Madison Square Murders Memento Mori Book 1
LGBTQ Mystery/Romance
Emporium Press
September 28, 2021
299
Everett Larkin works for the Cold Case Squad: an elite—if understaffed and overworked—group of detectives who solve the forgotten deaths of New York City. Larkin is different from others, but his deduction skills are unmatched and his memory for minute details is unparalleled.
So when a spring thunderstorm uproots a tree in Madison Square Park, unearthing a crate with human remains inside, the best Cold Case detective is assigned the job. And when a death mask, like those prominent during the Victorian era, is found with the body, Larkin requests assistance from the Forensic Artists Unit and receives it in the form of Detective Ira Doyle, his polar opposite in every way.
Factual reasoning and facial reconstruction puts Larkin and Doyle on a trail of old homicide cases and a murderer obsessed with casting his victims’ likeness in death. Include some unapologetic flirting from Doyle, and this case just may end up killing Everett Larkin.
RELEASE DAY TRIPLE REVIEW!!!
She Said – He Said – She Said
She Said – Reviewed by Melissa Brus
Member of the Paranormal Romance Guild Review Team
C.S. Poe has a masterful skill of combining meticulous research with witty humor. Then she adds in slow burning romance among these well crafted curmudgeonly characters that makes the reader fall into the story and never wanting to leave! The newest book in the Poe library is Madison Square Murders. Poe introduces us to the cold case department employee Everett Larkin. He is a quintessential Poe character: full of idiosyncrasies and fantastic detail, full of history and mystery. He is also struggling with a past that slowly emerges as he and forensic artist, Ira Doyle, join forces to solve a murder.
This book is so darn good. I had to finish it in one sitting and immediately began encouraging all my friends to pre-order it if they hadn’t already. The best part of this book is the development of the relationship between these two broken and awkward men. The reveal of the source of Larkin’s issues is so well done and so heartbreaking that it made me gasp out loud. The tension and bits of information of the murder mystery are equally well done. Fans of Poe will recognize her talent, yet again, of teasing us throughout the book with details…and a cameo or two of characters from other series. If you haven’t ever read a C.S. Poe book, I am jealous; you get to discover this gem of a writer for the first time. Fans of mystery, film noir, and just fine writing will love this book. I can’t wait for the next installment.
He Said – Reviewed by Ulysses Dietz
Member of The Paranormal Romance Guild Review Team
This promises to be an excellent series. There is no romance, but plenty of heartbreak; but the book is in fact very romantic in C.S. Poe’s signature twisted way.
A body is found in Madison Square Park in New York City. But ,not a new body. And it’s in a crate. This unusual circumstance brings together two unlikely detectives: Everett Larkin, of the Cold Case office, and Ira Doyle, from the miniscule forensic artist’s office. Two guys in their thirties, each with a past.
Larkin is problematic, in spite of his relative youth and good looks. His mind doesn’t work like other people’s minds, which makes him unpopular at work and at home. Not only do we not learn exactly how his mind works for a good while; but we don’t learn the reason why for an even longer while.
Meanwhile, detective Doyle seems to be pretty normal, other than the fact that he appears to intuitively understand Larkin’s weirdness in a way that nobody else—not even Larkin’s husband—does. The truth is that Doyle is also a little bit off; but we don’t learn much about that until well into the book.
If this sounds frustrating, I promise it’s not. Poe loves to withhold information, but she does it with care and clear intent. The action related to the bizarre cold case murder spins around these two detectives, so that the reader doesn’t really notice that they’re only being told things about these guys in tiny bits. They interact and get to know each other entirely through those interactions. Eventually there is truth-telling, but that would be full of spoilers, so I’ll just assure you that there is never a dull moment.
C.S. Poe loves her broken men, and Larkin is pretty spectacular. However, even at the very end we don’t know quite how badly Doyle is broken. We know he must be because of the way he understands Larkin. Larkin, on the other hand, has become an open book by the time we close this book, and it’s pretty damn awful. That’s the heartbreak I mentioned earlier.
The action is gripping, and the page-turning gets faster and faster as Poe ratchets up the tension toward the book’s conclusion—and then drops a little tiny sharp-edged bomb at the very end. This is not a cliffhanger, but it guarantees that we’ll read the next book.
Oh, boy, will I read the next book.
She Said – Reviewed by Gloria Lakritz
Review Chair of The Paranormal Romance Guild
This new story, Madison Square Murders is going to be a knockout, at the ballpark at Yankee Stadium as a Grand Slam!!!! C.S. Poe’s books are wonderful reads; this one is her greatest triumph by far!
I sit here, wondering how to do a book justice with my review, and hopefully will not fall short. If you have read Poe’s previous works, her heroes are more than often broken; some with physical handicaps, some with emotional…..Like Snow and Winter.
This is the case with Everett Larkin and Ira Doyle.
Detective Larkin has been called to Madison Square Park in NYC because a body is found under a tree uprooted by a storm. The body is in a crate, so not a new death, but one to be handled by Larkin who is the Cold Case Detective. Ira Doyle is there from the small almost miniscule Forensic Artist’s Office.
While weaving our way through small bits and pieces of each man and the case, Poe slowly feeds us information as needed to keep us going….The relationship slowly builds between the two men, and the search for the truth. This story is very romantic with no sex mucking things up. The fact we slowly learn more about Larkin actually by the end of book than Doyle keeps us ready for the next book. But Oh the Promise!!!
It takes some time to see the physical and emotional damage that Larkin lives by, and it takes most of the story to see that both men are damaged by something, yet both needing closure and respect for the dying. The need to have them remembered for ‘their life’ by ‘someone’ who knew them.
Larkin lives in a world all of his own. He is ignored and disliked at work because of his manner, he is also married to someone he is now trying to ignore. Doyle on the other hand is an enigma, somehow he ‘gets’ Larkin and the resounding hug half way through the book had me blubbering like a baby.
So we do not know how bad Doyle is broken, But we know he gets Larkin ; not even Larkin’s husband does. This book is a great start to a new series….. The action is great, the last quarter of the book is a roller coaster of chills and thrills as we draw to the end that solves the case—This ending is not a cliffhanger, but it guarantees that we’ll read the next book!
LGBT/ROMANCE/SUSPENSE/THRILLER/MYSTERY
