Snowball in Hell

De: Josh Lanyon

Narrado por: Alexander Masters

Los Angeles, 1943: Reporter Nathan Doyle had his reasons to want Phil Arlen dead, but when he sees the man's body pulled from the La Brea tar pit, he knows he'll be the prime suspect. He also knows that his life won't stand up to intense police scrutiny, so he sets out to crack the case himself.

Lieutenant Matthew Spain's official inquiries soon lead him to believe that Nathan knows more than he's saying. But that's not the only reason Matt takes notice of the handsome journalist. Matt's been drawn to men before, but he must hide his true feelings - or risk his entire career.

As Nathan digs deeper, it becomes increasingly difficult to stay one step ahead of Matt Spain - and to deny his intense attraction to him. Nathan's secrets may not include murder, but has his hunt put him right in the path of the real killer?

This novella contains scenes of gay erotic content.

©2011 JustJoshin Publishing, Inc (P)2014 JustJoshin Publishing, Inc

Wonderful.

This is a classic noir murder mystery and is just wonderful. The narrator really did a great job and listening to this really makes you believe you are huddled around a radio with the family for a Saturday night adventure. Both MCs are great. Spain is a widowed detective coming to grips with his sexuality after the death of his wife and returning from WWII. And Doyle is a man tortured by his need for other men and trauma from the war. They find each other and tackle their collective demons. I hope there are more from these two as this is a HFN ending. Classic Lanyon and worth a credit.

Short and Sweet

Great length. Lanyon's shorter books seem to be more focused and coherent. Two well developed protagonists and a well plotted mystery.

Great Noir and Romance

Audiobook Review September 2019:
Noir, mystery, history these are all some of my favorite genres so when they are all wrapped together with forbidden romance, at least forbidden in the era, and you have a brilliant story that I enjoy even knowing the whos and whys of the mystery. Being able to enjoy the mystery element even knowing the culprit(or culprits - don't want to give anything away for the newbies) takes storytelling talent and Josh Lanyon has never let me down in that area. As for the voice of Alexander Masters? Perfectly suited for the whole noir era of the 1940s.

Re-Read Review August 2016:
When you can enjoy mysteries and noir even better the second time, that takes talent because going in remembering who did it normally would take a little away but not here. STILL LOVE IT!!!

Original Review July 2014:
Amazing! More! Vintage! Noir! These are just some of the words that come to mind when I think of how to describe this book. The characters are very vintage, intriguing, and burrow their way into your heart. I don't do spoilers so that's about all I'm going to say other than just WOW! and definitely MORE of Doyle & Spain is needed to be written.

Wow! Another Masterful Performance

Josh Lanyon does such a marvelous job with his historicals. I love the way he has crafted this story. The dialog, the imagery, the well developed characters all bring this period to life. Parts of this story are just heart breaking, but Mr. Lanyon still manages to pull out hope. The mystery was excellent.

Alexander Masters turned in an excellent performance as the narrator. He did a really good job with all the voices, the pacing, and telling the story. I loved his Nathan voice.

Great narration to a great story

Any additional comments?

Series/Standalone: standalone (possible book 1 to future works)
Genre/sub-genre: noir/mystery/romance
Book Format: audio
HEA/HFN: yes
Relatable characters: yes
Abuse/Rape: no
Violence: yes
Ratio of sex/plot: equal
Well written/editor needed: well written
Would I re-read?: YES
Personal thoughts: I loved this. The mood setting was perfect in the written word, and is carried through to the audio as well. The characters are well-rounded, and easily cared about. What else can I say? Josh is a fantastic author and Alexander Masters is a fantastic narrator.