The Monuments Men Murders

The Monuments Men Murders (2019) Josh Lanyon (The Art of Murder)

Jason West is supposed to be in the same state as his lover (and BSU agent) Sam Kennedy. Jason is working on a case of art looted by American soldiers during WWII.

“The van Eyck was originally stolen from a cathedral in Belgium. Most of the paintings and jewelry were looted by the Nazis from museums or Jewish families in the Netherlands. The Belgian and Dutch people have a right— a legal and moral right— to reclaim their property.”

Unfortunately, Jason is entirely too close to the case, since his beloved grandfather was one of the Monuments Men–and there is a possibility the potential thief served under his grandfather.

His other problem is that Dr. Jeremy Kyser is almost certainly stalking him, but Keyser has disappeared and they have no solid proof to take legal action. So Jason lives with a low-grade fear of attack.

It’s possible that the lack of sleep due to the stalking was why Jason didn’t recuse himself from the case. But that’s not that good of an excuse.

So in this story we have Jason working on a case from which he should have recused himself, his continued worry over Keyser, Sam having to work with someone with whom he had an affair before Jason and Sam got together.

THEN we have a random shooting and a seemingly random murder.

This story was only 199 pages, so I kind of feel like she was throwing in things just to pad out the story, which is NOT something that I expect from Josh Lanyon. On top of that, the story ended on a cliffhanger of sorts (the repercussions of some of Jason’s actions are unknown) and Jason and Sam are once again on uneven footing with their relationship.

There is a lot of stuff I do NOT like covered in that paragraph.

Yes, the mystery was good, but even that felt like it was padded to some degree. And now I have to wait for the publication of the next book to find out to what happens with Jason?

That does not delight me.

So all-in-all this book as a disappointment. I didn’t hate it, but I definitely expect better of Josh Lanyon.

Publisher: JustJoshin Publishing, Inc
Rating: 6/10

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