Title: Good Boys
Series: The Solomon Mysteries: Book One
Author: Keelan Ellis
Publisher: NineStar Press
Length: 196 Pages
Category: Contemporary, Mystery/Suspense
At a Glance: The Solomon Mysteries series has really good potential and lots of interesting characters. I’m all-in on this one!
Reviewed By: Maryann
Blurb: Having risen through the ranks of the Baltimore City Police Department to the elite Homicide unit as an out gay man, Paul Solomon has always prided himself on his integrity and self-reliance. As the last vestiges of his failed eight-year-long relationship fall away, Paul finds himself adrift, forced to rely on others to help him find his footing again.
When Paul and his partner, Tim Cullen, are called to the scene of a double murder of two high school students on the city’s west side, Paul finds the lives and deaths of the two boys hitting closer to home than he’d expected. With his personal life in upheaval, he struggles with the perspective needed to untangle the web of secrets and lies that led to their demise.
While working his way through the complicated case, Paul starts getting his life back together. After a date with an enigmatic young man takes a dark turn, he reaches out to an old flame who brings some much-needed lightness to his life. But Paul finds that relationships, like murder investigations, are never as simple as he’d like.
Review: Paul Solomon, at the age of thirty-eight, has to face the end of his lingering eight-year relationship with Andy. Andy has finally drawn the line, and Paul has to move out, no more procrastinating. It’s not that either did anything wrong but that time just took them to different stages in what they wanted from life. Paul doesn’t have an easy time with the move or making friends; plus, being a detective with the Baltimore PD can certainly interfere with social time. Lucky for Paul, though, he does have a good friend and partner, Tim Cullen. Tim is divorced and has a young daughter, so it’s made clear that Paul’s stay is only temporary. Tim often teases Paul and is even willing to share his bed with him since the couch is not compatible with sleeping.
Paul has another longtime friend in Annie. Both Tim and Annie want to see Paul be happy and get back in the dating mode. When he does, finally, he meets a strange, shy and nervous David Haygood, who leaves Paul with mixed emotions and decisions to make. Annie also gets Paul back in touch with Owen, whom he once dated, but at that time, what Paul wanted and what Owen wanted in life were too different. But, Owen is an eye-opener; he seems to have grown up and has a better grasp on life than Paul.
With all the craziness in Paul’s personal life, there’s also the murder of two young teens of different ethnicities who come from opposite sides of the track. Tim and Paul are put through their paces in their investigation, what with so many questions and suspects to track down to solve these mysterious murders.
Good Boys was a first time read for me by Keelan Ellis, and I have to say this was a very good and entertaining start to the Solomon Mysteries series. Paul is not a big, bad detective; he just does what he does best—solves crimes. He’s good at his job, but he’s somewhat naive in starting his personal life over again. One thing that really stands out with Paul, though, is that no matter what he sees on the job, he still wants to believe there’s good in everyone. I was also impressed with how the author showed how Tim and Paul worked really well as a team in getting to heart of the crime.
This storyline also has a lot to do with life and timing. Paul, Tim, Anne, Andy, and Owen all have something that’s changed in their lives, taking took them down different life paths. As for the mystery, the plot was creative, and I couldn’t even begin to guess what the outcome would be. I’d seen it going in a different direction, but I was wrong. The Solomon Mysteries series has really good potential and lots of interesting characters. I’m all-in on this one! Keelan Ellis has a second installment in the works, High Time, and there’s a sneak peek at the end of this novel.
You can buy Good Boys here:
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