Requiem for Mr. Busybody

Requiem for Mr. Busybody (2020) Josh Lanyon

Michael misses his days as a crime reporter.

His life now consists mostly of his apartment building and his research.

But when his elderly neighbor disappears, Michael reaches out to his ex, Detective Leonard Drake with his concerns.

Here’s the thing about Josh Lanyon: She’s really good at writing mysteries, and also really good and crafting short stories, which is no small feat.

In 66 pages, she has given us a suspected murder, a complex narrator with a disability, and a second chance romance. That’s a lot of ground to cover while leaving the reader satisfied, and it’s not something a lot of authors are good at (see: some of the terrible “short stories” and novellas I read this fall).

To write a good short story, you have to use your words wisely and judiciously, letting each sentence convey as much as possible. And that’s precisely what happens her.

The story opens with Michael calling his ex because he thinks his neighbor has been murdered by his live-in-lover, and we slowly discover Michael’s past, what split the two of them, and we managed to feel compassion for both Michael and Len for their breakup and everything around it.

Plus, a murder mystery.

Excellently done!

Publisher : JustJoshin Publishing, Inc.
Rating: 8/10

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