The Comfort of Distance

The Sebastien Grey Novels, Book 1

By: Ryburn Dobbs

Narrated by: Conner Goff

Length: 7 hrs and 6 mins

Publisher's summary

Forensic science meets literary fiction in this captivating police procedural.

Deep in the forests of the Black Hills, human remains are being discovered - one bit at a time. Rumors of a rogue, man-eating mountain lion are spreading through the county and panic is starting to swell. Sergeant Hank LeGris of the Custer County Sheriff’s Office is feeling the pressure; he needs to find out who the dead are and how they got that way. Hank suspects that the bodies are the result of a more sinister predator. But in order to solve the mystery, he will have to reach back into his own dysfunctional family history and pull in the only person who can get to the bottom of these strange cases - his estranged and disordered brother, the brilliant forensic anthropologist Dr. Sebastien Grey.

When Sebastien arrives in the Black Hills, he takes his brother and Detective Tiffany Reese on a whirlwind tour of forensic thinking and deductive reasoning, not only solving the mystery of the human remains, but the murder of a local thug as well. In the process, Sebastien himself is forever transformed by his own success and by the charm and kindness of the lovely Detective Reese: “One day I hope you give yourself permission to be different, Sebastien. You’ll be happier.”

The Comfort of Distance is equal parts forensic mystery, police procedural, and character study, with dashes of comedy and romance thrown in. Listeners will be cheering at the end and ready for more.

©2020 Ryburn Dobbs (P)2021 Ryburn Dobbs

enjoable!

I enjoyed this book and got another Sabastion adventure. it was entertaining and informative. Characters were great.

Loved it.

Deep in the Black Hills forest we find Sebastian Grey helping out in a investigation. The pacing of the book is just right and as the book progresses I was hooked!! I loved learning more about anthropology and forensics. It related to the case and I couldn’t help myself, but I love Dr. Sebastian Grey.
I enjoyed seeing how the relationships developed with Dr. Grey.
The narrator, Conner Goff did a wonderful performance portraying all of the characters. The tones and inflections used were great and kept me engaged to the story.
I would recommend this book to fans who enjoy a forensic mystery with a bit of humor and romance sprinkled in. It’s a slow burn romance, but it looks promising! Can’t wait to see what Sebastian, Hank and Tiffany are up to next.

4

Better than average - so a 4. I enjoyed the all the osteology stuff and the searching over acres of land for bones, the mystery of that mountain lion. It might even be a 5 :-) but I want to listen to the next book.

Nicole’s Review

Paperback and Audiobook Review:
Book: The Comfort of Distance(Sebastian Grey Book 1)
Author: Ryburn Dobbs
Narrator: Conner Goff
Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️

Review:
I was gifted a copy of the book by Kelsey from @bookpublicityservices - thank you again! I also purchased the audiobook from @audible.

I read part of the book, and then listened to the rest of it. I liked the narrator. The books I listen to are usually narrated by women, and it was nice to change things up. I appreciate the narrator’s tone, pitch, and Goff’s annunciation.

Sebastian Grey is a forensic anthropologist that goes to the Black Hills to help his brother, Hank, who is a detective, and his partner, Tiffany Reese. They need help determining if some remains are from a mountain lion or a homicide. Sebastian is described as “disordered” in the synopsis. He is highly intelligent, socially awkward, and uses men’s fashion(I can’t remember if it’s GQ or other places on the internet/magazines) to help him coordinate his outfits. His character feels familiar with his personality. I kept thinking of Adrian Monk while reading the book, but Grey doesn’t have OCD.

I typically read cozy mysteries, so some of the descriptions and forensics were different for me. Nothing is super gory though, which was good. I don’t like lots of blood or anything gross. A couple of times I thought the detectives were “too dumb” and I think that was done to highlight Sebastian’s skills. The interrogation scene redeemed the detectives for me thought. Good team work and tactics. There were some funny parts too. I think the romance in this book developed too quickly.

Overall, I liked the book, and I like how it ended. I’m interested in book two. There’s currently three books in the series, and they’re available on kindle unlimited.

Undeveloped characters, adolescent ideal of relationships

There was not enough forensic science. Characters not fully developed. Ending not believable. Sebastian, archeologist who can’t make eye contact and can’t bear to be around people ends up in a close romantic relationship? That does not work for the story. I like the story idea but it feels too middle school like. Don’t recommend this novel.