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A review by cspoe
Transposition by Gregory Ashe
5.0
All right. This book was awesome. It was an absolutely wonderful nod to traditional murder mysteries and a very clever spin on the dinner theatre murder mystery gone horribly wrong. A perfect blend of serious emotional growth (or de-growth?) between Hazard and Somerset in private, while they handled a mystery that was lighter in tone after the intensity of Pretty Pretty Boys.
The story begins with our detective partners, Emery Hazard and John-Henry Somerset, answering a complaint about gunfire over the Thanksgiving holiday. Not because they should be working, but because Somers had volunteered them to. And perhaps it's not obvious to Hazard, but to the reader, we know he did this to keep Hazard away from his boyfriend Nico. Somers can spin this any which way he wants, but the reality is, he's a man going through a very rough situation with his wife. A child is involved. And there's a very long, complicated history between him and Hazard that includes poor teenage choices, bullying, and budding sexuality.
Somers doesn't approve of Nico. He doesn't like Nico. And frankly, he's jealous of Nico. But he won't say this out loud, or even admit it to himself. And Hazard, a man who is very factual, analytical, and a bit removed from his own emotions and reading those of others, doesn't put two and two together soon enough to realize why there's a wedge between them. So they're already on rocky grounds before they reach Windsor estate— and when they stumble across a group of white collar sorts from Strong, Matley, Gross crying about a murder while on a company retreat? All hell breaks loose.
Transposition is such a wonderfully delightful whodunit. It features a cast of suspects as devious as characters in Clue, all with believable motives, a wonderful use of red herrings, and a gentle incline of danger that reaches a pinnacle which left me breathless for nearly an entire chapter. It also employs a fantastic use of trapping the leading characters in a dangerous location they cannot feasibly leave— in this case, an out-of-the-way Victorian estate cut off from the city of Wahredua after a bridge goes out, and an absolutely impassible winter storm.
Ashe once again shines with his prose in this second book of the Hazard & Somerset series, delivering such gritty and brutal emotions to the reader that I felt scraped raw by the end. I am head over heels in love with these books because Ashe truly understands the impact of his word choices, and how to create absolute poetry in their selection. He lays bare a multitude of issues Hazard and Somers have to work through, not only with each other, but themselves. And I personally am grateful they didn't end up romantically involved by the end because they're simply not ready. Sure, I'm not crazy about Nico. I know he's not right for Hazard, and that Hazard isn't happy with them, and likewise with Somers and his wife, but I value an author who portrays humanity at its most vulnerable, frustrating, and bullheaded because the connection I have to the characters is so much more profoundly real.
I cannot recommend this series enough. New readers are in for quite the ride.
The story begins with our detective partners, Emery Hazard and John-Henry Somerset, answering a complaint about gunfire over the Thanksgiving holiday. Not because they should be working, but because Somers had volunteered them to. And perhaps it's not obvious to Hazard, but to the reader, we know he did this to keep Hazard away from his boyfriend Nico. Somers can spin this any which way he wants, but the reality is, he's a man going through a very rough situation with his wife. A child is involved. And there's a very long, complicated history between him and Hazard that includes poor teenage choices, bullying, and budding sexuality.
Somers doesn't approve of Nico. He doesn't like Nico. And frankly, he's jealous of Nico. But he won't say this out loud, or even admit it to himself. And Hazard, a man who is very factual, analytical, and a bit removed from his own emotions and reading those of others, doesn't put two and two together soon enough to realize why there's a wedge between them. So they're already on rocky grounds before they reach Windsor estate— and when they stumble across a group of white collar sorts from Strong, Matley, Gross crying about a murder while on a company retreat? All hell breaks loose.
Transposition is such a wonderfully delightful whodunit. It features a cast of suspects as devious as characters in Clue, all with believable motives, a wonderful use of red herrings, and a gentle incline of danger that reaches a pinnacle which left me breathless for nearly an entire chapter. It also employs a fantastic use of trapping the leading characters in a dangerous location they cannot feasibly leave— in this case, an out-of-the-way Victorian estate cut off from the city of Wahredua after a bridge goes out, and an absolutely impassible winter storm.
Ashe once again shines with his prose in this second book of the Hazard & Somerset series, delivering such gritty and brutal emotions to the reader that I felt scraped raw by the end. I am head over heels in love with these books because Ashe truly understands the impact of his word choices, and how to create absolute poetry in their selection. He lays bare a multitude of issues Hazard and Somers have to work through, not only with each other, but themselves. And I personally am grateful they didn't end up romantically involved by the end because they're simply not ready. Sure, I'm not crazy about Nico. I know he's not right for Hazard, and that Hazard isn't happy with them, and likewise with Somers and his wife, but I value an author who portrays humanity at its most vulnerable, frustrating, and bullheaded because the connection I have to the characters is so much more profoundly real.
I cannot recommend this series enough. New readers are in for quite the ride.