At first glance, ‘Playing with Fire’ may look like a murder mystery around a too-clever serial killer, and it is that in spades, but it is also so much more. The two main characters are fascinatingly complicated men, each in his own way, and between the hurt and disappointments they have both survived and their current reticence toward relationships of the intimate kind, it is a miracle they ever get beyond working together on a professional level. Added to a plot with more twists and turns, red herrings, and outright surprises than I expected, this novel made for a very suspenseful, emotional, and psychologically intriguing read.

Jim is a dedicated police officer and he is lonely. He is estranged from his wealthy parents and not exactly close to his academically brilliant sister, and added to the fact that he is gay, this means he has become the black sheep of the family no matter how good he is at his job. He has two failed relationships with university professors, but is still attracted to Barty from the moment they meet. It’s a slowly growing attraction the more they work together. The increased danger when the killer suddenly makes Barty his target makes Jim realize how important Barty has become for him.

Barty is a genius-level psychologist, but his understanding of the human mind is theoretical. He was never close to other children when he grew up, finished school and college too quickly to form real friendships, and he is at a loss when asked to work in a team. His insights are brilliant and he wants to try to make friends, but his bluntness is a real issue for most people. His fear of being too much like the killer is very real for him – and even though it helps him support Jim to solve the case, it also makes him think he will always watch from a distance.

Jim and Barty both have issues with intimacy, and even if the reasons are very different, the effect is the same. Progress on the relationship level is slow, halting, and sometimes it felt like they took one step forward only to fall two steps back. Luckily both are curious enough to persevere, and the slowly building trust between them was great to see. Jim’s young nieces and Barty’s cat, Penelope, also deserve mention since they added a much-needed lighter note in between the more intense events. This story begins with some puzzling initial cases and grows into an ever-tightening spiral of suspense when clue after clue proves useless, or is discarded only to come back to haunt Jim’s team.

If you like murder mysteries with a touch of romance, if you believe that two men who seem destined to be alone deserve a chance to discover love, and if you’re looking for an intense read that will keep your attention until you turn the final page, then you will probably like this novel. I think it’s masterful on more than one level, and had to read it in one go.


NOTE: This book was provided by Dreamspinner Press for the purpose of a review on Rainbow Book Reviews. ( )