Best Gay Mystery / Thriller: Pressure Head by J.L. Merrow
Very nice small town mystery with an heavy English flavor, so much that you could almost “smell” it (and no pun intended with Tom’s job as a plumber).
Tom and Phil were in school together but they weren’t friend, actually Phil was bullying Tom for being gay after Tom eyed Phil in the locker room. Now that is not a from enemies to lovers story, Tom pretty much forget about Phil until the day Phil decides to come back home. Sure, Tom has a permanent memento of the man, the slightly limping he has got as a consequence of a car accident he was in while trying to run away from yet another pestering from Phil and his friends, but Tom doesn’t bear any grudge on Phil; not the same for Phil that apparently feels guilty.
The mystery was a good one, small as the small village in which it unravels, not so difficult to figure it out, cause, well, Tom likes or dislikes of people were pretty clear. But the good thing was that every single character, guilty or not, had its own personal story and it was fleshed out enough to have the reader care for them.
Tom was a very nice hero, and yes, even a plumber could be an hero, and his humor in facing everything was refreshing and cute; I really loved that the author didn’t push too much on the psychic ability of Tom, she used them just for what it was needed in the story, but she didn’t center the plot around it. Tom wasn’t his special gift, he was just another English bloke, living in a small town and searching for love.
Just a note on two of the most important supporting characters of all the story, Merlin and Arthur… Tom’s cats! I may be wrong, but I saw a reflection of Tom and Phil in the two, Merlin a feline version of Tom, and Arthur of Phil, not only in their physical characteristics, but also in the attitude.
Paperback: 256 pages
Publisher: Samhain Publishing (August 6, 2013)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1619213621
ISBN-13: 978-1619213623
Amazon: Pressure Head
Amazon Kindle: Pressure Head
Updates: http://www.goodreads.com/user/updates_rss/2156728?key=011e4dd0a1ff993d8c2322e691d6229ed9bbf74b
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