TEST
Madison Square Murders, the first book in C.S. Poe’s new Memento Mori series, is a compelling read featuring an intriguing, cleverly constructed mystery and one of the most unusual lead characters I’ve ever come across, a neuroatypical detective in New York City whose unique memory condition makes him an outstanding detective while at the same time causing him to struggle with anxiety, social interaction and the ability to function properly at even a basic – what most of us might consider ‘normal’ – level.
When a crate containing human remains is unearthed after a tree in Madison Square Park is uprooted by a spring thunderstorm, Detective Everett Larkin of the Cold Case Squad is called to the scene. The remains are clearly not new or recent, and although Larkin will have to wait for official confirmation, initial findings indicate that the deceased was a young man in his twenties – and most unusually, there’s what appears to be a bronze casting of a face tucked in near his feet. It’s an impressive piece of work artistically – but there’s no way of knowing if it’s a cast of the victim’s face or of someone totally unrelated. The CSU at the scene suggests the casting is a death mask – and that Larkin should get in touch with Detective Ira Doyle, one of NYPD’s small team of forensic artists, to get some expert advice.
Ira Doyle is something of a surprise to Larkin. Optimistic, flirtatious and always ready with a quip and a smile, he proves not only to be a talented artist and knowledgeable about his subject, but also very competent detective, able to keep up with Larkin’s not-always-easy-to-follow thought processes and not fazed by his… quirks. Doyle sets to work straight away, and in less than twenty-four hours, his facial reconstruction coupled with Larkin’s deep-dive into hundreds of missing person reports has enabled them to give a forgotten man his identify back and to work out that they’re investigating a murder that took place twenty-two years earlier. As Larkin and Doyle dig deeper, it becomes apparent that this wasn’t the killer’s first or only victim; nor was this the first or only death mask to have been made. They’re looking for an as yet unidentified serial killer.
Madison Square Murders was a hard book to put down! The mystery is superbly constructed and satisfyingly complex without being either overcomplicated or too easily unravelled, and there’s a lovely opposites-attract romance building between Larkin and Doyle that’s very clearly based on the solid foundations of genuine mutual respect and understanding. But what really puts this book into the DIK bracket is the characters, especially Larkin, who is a fantastic protagonist and unlike anyone I’ve ever read before. He’s fiercely intelligent and doesn’t make a secret of it, but personally, he’s a hot mess, unsure, deeply damaged and finding it increasingly difficult to keep it together. His HSAM (Highly Superior Autobiographical Memory) is often (thoughtlessly) admired by others, but for him it’s not so much a gift as it is a curse. It means he’s unable to forget a single tragedy or misfortune once he’s learned of it, the “rolodex” in his mind always moving and flipping between one association and the next, while his short term memory is hopeless and he can’t function from one hour to the next without a detailed daily plan. Not helping matters right now is his disintegrating marriage; Larkin is starting to realise that his husband doesn’t really know him and doesn’t want to – possibly that he never wanted to – and despite all his promises that Larkin wouldn’t have to hide his quirks at home, seems to have believed all along that Larkin could and would change. The way the author illuminates Larkin’s inner world is simply brilliant; his words and thoughts, his feelings, his insecurities and his deep-seated need to be seen and understood, all are expertly – sometimes heartbreakingly – well communicated and bring this unique character vividly to life.
Ira Doyle is the perfect foil for him despite their outward differences. In complete contrast to Larkin, Doyle is laid-back and charming with a killer smile, but as Larkin very quickly discerns, he’s also whip-smart and a very good detective as well as a talented artist. More importantly, Doyle seems to instinctively know just the right thing to say or do to stop Larkin spiralling or make him feel comfortable when he becomes overloaded by impressions and associations, and Larkin slowly starts to realise that here, in a person he’s known for less than three days, he’s found someone who sees him more clearly than anyone ever has – even his husband. He also works out that there’s more to Doyle than his bright smile and easy-going manner would suggest, that the reason he’s so good at putting Larkin at ease is that he has his own demons to slay, that he, too, has suffered loss and heartbreak – it’s just that he’s much better at hiding it. Doyle may not be as obviously colourful a character as Larkin, but he’s no mere sidekick and is equally well-written and fleshed-out.
The story takes place over just a few days, but the progress of the relationship is perfect, not too fast, not too slow, but a careful progression from colleagues to friends to the possibility of more in the future, and the mystery reaches a satisfactory conclusion – although (and I should be used to this from Ms. Poe by now!) there’s a cliffhanger designed to lead into the next book.
Madison Square Murders is a cracking read and a terrific series opener. Book two can’t arrive soon enough!
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Grade: A
Book Type: Romantic Suspense
Sensuality: Kisses
Review Date: 04/10/21
Publication Date: 09/2021
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.
Related Reviews
Finished this book by new-to-me author C.S. Poe today. I seldom read thrillers (unless we are counting romantic suspense, a category in which I would not put MSM), and I found it to be a decent read, thanks to the developing romantic relationship between the M/M.
√ I enjoyed the development of the protagonists’ relationship. That was what kept me going. I would read the next installment if I thought there was going to be a lot of time spent on further relationship development.
√ Poe has a great way with words–sometimes. When her writing is good, it’s very good. Like, starting from about page 100 onward.
X The first few chapters–maybe more than a few–came over as an aggressive amount of word vomit. Never have I seen so many adjectives, adverbs, metaphors, and similes stuffed into so few pages. (The only reason I persevered was because you guys gave the book a good review! Is Poe’s writing typically like this?)
I tried telling myself that *perhaps* the author was simply trying to help me get a sense of the amount of minutia Larkin had to deal with every moment of every day. But then I realized she could have totally achieved that in a more straightforward manner. As it was, by the time I was 15 or so pages in, I could barely remember the characters’ names or what they looked like, amidst all of the needless descriptions. (Which reminds me: I swear, when Larkin and Doyle are meeting the somewhat ditzy blonde–Kelly, I think, from P&R?–I could almost see author Poe writing this and saying “What are Kelly’s motivations in this scene? What would she be wearing and what does that say about her?” And I wanted to gouge my eyes out, because it just was so extra. Like, could we maybe get on with the investigation please?)
I also concluded that part of the purpose in making those first chapters so dense was probably
. Whatever.
X I’m not a fan of mysteries where we don’t learn the origins of some of a protagonist’s key issues until we get to the end of the book, at which time those origins are revealed.
X Also not a fan of a disintegrating marriage about which we only really know our protagonist’s POV. From my perspective, Larkin might well have been a slightly unreliable “narrator” when it comes to the cause of the marriage breakdown. I think Poe could have done a better job fleshing out how the marriage went wrong so quickly. Oh, I believe it was totally possible; both parties probably went into the marriage a little too naively, etc. I just needed Poe to sell that to me better. Because as it is, I’m not sure Larkin won’t be feeling the same way about Doyle in 7 years. I mean, Doyle and Larkin have known each other, what, a hot minute by the end of the book? Why should I believe that the initial alchemy between them won’t dissipate over time?
I thought this, too:
It’s the first in a series (not sure how many books, but I’m guessing three at least) so there’s time for things to be more fleshed out. I do think she did a good job with the marital problems in that it was pretty clear that they weren’t just down to Noah (I agree with what you say about Larkin being somewhat of an unreliable narrator there, although I suppose that’s a given as he’s the sole PoV character) – again, I’m hoping we’ll get more on that in future books.
I really enjoyed this – a terrific mystery featuring two utterly compelling MCs. I’m another one who can’t wait for the next installment!
I particularly liked how the author wrote about Larkin’s dying marriage. They are so totally wrong for each other as neither can give the other what he needs. I hope she doesn’t turn Noah into a complete jerk in future books.
There was something about Larkin that was niggling me whilst reading, then when Daisy O’Callaghan was mentioned, I realised that Larkin was an off-page character in the second Auden and O’Callaghan book!
I’m really looking forward to seeing Ira and Evie’s relationship develop throughout the series whilst they solve some more cold cases.
Hah, yes – I do like those little nods to other series and characters!
I agree with what you say about the portrayal of the marriage – it’s kind of excruciating, but I like that she hasn’t turned Noah into an absolute arsehole; instead he’s someone who went into something blindly despite the warnings he was given and is now finding out how wrong he was and is reacting badly. He doesn’t cover himself in glory of course, but I actually found I had a wedge of sympathy for him, which was very cleverly done on the author’s part.
Noah earns many brownie points from me for his penguin projects! C.S. Poe fleshes him out in a couple of sentences as a caring and realistic Early Years teacher.
I hope she develops the story to show that he comes to realise the break is for the best for both of them and doesn’t turn him into an Evil-Ex.
Finished last night. Very enjoyable. I haven’t tried her other books and must take a look.
The relationship between Larkin and Doyle was just lovely. The cliffhanger felt tacked on a bit. The other books I can think of with this kind of cliffhanger are the ones in Cordelia Kingsbridge’s series, Seven of Spades, and there, the cliffhangers felt much more natural. The execution of this one pulled me out of the ending because it was so unexpected as to be almost unbelievable. But small price to pay for reading the next one. Fingers crossed the wait isn’t too long.
I can recommend her Magic & Steam series set in a kind of AU 1880s NYC – I reviewed book two, The Gangster here and gave it a DIK, although be warned for the cliffhanger ending! (I think she likes them :) – Gregory Ashe said that the one at the end of the first book in their Auden & O’Callaghan series was all her idea!) I also enjoyed The Color of You (which I think is a standalone). I’ve read the first two in her Snow and Winter series – I liked them, but they’re not as strong as her more recent work, IMO.
I got the two books in Magic & Steam series when I got this one. I figured why not. Heh… How did I not know she wrote a series with Gregory Ashe?!
I don’t know!! I reviewed A Friend in the Dark here – and the second, A Friend in the Fire on my blog. The mysteries are solid, but again, the characters are the big draw. It’s going to be four books I believe, with the next due in early 2022.
I think she’s planning The Doctor (Magic & Steam #3) for 2021, although there’s no release date yet.
Wonderful! Can’t complain about more good books. :)
Absolutely not! I just complain about not having time to read them all…
I’m a little confused that they can’t tell if the death mask is of the murder victim, since I’ve seen lots of recreations of faces from skulls so am not sure why they couldn’t do that here. Or am I reading that part of the review wrong?
Maybe I wasn’t clear: it’s not possible to say positively, just by looking at it, whether it’s a cast of the victim’s face when it’s first discovered. Doyle does a facial reconstruction a day or so later.
Thank you for the clarification; it now makes sense to me.
Oh gosh. This sounds delectable. The TBR pile is teetering….
It’s really good – bump it up the TBR pile!
I started it last night. I didn’t get enough sleep. Ahahaa!
I hope you think it was worth the lost sleep in the end!
I loved this book! Larkin is such a unique character and the way the author writes his POV is so well done. Anyway, I should just link this review on my GR and put: “What she said!”
I honestly can’t think of another character like Larkin, and the way he’s written is simply brilliant. Doyle, too – he’s less… “flashy” for want of a better word, but I think it’s probably just as hard to write Watson as it is to write Holmes…
Doyle is a fantastic character. He’s written with just the right touch. He could have been too much, but he has a lot of dignity and depth to go with that heart.
This sounds great!
It is – I admit I had fairly high expectations after loving The Gangster, and those were definitely met!