Title: The Face in the Water
Series: Iron on Iron: Book One
Author: Gregory Ashe
Publisher: Self-Published
Length: 298 Pages
Category: Mystery
Rating: 5 Stars
At a Glance: If you’ve read Gregory Ashe’s work in the past, nothing about this book should surprise you in terms of the action and intrigue. Having said that, however, this mystery is chockful of surprises and schemes and things I didn’t know, didn’t know I even wanted to know, until they were there on the page.
Reviewed By: Lisa
Blurb: Come to Missouri! See the sights! Solve a murder!
When Teancum Leon, a wildlife veterinarian, and his husband, semi-reformed conman Jeremiah Berger, go to a conference in central Missouri, they’re expecting a short and uneventful trip. Tean will present a paper, attend a few panels, and network (under duress). Jem is looking forward to unlimited poolside drinks, some well-deserved couple time, and peace and quiet.
Instead, they find themselves drawn into a frantic search after the head of the association goes missing. Worse, Tean’s friend from grad school is arrested—and charged with murder.
Their investigation takes them face-to-face with a fervent conspiracist, a band of wildlife traffickers, the owner of a big cat sanctuary, and more. But the real killer doesn’t want to be found, and they’ll do anything to stop Tean and Jem from learning the truth. Lucky for them, they’ve got a reluctant group of allies. Not so lucky for them? Their allies are…well, characters.
Review: Gregory Ashe’s The Face in the Water could have been a case of too many hands in the cookie jar, given these characters’ personalities. Emery Hazard will never not need to be the one who researches everything down to the minutia—and then tell you all about it. North McKinney will never not need to be the contrarian, devil’s advocate, whatever (trying to be nice, here). Theo Stratford will always be overprotective of Auggie Lopez, and there will always be a little bit of Auggie that wants to push back against that. Teancum Leon is always going to be the sweetly brilliant nerd while Jem Berger, Tean’s husband, is trying so hard to be good, but maybe you really can’t take the street out of the boy. Shaw Aldrich is, well . . . he’s Shaw. And then there’s John-Henry Somerset, the long-suffering guy who was supposed to be on a romantic getaway weekend with Emery but then ends up trying to corral everyone and solve a murder before someone else ends up dead.
And guess what? These crimes needed all hands on deck.
Tean is an esteemed guest and speaker of note at a veterinary convention in the middle-of-nowhere Missouri. Murder was nowhere on the con’s itinerary of events, but that’s never stopped this author from brewing up trouble where it’s the least expected and most unwanted. Tean is personally invested in the case of the missing convention director because it just so happens his friend was cuffed and hauled off to jail for her murder. There’s no way Tean isn’t getting to the bottom of things. Thankfully, he’s got a reluctant group there ready to pee on their own territory, growl intimidatingly, and help him track down clues. Those loveable chuckleheads.
If you’ve read Ashe’s work in the past, nothing about this book should surprise you in terms of the action and intrigue. Having said that, however, this mystery is chockful of surprises and schemes and things I didn’t know, didn’t know I even wanted to know, until they were there on the page. The level of knowledge these characters possess on any given subject is testament to the research done on those subjects to give readers not only a more satisfying taste of who the characters are but to see how they process what they know and how that becomes integral to their solving crimes.
The danger and suspense are parceled out to tease readers along as Tean and Jem get closer to the truth, closer to finding a killer, and closer to freeing their friend from wrongful imprisonment. But here’s the best part: This is not the end of the mystery. There are far more threads to unravel in the greater weave of these crimes, so now it’s on to Wahredua to pick up the next set of clues and see what trouble these guys can find next. Stay tuned, it’s bound to be a trip.
You can buy The Face in the Water here: