Death of a Pirate King by Josh Lanyon - My Thoughts

Death of a Pirate King (Adrien English Mystery, #4) - Josh Lanyon

This fourth volume of Adrien English mysteries keeps up the tradition of the other three.  It's two years after the previous book and there's a good mystery, terrific characters and a couple of interesting and important side plots.  There's Adrien's mom, his step-sisters, his step father and there's Guy and yes... there's Jake.  *sigh*  

 

I cannot begin to tell you the antipathy I feel towards Jake.  I don't want him with Adrien and I don't believe he's good for Adrien and I detest the way he talks and treats Adrien.  I find myself wanting to shake the hell out of Adrien every time he gets personal with freakin' Jake.  I understand conflict and disagreements and somehow insurmountable hurdles in a relationship, but in my mind, there's no reason for Jake to be so mean and nasty.  

 

While Adrien runs his bookstore and plays with his writing endeavours and worries about his health, he does his amateur sleuthing at the behest of one of the main characters, much to the - of course - dismay, obnoxious and unpleasant dismay of Jake who is now a police lieutenant.  The murder involves the movie community and the glitterati this time and wasn't quite as important to the narrative as a whole as were Adrien's reactions to the major players in his own life.  Had the balance been tipped a little more the other way, I think I'd have rated this a full 4 stars.  

 

I would really like to see more of Adrien with his mom, Lisa, and with his youngest step-sister, Emma.  I like the energy that they bring to their scenes, which are always among my favourites.  

 

So yep, another good read from Josh Lanyon and the series remains among my faves and easily recommendable.  :)