Fiction Monday: Fatal Shadows – Adrien English – Josh Lanyon

I’m a latecomer to the Josh Lanyon party. As a lesbian, I don’t – as I’ve often said – gravitate toward a lot of gay fiction. I do, however, always enjoy a good crime novel or mystery novel. Thus, I’ve finally discovered the considerable writing talent of Mr. Lanyon.

For those of you who are already big Josh Lanyon fans, my apologies for never mentioning him before. For the few out there, like me, who may be a little behind on their top choices in LGBT fiction, this is an author whose books you must seek out, especially if you’re a lover of the mystery/suspense genre. He even writes gay romance, though most of those storylines tend to still involve a mystery aspect from what I’ve seen. Regardless, he’s written some true gems which have garnered him quite the following.

I was turned onto Mr. Lanyon’s books when I ran across what seems to be the most popular book in his Adrien English Series. The book was, The Hell You Say which is apparently his 3rd work featuring bookseller and amateur detective Adrien English. I read the book, honestly not realizing it was the 3rd in a series. I enjoyed it immensely and sought out more of his work. I didn’t have to look far, as the first two books in the series, Fatal Shadows and A Dangerous Thing were listed front and center at the beginning of my copy (along with some of his other works). As it happens, at least two other books featuring English have followed those first three.

I love it when a writer can take a character and develop him or her over time and over the course of a few (or several books) and yet, each book can also stand alone. I enjoy reading Sue Grafton’s alphabet series featuring sleuth Kinsey Millhone for that reason. The only thing that would make those books better would be if Kinsey gave up on the men that never seem to be there for her anyway and she explored a lesbian lifestyle but, I digress… Adrien English and some of his supporting cast seem to be developed the same way. I admit, I sought out the first two books to get some of the back story and my preference for character development but a stand alone story does seem to be the case. I’ve not had the opportunity to read books four and five (Death of a Pirate King and The Dark Tide respectively) but I would like to think Lanyon would continue in the same vein.

I do intend to read more of Josh Lanyon’s work but the next book I’ll be seeking won’t, you may be surprised to know, be a work of fiction. Instead, I’m interested in reading his “how to” book about writing M/M fiction for aspiring authors, Man, Oh Man, Writing M/M Fiction for Cash & Kinks. Given his own success, it should prove to be an interesting read!