Murder on the Lake of Fire
Mikel J. Wilson
(Mourning Dove Mysteries, #1)
Published by: Acorn Publishing
Publication date: December 1st 2017
Genres: LGBTQ+, Mystery, Romance
At twenty-three and with a notorious case under his belt, Emory Rome has already garnered fame as a talented special agent for the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation. His career is leapfrogging over his colleagues, but the jumping stops when he’s assigned a case he fought to avoid – to investigate an eerie murder in the Smoky Mountain hometown he had abandoned. This mysterious case of a dead teen ice-skater once destined for the pros is just the beginning. In a small town bursting with envious friends and foes, Rome’s own secrets lie just below the surface. The rush to find the murderer before he strikes again pits Rome against artful private investigator, Jeff Woodard. The PI is handsome and smart, seducing Rome and forcing him to confront childhood demons, but Woodard has secrets of his own. He might just be the killer Rome is seeking.
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MY REVIEW
I received an ecopy of this book for an honest review via Xpresso Book Tours for the Blog Tour. I was not compensated in any way. All that follows is my opinion and my opinion alone.
I want to begin this review with the LGBT+ aspect of the book. This is a big thing for me. Now, I’m not in the community as a member, but definitely a supporter. I love a good LGBT+ fiction. Representation needs to be made and I’m loving that there are more and more great books that I am being exposed to. That said, I feel this was a perfect representation.
It isn’t an important factor to most of the book, but it is an important factor to the main characters, Emory Rome and Jeff Woodard. Doing it this way only reiterates the normalcy of being LGBT+ or, to be honest, being a person. It is this aspect of the book that turns and brings about the opening for a sequel.
Now that that’s out of the way, the book is a mystery first and foremost. It sets up the Private Investigation offices of Mourning Dove and the by the book TBI agent, Emory Rome. The mystery hits you right away with a murder that is off the wall crazy. It shocks you into pushing through the book.
I’m serious, the method of the main murder is nuts. I had no idea that this would be possible. I would go into detail, but to do that would just give away a big thing. Well, not really. It’s just such an epic scene that it’s amazing. Seriously, it’s epic.
That said, I love the characters. Jeff is a loosey goosey kind of guy. He feels that the law can be bent in order to solve the mystery. Because, it is the mystery that matters the most. As for Emory, he is strictly by the book. He’s the stickler.
Put these two together and the chemistry is beautiful. I am completely in love with these two and I ship them. Note: there isn’t a strict romance and no “I love yous” exchanged.
Not yet . . .
Am I going to open the second case when it’s out? Damn straight I will be. I’m probably going to be buying two copies of the book too (maybe more) and gift them. Just so I can share in the amazing.
Author Bio:
Mystery and science fiction author Mikel J. Wilson received widespread critical praise for his debut novel, Sedona: The Lost Vortex, a science fiction book based on the Northern Arizona town’s legends of energy vortexes and dimensional travel. Wilson now draws on his Southern roots for the Mourning Dove Mysteries, a series of novels featuring bizarre murders in the Smoky Mountains region of Tennessee.
Murder on the Lake of Fire, the first novel in the Mourning Dove Mysteries series, will be available December 1, 2017.
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Casia's Corner 
This sounds like a really entertaining book – and this is my favorite genre, too! Glad you liked it! 🙂