This one was a bit of a slog to get through. The story telling is a bit uneven and odd (or at least, I found it to be so). Still worth the time to read. ( )

The Deadly Mystery series by Victor J. Banis is addictive! I finished the first book thinking, well, this was good, maybe with a little more romance... ended the second book thinking, wow, I wasn't expected from Tom to be a so good romance hero, he was nice in the first book but in the second, he is soo good. And now, closing the third book, I'm happy like a duck in her pond, since this is the most romantic of the three books, but also the one where I finally had the chance to see Stanley and Tom as a real couple, partners both in work than life.

The third book is a discovery journey for both men, Tom is trying to fit in his new life, and Stanley has to rethink something in his past. Tom is really a good romance hero, but not since he is perfect, he is good since he is NOT perfect. Tom is mostly a straight man, as I just said in the past, he didn't find himself gay all at once, he found himself in love with a person (even if he, as a good tough man, don't use the big word love to define what he feels), and it happens that that person is a man. So, for the transitive law, if Tom loves Stanley, and Stanley is a man, Tom is gay, right? Wrong. Tom is still fighting with this idea, he doesn't like to be tagged, and then, truth be told, he still finds women attractive; I really liked this side of the story, Tom 'chose' to be with Stanley, he is more involved with his mind (and I believe also with his heart) than with his body. Actually more the series goes on and more it becomes sexually explicit, but nevertheless, it's not only a physical thing for Tom. But even if Tom is fighting with himself and with the idea to be in love with a man, he never once in all the series, throw in Stanley's face his trouble; Tom is always the perfect romance hero toward Stanley, he is always protective and nice, always ready to listen to him and to change his life to make Stanley's one easier. Can you understand that I like Tom?

But Tom is not the only one that has to face some hard moments in his life. Stanley discovers that his parents, his now dead parents lied to him, and that lie now is resurfacing and it could case big damage to Stanley, but above all to Tom. Where the second book was more centered around Stanley, I believe that the third one is more centered around Tom, and it's strange, since actually the fulcrum of the story, the mystery, is all about Stanley. But I felt as Stanley has yet reached the deepest desires of his heart, he is living with Tom, and it was Tom that proposed, and even if Tom is not suddenly turned in the perfect gay partner, at least when they are in company, he is the perfect man inside their home, and in the tight circle of their relationship. So, yes, I felt as Stanley didn't need anything else, and this time is Tom who needs to do a bit of rethink on his personal life.

I don't want to say nothing more on the mystery of the book, I don't like to give up the story. Let me only say that again I found that Victor J. Banis gave a deepness even to the villain of the story Andrew; he should be the negative character, but there were time during when I was almost hoping in a strange turn, that in a way even Andrew could have a chance to redeem. There are reasons why Andrew is like that, and for those reasons I feel for him... what is that in Victor J. Banis' works that he manages to always make me have feeling for all the characters, from the dead one (like in the second book), to the villain (like in this one)?

http://www.amazon.com/dp/1608200388/?tag=elimyrevandra-20