The Bellingham Mystery Series Volume 2

The Bellingham Mystery Series Volume 2 (2015) Nicole Kimberling

This is three stories: One Man’s Treasure, Birds of a Feather, and Pentimento Blues.

One Man’s Treasure (Set in 2011) Evangeline needs help with her food truck, and although she’d prefer Nick she gets both Nick and Peter.

In addition to trying to solve a murder, Nick & Peter decided to get a domestic partnership.

The papers, he realized, were necessary. He wanted to stay with Nick, and Nick wanted to stay with him. They were most important to each other, most qualified to make decisions about one another. These papers were the evidence with which he could force others to accept that. The papers weren’t romantic, but they were pragmatic.

That was the source of his fleeting sadness—that he should need them at all to fight disapproving strangers who would separate them, given the opportunity.

I think it’s fascinating that there was only a relatively short period of time in which this story could have been written.

Plus, Peter is adorable.

Peter hated it when Nick played this reasonableness card. He had no defense against it.

The second story, Birds of a Feather (Set in 2012), Peter and Nick get to meet each other’s families for the wedding.

“Anyway, I’ll get Nick. Help yourself to whatever is in the fridge.” As he walked to the studio, he felt a brief irrational fear that there was something terrible in the fridge.

Peter also wants to discover who shot a bald eagle–and Nick’s dad decides to help him.

These dimwits get themselves liquored up, shoot an eagle, and take its head and feet as trophies.”
“To send to Queen Elizabeth?” Peter asked.
“To keep to try and pick up women.”
“That works on women?”
“Like I said, they’re dimwits,” Erik said.

The fact that Peter and Nick’s father can feed off each other explains how Nick can be so patient with Peter.

The final story, Pentimento Blues, is set three years after the previous story.

The boyfriend of Nick’s agent comes into town, wanting to look at one of the pictures in the house. Except things go badly wrong.

“Oh my God, do you think he’s another one of Nick’s bitter exes who is trying to kill him?”

“I think the odds of that happening again are astronomical,” Peter replied.

“True, but maybe Nick’s just the kind of guy who attracts stalkers. I mean, he’s married to you.”

“I’m not a stalker. I’m an investigative journalist.”

“So what does that mean? That you just stalk on a professional level, that’s what.”

Which leads to a fight, which leads to Peter getting drunk.

The small part of his brain that still understood social norms, feeling slight embarrassment at being drunk in public in the middle of the day, suggested that he stop drinking. But the rest of his brain had already started singing the lesser-known lyrics to “Oh My Darling, Clementine.”

It was a lovely conclusion to their story.

Publisher : One Block Empire
Rating: 8.5/100

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