They just keep getting better

I love these series. I love the plot, the mystery and the solving of it. I love the continuation between the novels. But most of all I love the MCs - Larkin and Doyle are fantastic characters. Larkin is beloved in all his quirky neurodivergent ways and Doyle is perfect in all his damaged and gorgeously smokey ways. They are as beautiful as C. S. Poe’s writing. And Kale Williams? Perfection and once again has been the highlight of these books. Highly recommend.

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brilliant!

I was so excited to see another book in the series out and think it took me less than 3 days to get through it. The mystery is suitabley complex and engaging. What makes it for me though is the authors ability to
pick out a few details that paint both the physical and psychological landscape of the narrative, in vivid and maticulous strokes that sometimes peaks into the transcendant and poetic. While not explicit this feels like a a glimpse through the neuro divergent lense that Larkin sees the world. The love story feels unique in both its depth and sensitivity to both the characters complex histories and trauma, and presents a dynamic that is both flawed and beautiful. Without utilising some of more expected troupes for romance development, the unconditional high regard they show each other is just as heart warming, and along with their (albeit in part detached) compassion for the victims, provides a striking counter balance to the brutality of the crimes they are investigating. You know it's good when at the end you are happy to be left holding a wealth of unfinished threads requiring a sequel... not frustrated by the lack of closure.

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Not as good as the others for me...

🎧🎧🎧 Audio Review 🎧🎧🎧

Everett and Ira's very slow-burn romance continues apace, in much the same way as Everett's battle with Xanax addiction BUT hopefully he will win that battle [and the romance] with Ira's help. As far as the Memento Mori killer is concerned, I have some vague ideas about who it is [still think it's a co-worker or former colleague, connected with Patrick's death and Everett's dreadful head injury, and at least a name was mentioned this time around], but thank goodness some of the murderous 'foot soldiers' are being taken out in the crossfire.

Such a shame Kale Williams doesn't seem to have a fantastic range of voices to call upon...his sexy 'Ira' voice is to die for. 4.25 stars.

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1 person found this helpful

Enjoyable Story

A well written story with and interesting  concept.  The characters are likeable and the narration is very good.

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One of the best series out there!

This a perfect blend of storyteller and voice actor - CS Poe and Kale Williams.
The slow burn romance continues to blossom as they solve another cold case (related to an overarching case). This is a series best followed in order, but that is no hardship. Ira continues to support Evie in every way he can. Evie is opening up more, seeing Doyle as his rock, partner, love. What has not changed is their working partnership that works so well, and the complex cases they work on. CS Poe puts a lot (and I mean a lot of time and effort into the background of everything, even as small as light bulbs and their significance in public safety). I adore learning as much as reading - her books are a perfect blend of both.
Narration
It's Kale Williams - enough said lol!
Seriously, I wonder if she had in mind from the beginning? He is the absolute perfect choice to voice Ira Doyle and Everett Larkin, the voices for the other characters is just icing on a brilliant cake.
Highly recommend - it's a excellent meld of story and narration.

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Wonderful continuation of the series

I am obsessed with this series.
The amount of research that the author puts into each book is simply astounding.
Amazing world building with such well fleshed out characters and I really can't emphasize just how much New York is it's own character as well.
Larkin and Doyle are the slowest burn I've ever had the privilege to read and it's absolutely fitting for them.
I'm thoroughly enjoying getting to see them slowly lowering their walls and be able to be vulnerable with one another.
There are plenty of twists and turns that kept me intrigued and speeding towards the ending.
Kale Williams did an amazing job portraying these characters and bringing them to life.

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Good but slow

I don't know if it's just been so long since I listened to the last book in the series, but in this book I feel like there was a little too much purple prose when it came to Everett's flashes of memory. They disrupted the narrative flow by drawing undesirable attention to the extravagant style of these particular paragraphs and I found I was pulled out of the story multiple times.
The stories in this series are intricately plotted and researched, which I appreciate very much.
What I like about Ira and Evi is that they're so careful with one another. They're both damaged and dealing with trauma and it's heartwarming that they're taking things slowly and getting to know one another before they have sex.
The overall killer is still unknown by the end of this book and so I'm guessing there's another long wait for the next audio. Kale Williams narration is lovely and calming, even though he doesn't have a great range, what he does, he does exceptionally well.

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Elegant + Emotional Narration

Kale Williams made Doyle's vocals expressive, empathetic and dulcet bass notes. The narrator's higher pitched, brittle delivery for Larkin was damn fine nuanced work. Listen for a Larkin | Noah dialogue that KW delivered with palpable spite?! KW kept my wandering attention through the tedious monologues of side characters and their numerous hoarse turns that did not play to his skills set and detracted from his overall mellifluous quality. BB is very, very, very wordy but Kale grounded it with flawless phrasing so that the long passages made sense to me.

Broadway Butchery did have beautiful emotional beats courtesy of Doyle. Unfortunately, BB also had Larkin still spouting facts, being hit on the head and showcasing paucity of any genius in his detective work - Larkin is forever reacting or responding but never instigating or deducing or outsmarting villains. BB did not deepen the character work or advance the overall mystery and, for me, lacked the charm of Book 1 and Book 2.

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