any more.
I adored this! It's a quick, funny, easy-to-read mystery with a hilarious MC. I told a friend to read this and described it as "an episode of Midsomer Murders, only instead of a detective solving crimes it's a gay psychic plumber."
This isn't much of a romance - more of a quirky mystery, but the romance looks like it's been set up for the rest of the series.
This isn't much of a romance - more of a quirky mystery, but the romance looks like it's been set up for the rest of the series.