Back Cover Blurb:

Don’t talk to strangers, young man—especially the dead ones.

It’s the Roaring Twenties. Skirts are short, crime is rampant and booze is in short supply. Prohibition has hit Little Egypt, where newspaperman David Flynn has come to do a follow-up story on the Herren Massacre. The massacre isn’t the only news in town though. Spiritualist medium Julian Devereux claims to speak to the dead—and he charges a pretty penny for it.

Flynn knows a phoney when he sees one, and he’s convinced Devereux is as fake as a cigar store Indian. But the reluctant attraction he feels for the deceptively soft, not-his-type Julian is as real as it gets.

Suddenly Julian begins to have authentic, bloodstained visions of a serial killer, and the cynical Mr. Flynn finds himself willing to defend Julian with not only his life, but his body.



The characters were unique (and no I don’t mean because of their sexual orientation). Each person had a unique outlook on the, way they saw the world which enhance how they reacted to what was going on around them. Mr. Lanyon even managed to give his walk-on characters a distinct personality and each person played a part in helping David figure out what was going on.

David goes into the situation with many preconceived notions. I loved how his preconceptions were slowly torn down, from his feelings about the murders, the mine catastrophe, Julian, and the other members of the boarding house. David’s growth was subtle and beautifully layered as he opened his eyes to look past outer appearances to see what’s within.

The mystery inside THE DARK FAREWELL was well-done. Mr. Lanyon did an excellent job of leading his readers down the incorrect path. As a result, I didn’t know who the murderer was until right before David did.

I also must give Mr. Lanyon’s kudos for showing the depth of emotion between David and Julian. It was more powerful to me because it was so subtle. Even with the subtlety I could still tell how deeply they both cared about each other. Several fans of his had informed me that they didn’t think I would like Mr. Lanyon’s work because it was more focused on the mystery instead of the romance. They felt this way because I complained of the lack of romantic build up in one of his contemporaries and they felt his stories focused more on the mystery than the romantic relationship. Umm . . .  they were sooooooo wrong. I totally bought into David and Julian’s relationship and saw genuine caring and love between the two.

I highly recommend.

WHERE PURCHASED:
Copy courtesy of CK2S Kwips and Kritiques

RATING:
B+