About the Book: All those late night conversations when Sam had maybe a drink too many or Jason was half falling asleep. All those playful, provocative comments about what they’d do when they finally met up again.
Well, here they were.
The last thing Jason West, an ambitious young FBI Special Agent with the Art Crimes Team, wants–or needs–is his uncertain and unacknowledged romantic relationship with irascible legendary Behavioral Analysis Unit Chief Sam Kennedy.
And it’s starting to feel like Sam is not thrilled with the idea either.
But personal feelings must be put aside when Sam requests Jason’s help to catch a deranged killer targeting wealthy, upscale art collectors. A killer whose calling card is a series of grotesque paintings depicting the murders.
The Art of Murder #2
M/M Mystery
JustJoshin Publishing, Inc | April 25, 2017
Josh Lanyon is one of those authors that I’m always waiting for. I’d almost be embarrassed by how many times I go to Goodreads to look for any news of upcoming releases. In fact, I just did it again. She’s not an author I find many people talking about online, despite having a pretty huge fan base, so repetitively going to look for updates is imperative.
I’ve been waiting on Monet Murders since the day I finished Mermaid Murders. I didn’t know how soon it would be coming out, so I was incredibly excited when I realized it was releasing soon just a couple weeks ago. I immediately pre-ordered. I knew that it was going to be great. Her books are consistently great.
I’ve always felt like Josh Lanyon has a consistent way of writing varied mysteries. I’ve never felt like each individual series showed too many similarities. Elliot and Tucker (All’s Fair) are nothing like Sam and Jason (The Art of Murder), just like how Kit and J.X (Holmes and Moriarity) are nothing like Adrien and Jake (The Adrien English Mysteries). They all have a foundation built on love, but the feel and the relationships are all very dissimilar. Compared to the other series, in The Art of Murder series the relationship between Sam and Jason moves very slowly.
The slowly progressing relationship was something I really liked, but it also made the book go slower than I would have liked. I wanted more scenes between Jason and Sam, however at the same time the wait made those scenes even stronger. The series is about more than the relationship, it’s also about the case. I can appreciate that.
As far as the case, the serial killer, it was one of my least favorite mysteries that Josh Lanyon has written. Her books are always well written and paced. I feel like she sits down and figures out the case before she starts writing the story, which is what sets her apart from other romance authors that write mysteries. I think my problem was more that there were so many branches to the story, it was hard to keep track of everything. I frequently felt lost, trying to keep up with which case Jason was working on, even though I knew they were all going to come together.
The third installment of The Art of Murder will be out in a year(ish) and I’m hoping that it fills in some of the blanks left from the first two. I need to know more about Jason’s stalker, and why isn’t Lux returning his calls… and hopefully we get more sweetness between Jason and Sam.
I’m already ready for more.
Birdie Bookworm 
Nice review! I’m glad you enjoyed this one. You were so excited for it.
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You know how much I love Josh Lanyon! 🙂
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