Author: Nicole Kimberling

Publisher: Loose Id

Rating: 5 stars

Buy Links: LID & Amazon

Type: Novella

Received from Author

Blurb: The Final Mystery

Now that small-town reporter Peter Fontaine has gotten hitched to the man of his dreams, he thinks his days of solving crimes are over. But after a decades-old secret is revealed, a dead body is found and Peter’s husband Nick is at the top of the suspect list. Peter must harness his power of ultimate nosiness to find one last killer.

Review:  Nick and Peter are happily married and happily doing their thing despite the never ending sunny warm weather causing small fires. Peter is surprised at work by an author who wants to see one of the paintings back at Nick and Peter’s house. No big deal, right? Yeah okay it was a hugely big deal that prompted Nick to assault the guy, yell at Peter, then leave. Peter gets himself back into Bellingham and goes back to work. As he’s writing up a story about a local brewery, Peter has himself a beer. And another beer. And some more beer after that. Of course Peter’s imagination goes a little crazy, then Sheriff Nick shows up and Peter passes out in the car on the way home. Peter knows he needs to talk to Nick about the previous day’s altercation, but decides to go into town and work first. He really didn’t expect to find a dead body.

Nick has always been a bit of a mystery. Or a lot of mystery, really. Neither Peter nor the reader knows what he’s hiding. Is it something vaguely benign, or a vicious murder? There are a lot of ways to be a criminal, and we’re shown several of them. We’re forced to wrestle with intent and motive as well as a willingness to make things right. But nothing is simple or black and white. Peter has to make judgment calls. I really like what Peter did.

Peter and the readers now know all of Nick’s deep dark secrets, and he’s still the same stoic Nick. Over the course of the series we’ve watched Peter and Nick finally get to know each other and accept there are parts of their lives that will never go away. Peter is always going to be eccentric and prone to exaggeration. Nick will always have a huge, powerful memory of romance in his past. This is so human. As much as these are fun and funny little mysteries, these books accurately depict how a lasting romance happens with real humans, and it is wonderful.

As I was thinking about how to write up this review I thought about the art in this book and the clue in it. It dawned on me I had never really looked at the art in the books for clues. I now have the perfect excuse to reread the series! I can think of no better way to say good bye to Peter and Nick.