{"id":11673,"date":"2019-02-20T18:28:07","date_gmt":"2019-02-20T23:28:07","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/?p=11673"},"modified":"2023-09-23T17:53:53","modified_gmt":"2023-09-23T21:53:53","slug":"murder-takes-the-high-road","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/11673","title":{"rendered":"Murder Takes the High Road"},"content":{"rendered":"

Murder Takes the High Road<\/a><\/em> (2018) Josh Lanyon<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Two years ago, Librarian Carter Matheson bought tickets for himself and his boyfriend for the Tour to Die For, a bus trip through Scotland visiting many of the places that appeared in Dame Vanessa Rayburn’s books. But now Carter and Trevor are split, and Carter refused to give his expensive ticket to Trevor’s new love, Vance. So Carter is solo on this tour, watching his ex, and wondering why he just doesn’t go home.<\/p>\n

Except that he loves Vanessa Rayburn’s books.<\/p>\n

This was quite an interesting mystery. First, the author had been convicted of murder as a teenager, which gets to explore some of the interesting ethical quandaries posed by a real life author who committed murder as a young teen: Can you still enjoy an author’s mysteries after you discover she has a sordid past? Does an author’s past change how view her works–especially when those works are murder mysteries?<\/p>\n

It’s not that Vanessa Rayburn is even a lot like the real life author with a difficult past. But it does allow you to think a little more abstractly about a situation that can make people uncomfortable.<\/p>\n

In any case, you couldn\u2019t write about the murder of children if you were in the least bit squeamish\u2014 if you want my honest opinion.\u201d <\/p>\n

It appeared Edie and Bertie did not, and the conversation behind me died a quick and chilly death.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

(To be clear, the author in the story had NOT killed a child.)<\/p>\n

But that is not the main reason to read the book–it’s just what immediately sucked me in.<\/p>\n

What kept me reading and reading was Carter.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou didn\u2019t tell me you were a librarian,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n

I grinned. \u201cYou know how it is. The minute guys find out, they start treating you differently. Asking if you can fix their late fines, trying to get you to put the new releases on hold for them.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Although I appreciated that the main character was older, it also made me wish there were more older heroines in romance.<\/p>\n

There were a lot of older people on this tour. I was pushing forty and I was likely the youngest person on board.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

But I also liked many of the secondary characters. On a bus tour, of course there are going to be a lot of people, but as with any real group, certain characters managed to stand out.<\/p>\n

Nedda said wearily, \u201cI\u2019ll examine her.\u201d She explained she was a retired GP. <\/p>\n

\u201cWhy haven\u2019t you said so before now?\u201d Yvonne demanded. \u201cWhy isn\u2019t it in your bio?\u201d <\/p>\n

\u201cI didn\u2019t feel like spending the trip dispensing free medical advice,\u201d Nedda told her.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

That cracked me up. The author has obviously spent time talking with real doctors.<\/p>\n

All in all, it was a decent mystery, a cute romance, and I enjoyed it.<\/p>\n

Publisher: Carina Press
\nRating: 7\/10<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Murder Takes the High Road (2018) Josh Lanyon Two years ago, Librarian Carter Matheson bought tickets for himself and his boyfriend for the Tour to Die For, a bus trip through Scotland visiting many of the places that appeared in Dame Vanessa Rayburn’s books. But now Carter and Trevor are split, and Carter refused to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[193,8,148,26,56],"tags":[50,470,177,698,544],"class_list":["post-11673","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-7-10","category-mystery","category-queer","category-romance","category-sexual-content","tag-boinking","tag-holmes-moriarity","tag-josh-lanyon","tag-librarian","tag-mm"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/piQkW-32h","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":12290,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/12290","url_meta":{"origin":11673,"position":0},"title":"Murder Takes the High Road","author":"Michelle","date":"November 27, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"Murder Takes the High Road (2018) Josh Lanyon I believe this is the first story I read by Josh Lanyon. IIRC I chose it because it was a mystery, and had a M\/M romance. Carter Matheson is on a Tours to Die For trip through Scotland that was supposed to\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "8.5\/10"","block_context":{"text":"8.5\/10","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/8-5-10"},"img":{"alt_text":"Murder Takes the High Road","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/murder_takes_high_road.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":14033,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/14033","url_meta":{"origin":11673,"position":1},"title":"Mystery at the Masquerade","author":"Michelle","date":"February 26, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"Mystery at the Masquerade (2021) Josh Lanyon (Secrets and Scrabble) The third book in the Secrets and Scrabble series finds Ellery back to \"just friends\" with Jack Carter, the sheriff. Luckily he has plenty to keep him busy. Like his book store. Ellery set about opening the shop for the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "7.5\/10"","block_context":{"text":"7.5\/10","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/7-5-10"},"img":{"alt_text":"Mystery at the Masquerade","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/Mystery-at-the-Masquerade.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":12577,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/12577","url_meta":{"origin":11673,"position":2},"title":"Murder at Pirate’s Cove","author":"Michelle","date":"March 2, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"Murder at Pirate's Cove (2020) Josh Lanyon (Secrets and Scrabble) HOORAY! A cozy mystery! Ellery Page was surprised to inherit a bookstore and home from a great-aunt he didn't even know he had, but he wanted to make a new start for himself, so he's trying to make it work.\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "8\/10"","block_context":{"text":"8\/10","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/8-10"},"img":{"alt_text":"Murder at Pirates Cove","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/Murder-at-Pirates-Cove.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":12797,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/12797","url_meta":{"origin":11673,"position":3},"title":"Secret at Skull House","author":"Michelle","date":"April 29, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"Secret at Skull House (2020) Josh Lanyon (Secrets and Scrabble) This second mystery finds Ellery still working to keep his inherited book store open, but at least the local theater group is putting on a production of one of his screen plays. Then the news breaks: someone has purchased Skull\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "8\/10"","block_context":{"text":"8\/10","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/8-10"},"img":{"alt_text":"Secret at Skull House","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/Secret-at-Skull-House.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":13687,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/13687","url_meta":{"origin":11673,"position":4},"title":"Requiem for Mr. Busybody","author":"Michelle","date":"December 21, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"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\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "8\/10"","block_context":{"text":"8\/10","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/8-10"},"img":{"alt_text":"Requiem for Mr. Busybody","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/Requiem-for-Mr.-Busybody.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":12516,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/12516","url_meta":{"origin":11673,"position":5},"title":"The Monuments Men Murders","author":"Michelle","date":"February 17, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"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. \u201cThe van Eyck was originally stolen from\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Mystery"","block_context":{"text":"Mystery","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/mystery"},"img":{"alt_text":"The Monuments Men Murders","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/The-Monuments-Men-Murders.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_likes_enabled":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11673","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=11673"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11673\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11673"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=11673"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=11673"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}