The Hell You Say is the third book in The Adrien English Mysteries by Josh Lanyon. I listened to the audiobook of this mystery, narrated by Chris Patton. It was first published by IUniverse in 2006, and is a mystery MxM similar to Nancy Drew, in that its more about sleuthing, going from one place to another than it is about finding clues and fitting them together. Often it ends with Adrien stumbling over the solution. There are some spoilers in my reviews so be warned.
Adrien is once again back and this time the murders resolve around a secret cult said to sacrifice people to a demon, and Adrien’s helper in the store is the next target. Adrien helps him hide while he goes searching among the occult to find a path to this elusive cult. All while the relationship with Jake Riordan turn to the worse as Jake wants and is going for a “normal” life with a wife and kids.
I, along with some other reviewers from what I can see, found the interaction between Adrien and Jake harrowing. Adrien is a doormat while Jake is banging a woman, impregnate her and dumps Adrien since he wants a normal life, all while Adrien just watches on. It is annoying, feels real, but you really want to strangle these two. It was also a missed opportunity as there could have been a character growth for Adrien to dump Jake for how he treated him.
We get some new characters, such as the British professor Guy Snow, that is the possible new love interest or rival, Adrien’s mother also gets married so we are introduced to his new stepdad and a bunch of sisters. All weird, and I cannot tell you how many since they kind of blend together. Neither left much an impression on me, but we will see in the next book if it becomes better.
The mystery itself was fine, but it isn’t much of a mystery since the culprit is really random, with not much push behind it. Its more of a detective series, when a random murderer is revealed at the end.
All in all, it was decent but nothing astounding. To me, its an easy read, something to waste a few hours on, but I will probably not reread it. Josh Lanyons writing is good, but her this book felt a lot more of a drama than an mystery. The story focuses on the characters, which in a way is a good thing since they are the story’s strongpoint but people going into the book looking for a mystery might be disappointed. I will give it a 5 it of 10. Its decent but the mystery feels like and afterthought to distract from all the drama, which is never a good thing when the book is advertised to me as a mystery. Its still worth reading for those not sure what to read a weekend.
With Kind Regards
Senefer.
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