New Release Review | Murder House by Jordan Castillo Price

Murder House by Jordan Castillo Price
PsyCop #10
Urban Fantasy M/M
JCP Books LLC | April 16, 2019

About the Book:

Victor Bayne has survived demons, ghosts and repeaters. But can he survive a murder house?

Few people would willingly spend the night in a murder house, but Victor Bayne is up for the challenge. He’ll do whatever it takes to get a look at his permanent record, including going undercover in a townhouse where a recent death took place. Why not? There was no foul play involved, and as a psychic medium, he’d know if a ghost was creeping up on him. The whole “murder house” claim is just a product of a kid’s overactive imagination, and he’s confident he has the situation under control.

Until he gets a load of the smell.

Turns out, undercover work is a lot tougher than it looks. Vic misses Jacob something fierce. The subject of his assignment is a real piece of work. His partner has definitely got something to hide…and then the investigation takes a truly bizarre turn.

What happens if the murder house reveals itself to be more than just a schoolyard rumour?

For me, reading PsyCop is like mentally coming home.

Right now, in this moment, I can’t think of another series that makes me feel as good as this one. It’s definitely due to JCP’s writing. She really brings Victor Bayne to life. But, maybe it’s also because I feel like Vic is a genderswapped me, we even share the same birthday. Or, maybe it’s because PsyCop was my first foray into M/M romance. Whatever the reason, no matter my mood, PsyCop always makes me happy.

It’s even better when PsyCop just shows up on your Kindle like an unbirthday present!

I didn’t even know Murder House was close to release, which is even better. JCP released info that it was in the works, and then just a few weeks later there it was, like a ray of sunshine.

While the series does need to be read in order, PsyCop generally follows the same theme, Victor has a case to solve and Jacob, along with other friends, help him. Murder House was a little bit different in that Jacob wasn’t an active part of the book. Victor goes undercover as a married man, married to someone who is not Jacob. If you’re a PsyCop fan I’m not going to give any spoilers away, so I won’t say who Victor was married to, only that I thought it was genius.

Anyway, usually I hate when my favorite couple is split up for an entire book. Reading them separated is dreadful, and I spend the whole time waiting for the reunion. Except somehow JCP made this book, one in which they only had 2 scenes together, more about Victor and Jacob’s relationship then any of the previous books, including the first book, Among the Living, when they met.

In Murder House I got a deeper understanding on how in love Victor actually is with Jacob. Vic is someone who keeps his emotions to himself. He doesn’t get sappy all the time, or almost ever. Sometimes he wonders why anyone as charismatic and gorgeous as Jacob is into him, but mostly he just goes with it, feeling grateful. Rarely has he ever really dug down into how much he loves his man. Until now, because being separated forces Vic to stop taking their relationship for granted. His eyes are opened to how much Jacob truly means to him, and it was powerful.

The undercover assignment was interesting. I’m going to miss some of the new people Victor met, particularly Madison. However, the reason I’m giving this book 5 stars, my usual PsyCop rating, was all because of how emotionally deep for Victor Murder House was.

For the first time Vic has realized he needs to stop looking back so much, and finally start to look to his future.
For the first time ever, he is content. He finally loves life.

I can’t wait to read where Victor Bayne and Jacob Marks are going next.