TEST
Note: There are spoilers for the previous books in the Bitter Legacy series in this review.
Lately, my favorite books are contemporary, queer, and full of romantic suspense. And very few authors do this as well as Dal Maclean. The Bitter Legacy novels are smart and clever, chock full of twists and turns that keep you guessing well into the final pages, and the romantic relationships (be still my heart) keep readers on tenterhooks until the bitter end. (See what I did there?) Blue on Blue picks up around nine months after Object of Desire. Tom and Will are a couple (yay!), but sharing their lives isn’t quite as easy as Will hoped (oh no). Blue on Blue kicks off with Will worried about his home life, and frustrated by a case with no easy answers.
A quick refresher: In Object of Desire, Tom Gray, a famous male model, was accused of harassing and then murdering his lover’s estranged wife. To prove his innocence, his legal team hired Will Foster, a former detective inspector who now works as a private investigator, to help them find the true killer. But Will and Tom already knew each other; two years earlier they were in a committed relationship – a first for Tom, who’s pathologically afraid of commitment. When Will admitted he was in love with him, Tom dumped him by sending him a text of an x-rated picture of him with another man. So there’s that. Their new partnership gets off to an awkward start, but by the end of the novel, the two are reconciled. Will, who during the course of the investigation became friends with Detective Sergeant James Henderson (the protagonist in Bitter Legacy), is mulling a return to the force.
When Blue on Blue begins, Will, recently returned to the Met as a Detective Inspector, and Tom are living together. Tom has returned to university to finish his degree in forensic science while continuing to model part time; Will works with Jamie at the Met, and the two couples (Jamie and Ben/Will and Tom) are friends outside the office, too. It seems like Will has it all – the job he loves, and the man he’s loved almost since the moment they first met. But appearances are deceiving. Will still feels guilty about the death of an officer under his command and blames himself for the events leading up to his murder, and Tom’s new friendship with a fellow model while away on a shoot, has him wondering if Tom’s attention is wandering once again. Just as this maelstrom of self-doubt and recrimination nears a crescendo – he’s surprised by Tom’s early return to London with his new ‘friend’ in tow, and Will’s team is drawn into a dangerous murder investigation.
Okay, look. I’m going to tell you the basics about this case and then that’s pretty much it. Like all Dal Maclean’s novels (which I’m assuming you’ve read if you made it this far), Blue on Blue is chock full of suspects and… people who you worry might also be suspects? Sure, the bad guys are mostly just as bad as you’d extept, but the good guys… well, Dal keeps you on your toes. Again. The only people I 100% trusted in this book were Will and Jamie, and I recommend you follow my lead on this one.
When Will arrives at the crime scene in Soho, he finds his team working around the dead body of a woman, and a pile of vomit adjacent to the front door. The woman, most likely a sex worker, was killed execution style. It isn’t clear if she’s the one who vomited, or why a sex worker would be targeted for professional hit, and after a quick canvas of the building, Will’s left with more questions than answers. Further investigation leads them to a flat where their victim was living, and after a largely antagonistic back and forth with the victim’s devastated roommate, Will begins to believe there’s more to this crime than meets the eye. When his case links the victim to a jailed female serial killer (Ben’s mother), and to gangland boss Joey Clarkson – whom Will blames for the death of his fellow officer three years ago, Will realizes he’s uncovered a conspiracy that involves corruption within the highest levels of the Met. When his superior orders him to turn his investigation in a different direction, a suspicious Will isn’t sure he can trust her any longer. Will and Jamie find themselves in a desperate race to discover the truth behind the murder – and stay alive.
Meanwhile, as if his professional life isn’t difficult enough, Will is convinced Tom wants to end their relationship. Someone – he isn’t sure who – is sending him pictures that suggest Tom’s visitor is more than just a friend, and Tom’s acting guilty, too. Although their physical chemistry remains undiminished, there’s a new tension whenever they’re together. Will is happy with Tom; HE LOVES TOM!! But their previous break-up devastated him, and even when things between them have been going well, he worries commitment-phobic Tom will leave him again. So, instead of trying to talk to him about it (mumble because he’s a man mumble), he plans for the worst. AND WE DO, TOO. OH, MAN. Like the case that drives this novel, there are many surprises and twists ahead for Tom and Will, and I’m not going to spoil them for you here, except… I was so worried, I sent the author a direct message on Twitter begging her not to break these two up. Since Dal was kind enough to respond to my message, I’ll share her response with you, too: Bear in mind – my veins run with pure marshmallow.
Blue on Blue is hard to review without oversharing and ruining the many nasty and wonderful surprises lurking around its every dark corner. As usual, almost no one is above suspicion, and just when you think you have it figured out, the author proves you wrong. She brilliantly balances the crime with the romance, all the while juggling a massive cast of principal and secondary characters. Will is particularly well realized; Maclean masterfully reveals the all too human man behind his outwardly confident and capable persona. While my near obsessive focus was on the relationship between Will and Tom (who – much like Ben in Bitter Legacy, has matured into a character you root for), Will’s work friendships/partnerships are equally compelling. I loved the dynamic between Will and Jamie, and I hope we’ll see these two working together in future novels. They complement each other, and their investigation kept me glued to the pages. Oh reader, who am I kidding. This is a novel that shines on every level. It’s a gripping thriller/police procedural, and a gut-wrenching and tender romance. It’s sublime.
Friends, if you’re looking for a cozy mystery, Blue on Blue isn’t it. But if you’re looking for smart storytelling, a clever and gritty crime thriller, and a sexy romance featuring men who are fallible but trying to be and do better, that puts you through the wringer, then you should be reading Blue on Blue (and the Bitter Legacy series). It’s another DIK, and I highly recommend it.
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Grade: A
Book Type: Romantic Suspense
Sensuality: Warm
Review Date: 23/03/20
Publication Date: 03/2020
Recent Comments …
Yep
This sounds delightful! I’m grabbing it, thanks
excellent book: interesting, funny dialogs, deep understanding of each character, interesting secondary characters, and also sexy.
I don’t think anyone expects you to post UK prices – it’s just a shame that such a great sale…
I’m sorry about that. We don’t have any way to post British prices as an American based site.
I have several of her books on my TBR and after reading this am moving them up the pile.
I love romance novels - all kinds.
I love music - some kinds.
I have strong opinions about both and I like to share them.
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Oooh, a good day today! A new Dal Maclean. I’ve been a fan since the first book. Thanks for the reminder it is available.
I can’t believe it has taken me so long to get to this book, but it’s just been that kind of year. Of course, I had to revisit the first two in the series before launching into this; and I’m glad I did. Lots of characters to keep track of. Also, Object of Desire is told completely from Tom’s POV, where Blue on Blue is entirely Will’s, and that was great fun. I thoroughly enjoyed the book, and highly recommend it for readers into romantic suspense. It will certainly be on my list of best of the year reading.
BUT. The relationship drama between Tom and Will was far too drawn out and its resolution was way too quick for me. I was totally onboard to see how these two people were going to become a real couple. They had some real stuff to work through, on both sides, given how Object of Desire played out. But essentially not talking to each other for such a long percentage of the book, and seemingly resolving everything with a single conversation, was disappointing. I expect grownups to communicate, and miscommunicate, and make mistakes, and communicate some more, and so on. (In comparison, Gregory Ashe is masterful at interesting, plausible relationship conflict.)
OTOH, Tom and Will’s relationship was such a small part of this book, it almost feels like a nit to complain about it. Maclean has populated the series with interesting characters, and I love that many (both good and bad) keep reappearing in the books. Maclean has done a great job of resolving each book while also leaving lots of options for future stories. I can’t wait to see what she comes up with next for Will and Jamie (and maybe Mark Nimmo?) to figure out!
Great review, Em. I LOVED this one, too – and the whole series which is utterly fantastic; The mysteries are brilliant, the characterisation is wonderful and angsty romance is my jam ;) I can’t wait to read whatever DM comes up with next.
SOOOOO GOOD.
I actually had a prolonged twitter private conversation with Dal after the “marshmallow controversy of 2020” & recommended Gregory Ashe to her. I think these are two authors producing some of the best books in Romancelandia right now. She said Greg had reached out to her re: the Bitter Legacy series (he also loves it), but that she hadn’t read Hazard and Somerset – yet. Someone told her it was super gruesome. I shared my thoughts about that series with her (I think it’s fairly standard romantic suspense level of graphic/violent), and linked to my love letter/blog post. I hope she reads it.
This one is terrific BUT if you haven’t read the books in order, it won’t resonate as strongly. Agree?
Yep, you definitely need to read all three to get the full picture. And I completely agree about these (and Greg’s) books being among the best out there right now.
(And hah! I think she and I had a similar conversation re. H&S!)