Title: Murder on the Mountain
Author: Jamie Fessenden
Genre: Murder Mystery with a dash of Romance
Length: Novel (210 pages)
Publisher: Dreamspinner Press (August 22nd 2014)
Heat Level: Mild to Moderate
Heart Rating: ♥♥♥♥ 4 Hearts
Reviewer: Tams
Blurb: When Jesse Morales, a recent college grad who aspires to be a mystery writer, volunteers to work on the summit of Mt. Washington for a week, he expects to work hard. What he doesn’t expect is to find a corpse in the fog, lying among the rocks, his head crushed. The dead man turns out to be a young tourist named Stuart Warren, who strayed from his friends while visiting the mountain.
Kyle Dubois, a widowed state police detective, is called to the scene in the middle of the night, along with his partner, Wesley Roberts. Kyle and Jesse are instantly drawn to one another, except Jesse’s fascination with murder mysteries makes it difficult for Kyle to take the young man seriously. But Jesse finds a way to make himself invaluable to the detective by checking into the hotel where the victim’s friends and family are staying and infiltrating their circle. Soon, he is learning things that could very well solve the case—or get him killed.
Purchase Link: http://www.dreamspinnerpress.com/store/product_info.php?products_id=5335
Review: Jesse Morales is finishing up a week-long volunteering stint on the Summit when he stumbles upon a gruesome site. The good-looking young man he saw coming of the lift with several friends just a few hours ago, is now lying dead at the bottom of a bank of rocks, head smashed in. Jesse is intrigued and very inquisitive when the Detectives show up, but he’s quickly dismissed by the lead Detective as just a ‘kid’.
Kyle Dubois is taken aback at Jesse’s beauty from the start, but the obviously younger man bothers him a little with his questions and curiosity about the case. When Jesse finds a way to insinuate himself into the investigation, Kyle teeters back and forth between his anger at Jesse for putting himself in harm’s way, and his overwhelming attraction to him. As the two grow closer and Kyle opens up to the possibility of a relationship with Jesse, his protective instincts kick in, as well as his libido. It’s a dangerous game Jesse is playing, one that could cost him his life.
I do love a good, cozy murder mystery and that is exactly what Fessenden has offered up here. There is mystery, suspense and intrigue from the start. Literally every one that Stuart knew shows just cause to have killed him. While the Detective and would be mystery writer are trying to solve the case, they are fighting off an obvious mutual attraction. But the sexual tension only adds to the intrigue of the story.
At times you are left to wonder if Kyle is really growing that attached to Jesse, or is it just his cop instincts kicking in and telling him to be so protective. Jesse is smart and fearless, but just a little bit reckless in exacting his means. It was interesting as well to see how romantically Jesse was the aggressor and the expert of sorts, while Kyle was more inexperienced in that area. But as far as overall maturity and common sense, Kyle took the lead, and it made for a well-defined balance between them.
There were a couple of times that words used were more likening to a YA novel, when subject matter and content were clearly adult. And I wanted just a little bit more at the end, perhaps it’s because the story was so engaging the ending snuck up on me. But overall, this was a perfectly suspenseful novel with lots of passion and a little bit of murder to keep me entertained. If you like, murder mysteries, suspense novels or just overall well thought out stories then I think you’ll love this one.
* I received a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review through http://mmgoodbookreviews.wordpress.com *