Murder in Pastel

By: Josh Lanyon

Narrated by: Tristan Wright

Length: 6 hrs and 52 mins

Publisher's Summary

Ten years ago, Cosmo Bari vanished, taking with him his legendary masterpiece, Virgin in Pastel. Since that day, no one in the seaside art colony of Steeple Hill has heard from the eccentric painter. Surrounded by an extended family of Cosmo's colorful compatriots, mystery writer Kyle Bari believes he has come to terms with being abandoned by his famous father. Then his ex-lover, Adam MacKinnon, arrives with his new partner, the beautiful but poisonous Brett. Brett has an unerring instinct for other people's weak spots, and soon the quiet colony is seething with hostility and suspicion as Brett begins to hint that he knows what happened to the missing artist.

©2015 Josh Lanyon (P)2015 Josh Lanyon

Summer Loving & Murder...

Okay, I'll admit it...I love anything Josh Landon writes. That being said, Murder in Pastel is his best. Buckle-up, sonny-boy....you're in for one wild ride. And by the very last sentence, you'll be in tears. Adolescent crushes, murderous plots, scheming, a brilliant artist vanishes leaving behind an only child. Or did he? No one is what they seem in this quaint, yet deadly, artist's community. Two words: READ IT! Cordially, Barkley Prescott

Compelling mystery

Josh Lanyon was first suggested to me when I was browsing through the M/M romance novels on Audible looking for another guilty pleasure. Which is a shame, really; she's definitely a cut above most of the M/M fare on here. Her characters come alive in a way most others don't, and unlike them she doesn't seem to view the plot as a pesky nuisance that gets in the way of the sex scenes. I was absolutely hooked on the mystery of Murder in Pastel, and it kept me guessing through the whole book (I admit I was right about several things, but I wasn't completely sure so it still counts).

My one complaint with the writing is that characters didn't always act the way I think most people would act in certain situations. There's a scene in the movie Clue when a murder victim is discovered, and the people who discover her are so used to finding dead bodies that they all collectively shrug and continue with the movie. That happens here; characters die and other characters barely even seem to notice or remark on it. Of course, most of the characters are pretty loathsome--I was sort of disappointed that more of them didn't bite it in the end--but still. Also the main character, Kyle, makes several decisions that made me scratch my head.

Tristan Wright did an excellent job narrating. He sounds handsome and affable, and was a large reason I really liked and connected with Kyle so much. He sounds so affable, in fact, that suspenseful scenes weren't necessarily all that suspenseful, because his voice is so bright and soothing that I felt like he was saying "Don't worry, it will all turn out ok" even when Kyle was in some pretty hairy situations. That's my only, very minor complaint, though. In general he did a superb job.

Altogether I thought this book was excellent. There was romance--with the least loathsome of the secondary characters, thank God--but honestly I was far less interested in the romance than I was in the mystery itself, which was a wonderful change of pace. I bought several Josh Lanyon books after I finished with this one, she's really a gem of an author and I'm glad I discovered her through this book.

Page turner. Kept me guessing.

This was a fantastic read/listen. Suspenseful and never a slow part. Kept me guessing.

Spoiler:

I loved everything about this book. However, I felt extremely terrible for Brett. He had a terrible life and though he wasn't that great of a person, I still can't help but feel awful. I knew his death was necessary to move the plot along and open opportunity for romance between the two protagonists, but I wish there was more closure for him. It seemed that he was quickly forgotten and casted aside.

Wonderful

Each time I read/hear a Josh Lanyon book I am behind thrilled. He writes so well, he gives us great stories, his books are always wonderful. This book was no exception, fabulous!

One of the best

I love everything Mr. Lanyon writes. Have read almost all of his wonderful works. His choice of narrators has been excellent. Thank you Josh for many hours of fascinating listening. Would love to see many of your works put on film.

An Okay First Attempt

What did you like best about Murder in Pastel? What did you like least?

The best, as always, is just Josh Lanyon's voice. He (or she- you never know with M/M) just has a natural ear for how to narrate and present characters that sound natural and real- a skill many M/M writers lack. As far as the least pleasing aspect of the book, besides the constant use of the word 'lover' (ugh! Just stop, guys! Nobody says that anymore), I would have to say the story itself. It's not bad, per se, it's just it very much feels like a first attempt, a rough draft for a better book. To be fair, I might not have felt that way had I not already read Lanyon's Adrien English series; however, having done so, it was hard to ignore some of the glaring similarities. For instance, both this book and Adrien English feature protagonists that suffer from a heart ailment resulting from a childhood bout with rheumatic fever. Both protagonists are writers with an esoteric knowledge of vintage mystery literature. Both also take digitalis for their heart condition, a medication that features in a poisoning subplot in both story lines. Like I said, I probably wouldn't have cared if I hadn't read Adrien English first, but having done so, seeing this again was distracting and took away from the sense of originality of the story. Also, it just kept reminding me of how much I loved those books while highlighting Murder in Pastel's weakest point, it's chemistry. Lanyon is generally great at creating chemistry between his books' main love interests, but here the relationship between Kyle and Adam falls flat. I just didn't really understand why they would be together or why I should care- it was just boring. In fact, without giving too much away, the way their whole relationship comes together just had me thinking, "Uh, this is a terrible idea, guys." the entire time.

What do you think your next listen will be?

Probably Lanyon's new book that just came out :)

Which character – as performed by Tristan Wright – was your favorite?

I don't know, I never really latched on to any of them.

Its a Josh Lanyon story

What made the experience of listening to Murder in Pastel the most enjoyable?

The narrator. And the mystery; wondering whats next

What other book might you compare Murder in Pastel to and why?

Other Josh Lanyon books; may Strangers on the Shore?

What does Tristan Wright bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

Tristan was great. You could easily differentiate between characters. No one sounded funny. No weird accents to me.

If you could rename Murder in Pastel, what would you call it?

I don't know.

Any additional comments?

so the book was written long time ago. But you can't help but compare it to 'Adrien English'. the heart condition for one. Also some of the lines and descriptions. It like someone decided to write something similar to Adrien.