Genre: Paranormal, Romance, Vampires
LGBTQ+ Category: Gay
Reviewer: Maryann; Gordon, Paranormal Romance Guild
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About The Book
What is Wyn to do when he can’t find his five-year-old daughter Celyn because she and her mother Marianne have disappeared with Marianne’s new boyfriend? He hires a detective.
The detective is Christoph Andreu, owner of Andreu Detection Agency. What few people know is that Christoph is a vampire, thus his definitely strange working hours. Wyn knows, however, but his need to find Celyn overrides the few concerns he might have that Christoph is more than human.
Christoph was willing to take Wyn’s case. More than willing when two men attack Wyn, believing he knows where to find Marianne’s new lover. Despite the fact Christoph abhors physical violence; he deals with the men to save Wyn.
Christoph finds himself drawn to Wyn, especially when he learns the man is not as straight Christoph believes, given the circumstances. In fact, Wyn is bi, which he readily admits. Bi, and drawn to the power and raw sexuality Christoph emits. As their search for Celyn intensifies, so does their immediate attraction for each other.
Can Christoph find Wyn’s missing daughter? And how will the two men handle their becoming lovers in spite of the fact Christoph is a vampire and Wyn isn’t?
The Reviews
Maryann
Wyn Meyrick has a problem. His five year old daughter Celyn is missing, along with her mother, Marianne. He’s gone to the police with no results, and has been told his daughter doesn’t exist. He has no idea where to turn next, or what to do. He works as a photographer for Mr. Gaines’ photography business in a building that also houses other businesses, one of which happens to be a detective agency. With all of his other options exhausted, he takes a chance on the agency.
Andreu Detection Agency is owned by Christoph Andreu, who is joined by his receptionist, Sophia. When Wyn meets with Christoph, a lot of questions come up:
Does Wyn know what Christoph is? Is Christoph eccentric or a dilettante? Is he just playing at being a detective?
Christoph is certainly different, and he has his own firm beliefs when it comes to enthralling, mind control and killing. He knows what it means to survive in a city that’s filled with humans, and those like him who walk among them try to live life as normally as they possibly can.
After he hears Wyn’s story, he knows he will take the case. He doesn’t have much faith in the NYPD – they’ve already proved they can’t do the job. With his low opinion of both the police and the Missing Persons Bureau, there is one officer he does trust – Det. Julius Barnes.
When Wyn is attacked, Christoph goes into action. He finds out that Marianne’s new boyfriend, Paul Evans, has gotten himself into trouble with the Vernoble drug cartel. Wyn fears for his daughters life. How much danger will they all face?
Christoph Andreu is a unique kind of vampire. He’s not always looking to feed from Wyn – or other humans – and there’s no turning involved here.
Wyn and Christoph make the perfect pair. Wyn slowly learns about and comes to understand Christoph. There are still many future decisions to be made for them, especially where Celyn is concerned, but it’s not a big factor in this story.
The Midnight Detective is short, but it’s a good, solid, suspenseful mystery, filled with both with heartbreaking moments and love.
I also enjoyed the colorful female characters: Sophia, Helen Thorn, and the very bright Celyn. I’d also love to see Det. Julius Barnes get his own story.
I was thoroughly entertained by The Midnight Detective – it has everything a mystery needs, and gets a little steamy too! I hope Kendrick decides to expand on Chapter ten – it could be the springboard for a whole new story.
Gordon
At just over thirty-six thousand words, The Midnight Detective is a relatively fast-moving, adventure/mystery novella, complete with an M/M romance. The story is good enough and fairly well told.
Wyn Meyrick’s daughter Celyn is missing, so he goes up two fights of stairs from his photographic studio to the Andreu Detective Agency to hire someone to find her. A sign on the agency’s door gives their hours as 7 p.m. to 5 a.m., which is enough to tell Wyn that the agency’s investigator is a vampire. Enter Christoph Andreu, a dark-haired individual who radiates a sense of power and raw sexuality sufficient to make up for his average looks. Christoph, it turns out, is immediately attracted to Wyn and so the stage is set: mystery, adventure, and romance.
Wyn explains his situation, including that the Missing Person Bureau claimed they had no record of his daughter whatsoever—that in effect she didn’t exist. There are further oddities, such as no one being able locate Marianne, Celyn’s mother who, with her daughter has been living with another man for some time. Clearly, something strange is going on, and as the investigation continues, things become darker, and finally very dark, though Celine is found and taken to safety. At the same time, Christoph and Wyn (who is bisexual) become lovers.
All of this is standard fare, and it does take a while for the story to get a grip. But, when it does, there are interesting and compelling elements, good ideas and nice touches. However, there are drawbacks too—occasional small glitches, failures to complete in full detail a concept, and less-than-good word choices. For example, though vampires require permission to enter an abode—a nice touch—their abilities are sufficiently broad (misting, flying, mind reading and control, becoming invisible) that no vampire is ever in actual danger. In addition, the emotional arcs, both within and beyond the actual romance, lack something in depth.
Nevertheless, The Midnight Detective is a good story that is in the end quite satisfying. The fact that the last chapter presents as a denouement something that is essentially an arbitrary divergence does not ruin the overall story. Indeed, it provides a broader context for the couple, for Wyn and Christoph, to continue on as it lends to become a series?
4 stars.
The Reviewers
Maryann: Hi, I’m Maryann, I started life in New York, moved to New Hampshire and in 1965 uprooted again to Sacramento, California. Once I retired I moved to West Palm Beach, Florida in 2011 and just moved back to Sacramento in March of 2018. My son, his wife and step-daughter flew out to Florida and we road tripped back so they got to see sights they have never seen. New Orleans and the Grand Canyon were the highlights. Now I am back on the west coast again to stay! From a young age Ialways liked to read.
I remember going to the library and reading the “Doctor Dolittle” books by Hugh Lofting. Much later on became a big fan of the classics, Edgar Alan Poe, Mary Shelley, Bram Stoker and as time went by Agatha Christie, Ray Bradbury and Stephen Kingand many other authors.
My first M/M shifter book I read was written by Jan Irving the “Uncommon Cowboys” series from 2012. She was the first author I ever contacted and sent an email to letting her know how much I liked this series. Sometime along the way I read “Zero to the Bone”by Jane Seville, I think just about everyone has read this book!
As it stands right now I’m really into mysteries, grit, gore and “triggers” don’t bother me. But if a blurb piques my interest I will read the book.
My kindle collection eclectic and over three thousand books and my Audible collection is slowly growing. I have both the kindle and audible apps on my ipod, ipads, and MAC. So there is never an excuse not to be listening or reading.
I joined Goodreads around 2012 and started posting reviews. One day a wonderful lady, Lisa Horan of The Novel Approach, sent me an email to see if I wanted to join her review group. Joining her site was such an eye opener. I got introduce to so many new authors that write for the LGBTQ genre. Needless to say, it was heart breaking when it ended.
But I found a really great site, QRI and it’s right here in Sacramento. Last year at QSAC I actually got to meet Scott Coatsworth, Amy Lane and Jeff Adams.
Gordon: About Gordon: Having received formal training in the world of science, Gordon has always found relief from the strictures of present-day reality in reading fiction, mostly fantasy, horror and sci-fi, fiction that explores regions of what is sometimes called the Kingdom of If. Here the rules can be virtually anything, allowing for greater possibilities of wonder and strange discovery. Gordon also writes, among other things, stories of M/M romance within these genres. This provides the opportunity for exploring how characters, some of them possibly not fully human, might act and react in truly strange circumstances. He writes romance because, of all the mind-blowingly possibilities inherent in the creation of imaginative worlds, the most mysterious and magical are the operations of the human heart itself, including its curious ability to grow when broken.
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