The Mystery of the Moving Image Snow & Winter, Book 3
LGBT, Gay Fiction, Mystery
Emporium Press; 2 edition
February 15, 2020
271
t’s summer in New York City, and antique shop owner Sebastian Snow is taking the next big step in his relationship with homicide detective, Calvin Winter: They’re moving in together. What should have been a wonderful week of playing house and celebrating Calvin’s birthday comes to an abrupt end when a mysterious package arrives at the Emporium. Inside is a Thomas Edison Kinetoscope, a movie viewer from the 19th century, invented by the grandfather of modern cinema, W. K. L. Dickson. And along with it, footage of a murder that took place over a hundred years ago.
Sebastian resists the urge to start sleuthing, even if the culprit is long dead and there’s no apparent danger. But break-ins at the Emporium, a robbery, and dead bodies aren’t as easy to ignore, and Sebastian soon realizes that the century-old murder will lead him to a modern-day killer.
Even with Sebastian’s vast knowledge of Victorian America and his unrelenting perseverance in the face of danger, this may be the one mystery he won’t survive.
Available at Amazon.
Reviewed by Xanthe
Member of the Paranormal Romance Guild Review Team
This third book in the Snow & Winter series has another enjoyable plot and good character/relationship development throughout the story.
I really liked the mystery that was pushed on Snow as he’s repeatedly gifted with or led to items or occasionally even a murder. The author keeps the MC’s and readers alike guessing as to the culprit of the case, really drawing you in with the details of such wonderful items of historical value such as the Kinetoscope. These of course grab hold of Sebastian’s attention with his thoughts then work on figuring out the who, how and why of the case whilst being dragged deeper into something that even has him in danger several times. I loved the detail that goes into the knowledge and research of these items as along with enjoying the story, I felt as though I was learning something too. There are several possibilities as to the culprit but thinks quickly take a dark and dangerous turn for all involved. I was a lot happier with this book as to Sebastian’s actual involvement in the case. He spends less time acting the sleuth and trying to keep out of the way as opposed to how he was in the previous books.
The relationship between Sebastian and Calvin continues to move forward as they take the step to move in together. As a couple they mesh really well and balance each other out, providing the support each man needs through the harder times with Sebastian being involved in several cases recently and Calvin dealing with his PTSD which comes up in his professional and personal life. Their close friends and family are again a big part of their community and support, especially with the dangerous situations that Sebastian finds himself in. Though they don’t really spend that much time together, they really make the most of what they do have together whether it’s lunch at a diner or just grabbing some sleep together. Whenever they get intimate moments, you can really sense the love and trust that they have with each other. Opposite this, we see more of Sebastian’s ex, Neil. After the events at the end of book two is nice to read the two men weirdly getting along and you hope, maybe one day, can move to being friends. In this book, Neil does his best to help keep Sebastian safe, really endearing him to the readers, I think.
I’d definitely recommend this book and the series. I think it’s gotten better as it’s gone on with character development and strong bonds forming as well as strengthening plots that draw you in right from the start. Sebastian’s friend and assistant, Max, even tags along for the first time and sees how Sebastian is when he’s on the trail of a mystery. I look forward to more from the couple and another interesting plot for Sebastian and Calvin to dive into.
I don’t know if it’s because I was used to Derrick McClain narrating the previous two books, but I didn’t enjoy Wyatt’s narration as much. He is a very good narrator and still draws you into the story, providing good voices for the characters but he has a bit of a harder edge to his voice than Derrick does. It takes a moment to get used to the main characters as they obviously have different voices but I was still able to enjoy the story overall.