I confess I bought this partly because it's part of a reading challenge. Otherwise, I would have waited for a sale because I'm a sale buyer for books I can't read beforehand. 100% worth it. These two MC's, I love them! Larkin wouldn't want it but I want to give him a big hug! He cares so deeply about his victims, people most no longer care about. He can't forget. Until Doyle, no one cares about Larkin. It's deeply tragic. I love these two and I need more. I'm not usually much of a series reader but give me all of them. They need a million books, hopefully with pockets of happiness! ( )

An intriguing main character with an accidental "super" power is accidentally paired with a sunshine soul adept at reading people, even broken people, AND they fight crime? It's like this author wrote a story specifically for me! I wish the series was complete so I can keep reading right now, but I am delighted to find this as the author's creating it, too. (So, no matter how it happened, I win).

The characters are fantastic. The murder mystery is exceptionally well done. The emotional arc of our MC is revealed deliberately to gutting effect. The sunshiny one shoes up in the nick of time as in all great stories, and to great effect and powerful counterpoint to... well. You should read this one. I've enjoyed this author for years, and she's only getting better. ( )

This crime-genre book highly revolves around the fact that the main detective character Larkin is "neurodivergent" after getting brain damage from being hit over the head a few years back. He has memory issues as well as neurosis but the author makes it a point that Larkin was already a bit of a awkward guy, kind of a Sherlock Holmes type with cold cases. Despite this, he's married to a man. The author write his husband as very whiney and self-centered who doesn't seem to understand Larkin's psychological faults which I just found hard to believe. Why would he marry someone this needy when he's had the same all-hours all-consuming job and his personality is that way, on top of the newer damage he has to take medication for.
Under all this drama is a crime plot Larkin is trying to solve. He involves a forensic artist, Doyle, to help identify some skeletal remains and it turns out Doyle is a huge flirt and can't help himself around Larkin, despite Larkin being who he is and married (which is established early so Doyle isn't unaware as their relationship develops).
This is the first crime genre MM I've read and I'm not sure if I'm into it, but this story was interesting enough that I'll probably read any sequels. The cheating aspect is a little eh to me, especially when the two main characters know it's happening and don't seem to care. ( )

As usual with this author, the writing and the mystery are very well done. The character of Everett Larkin is a quirk that I don't think I have ever encountered before. As a result of being hit in the head with a baseball bat he recalls the most mundane facts...continuously. This can be a help in his job as a New York City Police Detective, but it is usually a turn off to most people he encounters...until he met Ira Doyle. To complicate matters he's thinking of divorcing his husband, or at the most leaving him....we really won't miss the husband as it was like he only had a "walk-on" role and not at all necessary to the story or the series. Several things make this different than any other books that I've read by this author...Larkin's memory recall and the death masks was the most interesting and unusual. In spite of the good points with this first book in a new series, she is going to have to go some to put this one even on the level with her Snow and Winters series. I'll hold judgement until I've read the second book, ( )

Protagonist with a disability that creates difficulties socializing with other people, but makes him really good at the job. Will definitely pick up the next one in the series. ( )