It’s a mystery filled with playful humor and respect for this often-misunderstood genre. The only problem I had with it is that it needed to be longer... not to go on past the end, but to contain more within the main part of the story in order to really do the characters and the setting justice. The main characters were perfect for the setting and for each other, but like the story, they all needed more scenes to make everything between them more believable. Their relationship can easily be summed up as “tough private eye meets broken playboy” .... and nature takes over from there. 1940s noir, a wacky family and a little romance. Sit back and enjoy. ( )

Set in the 30s, this book explores the dangers of couples who fall outside of the "norm" when it comes to their private activities. Brett Sheridan goes to Neil Rafferty for help when a priceless folio of The Tempest gets stolen during his engagement party. Neither man is quite ready for the feelings which start growing between them while they work together to find not only the folio but Sheridan's disappearing sister who runs off to get married to someone who is essentially a mobster.

I like that Mr. Lanyon isn't stuck in one time period or place. All of his characters have flaws and weaknesses as well as strengths. It makes them interesting and believable. Since the title includes "# 1" in the title, I'm now looking forward to the next book in this series. ( )

When Brett Sheridan hires Neil Rafferty to solve the theft of his soon-to-be father-in-law's priceless Shakespeare folio, he only expects that Rafferty will handle the task quickly and with discretion. The latter is important since Brett worries that his sister might somehow be involved and the last thing his family needs is more scandal. But there's no way he can be prepared for everything that will happen in his life in the coming days - almost all thanks to Neil.

I actually enjoyed this one quite a bit. It's a very engaging read - I finished it in one sitting - and it's very easy to connect to the characters and the world they live in. The main characters are dynamic and the supporting characters provide some intrigue as well. This was the first Josh Lanyon story I've read, despite having several on my to-be-read list, but I definitely need to rectify that situation soon after reading this. ( )

A wonderful mystery set in the 30s, with all the atmosphere of those Dashiell Hammet books, and the sexual tension that only Josh Lanyon is able to portrait so well.

Both characters are interesting although not really easy to love; there is romance and humour and darkness; the secondary characters are wonderfully weird...

What can I say? Lanyon's writing always gets me.

About the narration, when I first began listening to this audiobook, it irritated me. By the end, I was in love with Jordan Murphy's style. ( )

The mystery here was engaging with enough red-herrings to keep me guessing but none hammered home so much as to make me feel cheated, the resolution was fair but unfortunately not terribly interesting.
The romance didn't really work for me. The hardboiled gumshoe falls for the aristocratic ingénue because... just because. I found myself slightly bored by Brett but desperate to find out more about Neill, which I guess means I'll be laying down cash for any sequels despite being somewhat disappointed by this offering.
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