Footsteps in the Dark

Partners in Crime #3

by L.B. Gregg, Nicole Kimberling, Josh Lanyon

The snick of a lock. The squeak of door hinges. The creak of a floorboard. Are those approaching steps that of a lover or an enemy?

Entrée to Murder. After a steady diet of big city trouble, Chef Drew Allison moved to the island town of Orca's Slough to get a taste of life in the slow lane. But hometown hospitality goes stale when he finds a dead body in the basement of his own Eelgrass Café.


Lights, Camera, Murder. When PI Rory Byrne goes undercover on the set of a historical drama to find a stolen script, the last thing he anticipates is falling for handsome, talented, and out-and-proud lead actor Marion Roosevelt—or to find himself in the middle of a murder investigation.


Twelve Seconds. A mysterious phone call, a missing executive, and an exploding rocket throw space reporter Justin Harris and Air Force Special Agent Greg Marcotte into an investigation that will change their lives...if it doesn't kill them first.


Blind Man's Buff. A game of Capture the Flag turns deadly inside an abandoned shopping mall when Tommy and Jonah stumble into a homicidal maniac's hunting grounds.


A Country for Old Men. Inspector Calum Macleod has returned to the Western Isles of Scotland to bury a part of himself he can't accept. But the island has old secrets of its own. When a murderer strikes, Calum finds his past can't be so easily escaped.


Reality Bites. Detective Cabot Decker is called to the set of hot-shot TV producer Jax Thornburn's reality-TV show after a contestant is mauled to death by a tiger. Is someone trying to ax Jax's career—or Jax himself?


Pepper the Crime Lab. When Lonnie Boudreaux's neighbor is murdered, he must foster the man's dog, befriend a mysterious former cop, and stop the killer—or else!


Stranger in the House. Miles Tuesday's memories of Montreal are happy ones, but now that he has inherited the house at 9 Braeside, everything feels different. Was Madame Martel's fatal fall really an accident?


Authors L.B. Gregg, Nicole Kimberling, Josh Lanyon, Dal Maclean, Z.A. Maxfield, Meg Perry, C.S. Poe, and S.C. Wynne join forces for Footsteps in the Dark, eight sexy and suspenseful novellas of Male/Male Mystery and Romance.

Genres: Mystery, M M Romance, Anthologies, Romance, Audiobook, Contemporary, Crime

29 pages, Audible Audio

First published June 26, 2008

About the author

LB Gregg (Lisabea) writes fun, fast-paced contemporary male/male romances for a variety of publishers including Riptide, Samhain, and Carina Press. Her wildly successful Men of Smithfield books feature hot, hunky men looking for love in small town New England. Find more information about LB, The Men of Smithfield, and her fun series Romano and Albright at www.lbgregg.com.


You can also friend LB on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/lb.gregg.1
Like her author page http://on.fb.me/216EIiF
Or follow her on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/lb.gregg/

Reviews

[mwana · Rating 5 out of 5]

Come for Josh Lanyon, stay for Dal Maclean.

These two authors are the reason why I jumped on the arc so fast when it was shared online.

But I read "all" the stories like the good lil girl I am.

STORY 1: Entree to Murder by Nicole Kimberling

Chef Drew Allison moves to the town of Orca's Slough with his bff Sam to start a new restaurant called Eelgrass. Their relationship is on the rocks and we are reminded of that frequently. Although, poetically. When the body of the drug dealing kitchen staff is found in the basement of the Eelgrass, Drew is forced to investigate the murder (somewhat unwillingly) because the police force of Mackenzie, Mackenzie and Mackenzie somehow thinks he's involved in whatever the hell is going on in Orca's Slough.

The mystery is well written. Gripping and isn't sidetracked by the drama surrounding Drew's life.

🌟🌟🌟🌟- Pretty cool.

STORY 2: Twelve Seconds by Meg Perry

A story that needs a re-introduction to brevity. I mean, they are called short stories for a reason. The premise was rather out of this world (hahaha). An unmanned space craft blows up during lift off after one of the main characters, space reporter (what??) Justin, is called by a man claiming to have information that he might want then the man doesn't show up. While I do like an unusual story, I don't like to be spoonfed. I do not like alternating dual POV on the best days and I didn't read this story on one of my best days. The constant repetitive narration of similar events from the alternating narrators made me want to chuck my e-reader.

The exposition was plodding. The explanations could have taken a back seat. And the story should have been 20 chapters shorter.

I didn't even bother reading on after the millionth mention of Canaveral.

No stars.

STORY 3: Reality Bites by S.C. Wynne

One of the more unique stories I have ever come across. The murder weapon is a tiger but who tiggered it? Cabot, the detective called to handle the case, sees himself as a bit of a "realistic" fellow. I even went as far as calling him Reality Man in my mind's eye.

Jax, the producer of the reality TV show where the contestant was turned into meow mix had a healthy mix of the looks, stupids and pragmatism that sets up a perfectly benevolent rich dude who can in turn be frighteningly successful in his attempts to become a damsel in distress.

🌟🌟🌟🌟- I loved the hell out of this one.

STORY 4: Blind Man's Buff by L.B. Gregg

I like to consider LB Gregg Josh Lanyon lite. After reading her earlier Mark and Tony work. This book was not the Lanyon lite I subscribe to. It seems to be suffering from a bit of an identity crisis as it is not a murder mystery but more a adults acting like YA characters from a suspense adventure book. It also had an obsession with the word "Ninja".

🌟🌟🌟- I was a bit disappointed.

STORY 5: A Country for Old Men by Dal Maclean

It should probably be said again, I would probably lay my life for Dal Maclean. Dal could ask me to jump off a bridge and all I would ask is, "You gonna pay my fare there?". If it's not clear, I am a huge stan. So in my eyes she could do no wrong.

A Country for Old Men is the most complex story in this collection.

Just look at this fucking poetry:

Calum clambered down over the spew of big rocks at the end of the path, the dog mincing gracefully ahead of him, until they both jumped down onto the sands of Broad Bay. The sun climbed behind broken clouds, forcing thick poles of light down through the grey gaps, not sunshine in the accepted mainland sense of golden warmth and happiness, thinner and colder than that. But still... better than nothing. The beach was long, pale gold, empty as beaches in the Outer Hebrides tended to be, and the tide was advancing, breakers ten-deep, cresting far out from the shore, then rolling in, in foaming, frozen perfection.

But even with its profound story, a mystery that will having you tearing your hair out, wealth of Scottish culture- art, law, senior healthcare, religion especially- it still found the strength to be short. Which was a problem for me because I wanted the story to continue. Calum's adventures do not feel complete.

Calum's story is one I felt struck me right across my heart. Afraid to pursue his own dreams because of his duty and love to his parents. The abuse masquerading as loving counsel.

Self murder is the ultimate sin, so the story says. And I am one hell of a sinner.

I am thiiiiiiiiiiiiis ] [ close to launching a petition to get a full length novel about Calum.

And also, as if Dal wasn't genius enough- she kinda predicted the future.


A MILLION STARS.

STORY 6: Pepper the Crime Lab by Z.A. Maxfied

This is a story about another chef, Lonnie, who finds himself in a bit of a pickle after taking out the knife used to murder his neighbour. His reason for taking out the knife is one of my favourites- he recognised it. But for me, that's where the story's charm ended.

We embark on a journey where we keep up with the residents of the apartment complex (I can't be bothered to remember the name), Lonnie's Marley and Me role playing, and basically Lonnie's version of the gay bachelor.

We are also constantly reminded about his "rules" about not dating neighbours, his recent bout with pneumonia(?), his aloofness, his overworking himself....

When we have a murdered neighbour and our main character is the one who pulled the knife out of the victim- there are way more interesting things to narrate with regards to the MURDER MYSTERY. And what was even more infuriating was the accidental resolution of the main conflict.

🌟🌟- Another big disappointment.

STORY 7: Lights, Camera, Murder by C.S. Poe

I recently became acquainted with Poe's [book:The Mystery of Nevermore|29759618] which was basically an homage to Josh Lanyon. When I went into this book, I was hoping to see Poe's magic shine. It didn't disappoint. I was left blinded with joy at everything this story had to offer. Literally everything. The mystery. The sex. The characters. Marion has a special place in my heart.

🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟- Huge joy reading this.

STORY 8: Stranger in the House by Josh Motherfucking Lanyon

Miles - another new fave- inherits a multi-million dollar house in Montreal and the description of his arrival alone is reason enough to lay my entire soul at the altar of Josh Lanyon's story telling.

He crossed the wide, watery courtyard, passing the benignly smiling stone lions, sooty -colored with the recent rain, and a bronze lamppost, slightly forlorn with its five round white dripping globes- as though a balloon man had recently wandered away. The bricks gave way to squares of black slate. He waded through the sodden, mutlicoloured leaves, went up the narrow, curved steps, past the stone urns overflowing with teary ivy and stepped under the carved stone archway. The whisper of his rubber-soled Converses sounded like thunderclaps in that profound and watchful hush.

Josh made me want to sell a kidney and head to Montreal immediately.

By Miles' own words, Brunch was at Olive & Gourmando, a cute and cozy place near Old Montreal, famed for its pastries, which were indeed mouthwatering. The interior was rustic, crimson with wood, with colourful chalk messages scrawled on huge blackboards behind displays of cinnamon buns, turtle bars... Jaunty Qubecois music played overhead and every seat in the house was taken. Conversations ebbed and flowed about them, people changing effortlessly from English to French midsentence. Miles gazed about the packed restaurant and thought, This, this is why I want to live here. I want every day to be an adventure.


Actual photo of Olive & Gourmando

He also called it Paris-lite. Beautiful and historical and cultured but... accessible.

Miles is one of the more compelling characters she has given out in recent books. The mystery was solid. Definitely my second favorite in the entire collection.


Take ALL THE STARS

[Ms. Smartarse · Rating 3 out of 5]

On the whole, this collection felt like a mixed bag, with the vast majority of the stories lacking in both the chemistry and the plot department. That said, it would be unfair to not admit that I actually enjoyed some of them quite a bit. Maybe not necessarily as the author intended, plus I had some issues with the narrator's pronunciation at times too... but you know: it wasn't a complete flop.

Overall favorites:

1. Stranger in the House by Josh Lanyon
Based on a bit of cheesy premise: someone threw out a thoughtless remark, and another someone spent the following decade moping around because of it. But hey, apparently an insane inheritance can go a long way into smoothing things over. Or... you know... awaken people's criminal instincts.

2. Lights, camera, murder by C.S. Poe
A very jaded (and gay!) private investigator gets hopelessly entangled with an up-and-coming actor, while hired to investigate a theft on a film set. I was definitely annoyed by the speed with which the investigator dismissed the actor as a person of interest, but that didn't stop me from following the events with bated breath. I just wish there were fewer characters to keep track of, in such a short story.


Best chemistry:

1. Stranger in the House by Josh Lanyon
I'm a sucker for age-gap and second chances, apparently. Not to mention clumsy social skills that hide excellent bedside manners. *waggles eyebrows*

2. 12 Seconds by Meg Perry
I love love luuuurve the whole "misunderstanding based on a person's pokerface" trope. And that's precisely what the first meeting of the two protagonists was about: both salivating over one another, while firmly convinced that the other could not possibly be gay. Spoiler alert: they so were.


Best Audio Experience:

A country for old men by Dal MacLean
This was all about Scottish accents, countryside and language.
As a bit of a foreign language nerd, I was all but swooning at listening to the narrator lean into their region-specific pronunciation. I have no idea how accurate this would be to locals, but it sounded heavenly to me... *melts into a puddle*


The other four short stories ranged all the way from "meh", to "preach", to "all around lacking". There's nothing quite like a bunch of commercial romance stories to highlight just how much of an indie-fan I've become over the years.

Score: 2.9/5 stars

My intention with this anthology was to look for new MM romance authors to try, but mostly ended up appreciating those I already know and like. Overall, I'm rather disappointed...

[Kaje Harper · Rating 4 out of 5]

This anthology had stories by several of my favorite authors, and I enjoyed them quite a bit. Mostly 4-star stories, in part because it's really hard to create a satisfyingly complex mystery and do character development in the short span of an anthology entry. Several of these would have been even more satisfying expanded to a greater length, but only one really missed the mark for me. My favorite, and the one I'd give 5 stars to, was A Country for Old Men by Dal Maclean. The main character had depth and poignancy, and there was a real sense of place to it.

If you enjoy mysteries with a gay romance element, and like the fun of shorter lengths and a range of author voices, this is a worthwhile anthology to pick up.

[Mir · Rating 3 out of 5]

Entrée to Murder by Nicole Kimberling - ★★★★☆
I quite enjoyed this over all, although I would have liked to know Mac a little better. It's one of those mysteries where an untrained person is investigating even thought the police tell them to butt out, but in this case it was plausible because the MC needs the mystery solved so he can reopen his restaurant. Realistically, he is worried about money and about friends who are threatened, rather than amateur-sleuthing out of nosiness. Bonus: the food sounds really good and interesting.

Twelve Seconds by Meg Perry - ★★★☆☆
A unmanned rocket explodes turning launch. The investigators find a body! We soon learn that the body is the man who failed to show last night after calling a science journalist (surely they aren't really called "space reporter"?) the night before and promising him a scoop. When the investigator comes to ask the reporter about it they are immediately attracted and a romance ensues. Luckily the reporter is clearly not a suspect. He also only reports on space so he only gets involved in asking other science reporters about the company and the rocket and doesn't try getting involved in the murder investigation. I appreciated both of these authorial choices. I did NOT appreciate that a lot of the chapters in alternating view points cover the same material. Especially as I was listening rather than reading so it made very slow going. The mystery aspect was weak, with the investigators making little progress and the culprit eventually giving themself away through a stupid and improbable action. Still, the characters were all interesting.

Blind Man's Buff by L.B. Gregg - dnf
"A game of Capture the Flag turns deadly inside an abandoned shopping mall when Tommy and Jonah stumble into a homicidal maniac's hunting grounds." Okay, this premise sounded really dumb, but I figured I'd try the story... It was a nope for me really fast, before they even got into the actual plot. The narrative voice was really annoying and the characters so immature that I at first thought they were young, like 18 or 20, and was shocked that they were adult professionals.

A Country for Old Men by Dal Maclean - ★★★★☆
Fantastic writing, unusual mystery, extremely sad stories that left me feeling pretty down at the end. The narrator had a great voice although I lost words once in a while due to his accent.

Lights, Camera, Murder by C.S. Poe - ★★★★☆
PI Rory Byrne is hired for an undercover investigation on a film set. He's looking for a stolen script but soon uncovers more shady goings-on. Marion seemed weirdly submissive for a super-hot famous person, and I wasn't sure why he was so into Rory (who isn't very friendly), but the writing made it work well enough and the mystery was strong. Especially recommended for those interested in what goes into making a tv show.

Reality Bites by S.C. Wynne -- ★★★☆☆
Fun if implausible murder mystery. Tiger maulings! Escape from burning building! Going off the road after being shot at in the dark! Boring party that why did that even get included? The motivation for the crime was implausible, too. This was kind of soap opera but entertaining. I did keep wondering why the detective moved to Hollywood from the Midwest when he seemed to have a weird resentment of actors and celebrity culture.

Stranger in the House by Josh Lanyon -- dnf
I just could not with Miles' endless wiffling anxious people-pleasing breathless chatter. The lengthy descriptions of rich-people furnishings also did nothing for me. I think this story would be fine if I had a print version and could skim to the substantial parts, but I did not enjoy listening to it.

[Daydreamer · Rating 5 out of 5]

overall rating 4.5 stars
I liked every story
The audio narrations were incredibly good, Joel Leslie and Kale Williams killed it.
Here is my rating for each story

Entree to Murder by Nicole Kimberling 4 stars ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Twelve Seconds by Meg Perry 3.5 stars ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Reality Bites by S.C. Wynne 4.25 stars ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Blind Man's Buff by L.B. Gregg 4.5 stars ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

A Country of Old Men by Dal Maclean. One hundred stars . Is no secret I'm a big Maclean fan and this is why .Great emotional story ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Pepper the Crime by Z.A. Maxfield 4.5 stars ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Lights. Camera. Murder by C.S. Poe 3 stars ⭐⭐⭐

Stranger in the House by Josh Lanyon 3 stars ⭐⭐⭐

[Gerbera_Reads · Rating 4 out of 5]

** 4.25 stars **

Anthology is a great way to meet new authors and figure out if you want to read their other works. In this particular anthology I think most people would find the tropes they favor or the mystery puzzle they love solving. It reads easy despite the number of pages. Some stories are quite steamy and some are quite chaste. There is pleasure to be found for any taste.

Entree to Murder by Nicole Kimberling
** 3.75 stars **

Bistro owner and chef Andrew Allison finds himself a murder suspect after finding a dead body of his least favorite employee in the basement of his business. His love interest is Cormac Mackenzie aka Mac who is local sheriff deputy. I liked the mystery a lot. Even though I knew who the culprit was after some time, the plot twist in the end was well-thought out and made the story even better. I liked most of the side characters and the whole small town mentality. The romance between MCs was light ranging from like to dislike and back again. Story is told from single POV, so that accounted for limited knowledge of Mac's character.

Twelve Seconds by Meg Perry
** 5 stars **

This is a story of space reporter Justin Harris and Air Force Special Agent Greg Harcotte solving a murder and a mystery of exploding rocket ship. The story is told from dual POV, has likable characters, good balance between romance and investigation. Both MCs had wonderful chemistry, the story had spot on humor, and the ending was very sweet and romantic. I liked it.

Reality Bites by S.C. Wynne
** 4.5 stars **

This story is about a stalker ready to kill, hot shot producer and a detective with a chip on his shoulder. Detective Decker and TV producer Jax Thornburn don't hit it off right away, they bicker and argue. It's all due to Decker's preconceived notions about Hollywood's richest population and the way they live their lives. Jax proves to be different - he is smart, sweet and caring. The mystery was rather good, the story was fast-paced and the ending was very intense. This story has a fair amount of steam and is told from single POV.

Blind Man's Buff by L.B. Gregg
** 4 stars **

This is a story about a group of people who work as high school teachers by day and turn into adrenaline fueled competitive gamers on weekends. The MCs - Tommy and Jonah - are each other's long time crushes, and they finally act on their attraction. But the abandoned mall they chose for their game of catch the flag this time is unfortunately occupied by a crazy serial killer in the process of playing with his next victim. This read more like a suspenseful thriller than mystery. It was told from single POV, was fast-paced and filled with tension. This was a race to outrun the murderer and stay alive. Romance is very light.

A Country of Old Men by Dal Maclean
** 5 stars **

This was a second chance romance with fantastic mystery, fair amount of steam and told from single POV. Calum Macleod and Adam Patterson were together once. But Calum's fear of coming out and losing his family made him choose and abandon the man he loved and return home to Scotland. When a neighbor's son is brutally killed, it starts a chain of events that not only brings two men together but also solves the mystery of family heirloom and brings words from past that help Calum see and not make a mistake that will live him miserable for the rest of his life. Scottish and British words, heart felt moments that made me tear up and bits and pieces of myths and legends made this a wonderful read for me. Wow.

Pepper the Crime by Z.A. Maxfield
** 4.75 stars **

A chef recovering from serious illness, Lonnie Boudreaux and Enrique "Rick" Garcia, ex-cop, bond together over a persnickety darling of a dog Pepper, murder of the most hated man in the building and a mystery of somebody trying to poison dogs. I liked both MCs. They were appealing and had a connection from the past. While Rick was kind, caring and ready for more, Lonnie was a bit uptight and needed to catch up and figure out that the well-ordered life he imagined was perfect for him, was not the one he really wanted or needed. I figured out the culprit before the end but I enjoyed Lonnie's amateur sleuthing. But unfortunately the mystery of who was poisoning the dogs was unresolved.

Lights. Camera. Murder by C.S. Poe
** 5 stars **

PI Rory Byrne is a 45 year old man with love of cats and living for his job. He has no life nor does he want one. When he goes undercover as a PA on filming set of The Bowery, he does not expect to be instantly smitten with the lead actor Marion Roosevelt, an out and proud rising star in film industry. They hit it off right away but Rory resists due to Marion being a possible suspect and his own set of work ethics. But the script is not so easy to find, and when someone is murdered for it, it turns into a deadly game. I loved Marion - he was such a sweetheart, and Rory, despite being set in his ways, finally found that special someone that he wanted to make an effort for, someone he felt a strong connection and desire for. The mystery kept me interested till the end, there were many moments that just made me question my suspicions all the time. I loved it!

Stranger in the House by Josh Lanyon
** 3 stars **

Miles Tuesday, a high school art teacher from California, was left a huge inheritance by his godmother, Capucine Martel, whose son Linley Palmer has been his long term crush and killer of his dreams at the same time. But the time has passed, and when they meet again after 10 years separation, it looks like Miles is not the only one who's carrying the torch. The mystery itself was nice, Linley was hard to warm up to since he was so aloof, scathing and uncaring most of the time while Miles was the complete opposite. He got a little better in the end though.

All in all, I enjoyed reading this anthology and I recommend it to all lovers of mystery and suspense. Copy received for my honest and unbiased review

[Jennifer☠Pher☠ · Rating 4 out of 5]

Josh was the draw but the book was so much more. It was great getting introduced to new to me authors and authors I've been meaning to read. None of the stories read like shorties; they all felt complete. This was a good time.

Entrée to Murder by Nicole Kimberling - After a steady diet of big city trouble, Chef Drew Allison moved to the island town of Orca's Slough to get a taste of life in the slow lane. But hometown hospitality goes stale when he finds a dead body in the basement of his own Eelgrass Café.

Date Started: 05/30/19
Date Finished: 05/30/19
Rating: 4★'s

I really enjoyed the writing style of this new to me author. I enjoyed the flow and the witty banter. I am such a fan of an amateur sleuth and this was done really well. The mystery kept me guessing until the very end. The romantic in me can't believe how it ended but the mystery lover think it was exactly right. Good stuff.

Twelve Seconds by Meg Perry - A mysterious phone call, a missing executive, and an exploding rocket throw space reporter Justin Harris and Air Force Special Agent Greg Marcotte into an investigation that will change their lives...if it doesn't kill them first.

Date Started: 05/30/19
Date Finished: 05/30/19
Rating: 4★'s

This took me a quick second to get into with all the missile launch speak but once it got going I was enjoying the story. There were a couple things I could have done without but overall I ended up liking this. This read more like a romance than a mystery but it really balanced well and I enjoyed myself more than I thought I would at first. It didn’t hurt that they were so cute together. Another nice introduction to a new to me author.

Reality Bites by S.C. Wynne - Detective Cabot Decker is called to the set of hot-shot TV producer Jax Thornburn's reality-TV show after a contestant is mauled to death by a tiger. Is someone trying to ax Jax's career—or Jax himself?

Date Started: 05/30/19
Date Finished: 05/31/19
Rating: 4★'s

I liked this way more than I expected. Hollywood is not normally my thing but this sort of Hollywood setting read like an episode of a favorite TV show and I found it very enjoyable. This was a great whodunit with a sweet and sexy side of opposites attract romance. Fun.

Blind Man's Buff by L.B. Gregg - A game of Capture the Flag turns deadly inside an abandoned shopping mall when Tommy and Jonah stumble into a homicidal maniac's hunting grounds.

Date Started: 05/31/19
Date Finished: 05/31/19
Rating: 3★'s

I struggled a little with this one. I liked the idea of it and I loved the fear factor this one presented but I had to keep reminding myself these guys and gals were adults and not kids. From the first sentence I thought they were kids and had such a hard time switching my brain from that feeling. The scary parts had me turning the pages as fast as I could and were for sure very exciting, but that is mostly what this was, a mini thriller type story. There really wasn’t any romance.

A Country for Old Men by Dal MacLean - Inspector Calum Macleod has returned to the Western Isles of Scotland to bury a part of himself he can't accept. But the island has old secrets of its own. When a murderer strikes, Calum finds his past can't be so easily escaped.

Date Started: 06/04/19
Date Finished: 06/05/19
Rating: 5★'s

Another installment with a new to me author and one I’ve been meaning to read for quite some time. Not a bad introduction into their work, a story I ended up falling a bit in love with even when I thought there was just no way. The story read a bit dark and depressing and I wasn’t sure I was ever going to see the light but when I did, wow, I was so hooked and needed to know how every single thing going on was going to play out. The mystery, the history, the secondary email mystery and of course, the romance. I needed to know all of it. The descriptions of Scotland were brilliant and wow, what a villiain and a swoonworthy happy ending. Very, very good.

Pepper the Crime Lab by Z.A. Maxfield - When Lonnie Boudreaux's neighbor is murdered, he must foster the man's dog, befriend a mysterious former cop, and stop the killer—or else!

Date Started: 06/05/19
Date Finished: 06/06/19
Rating: 2★'s
This one didn’t really work for me. The writing style felt awkward for my brain. I couldn’t seem to always tell who was talking. Add to that the fact I wasn’t really taken with the characters and this one was just a miss.

Lights, Camera, Murder by C.S. Poe - When PI Rory Byrne goes undercover on the set of a historical drama to find a stolen script, the last thing he anticipates is falling for handsome, talented, and out-and-proud lead actor Marion Roosevelt—or to find himself in the middle of a murder investigation.

Date Started: 06/06/19
Date Finished: 06/06/19
Rating: 4★'s

Good!! Another story that read like an episode a TV show, this time a PI show from my youth. I found all the extras fleshed out and interesting. The romance was cute and I think what they found together is going to work out. Sweet.

Stranger in the House by Josh Lanyon - Miles Tuesday's memories of Montreal are happy ones, but now that he has inherited the house at 9 Braeside, everything feels different. Was Madame Martel's fatal fall really an accident?

Date Started: 06/07/19
Date Finished: 06/07/19
Rating: 4★'s

He dreamed of footsteps in the dark.

The Fanyon part of me is rejoicing! This is why I was here and I love that the best was saved for last! I love, love, love a story with a house as a character and this house, well, it for sure was and had character. Exactly what I expect from Lanyon. A perfect mix and a perfect balance. A story that ends just right but you kind of could keep reading.

**ARC provided by the author, Josh Lanyon, in exchange for an honest review.**

[Tamara · Rating 3 out of 5]

Read this book as part of the 2019 Members' Choice Awards Challenge.
Categories: Best Anthology

I expected much more from this anthology than I got. My star average for this book is 2.8 - a fairly low rating for me. But I do not regret reading it - I discovered some new authors I will definitely add to my shelf.

Entrée to Murder by Nicole Kimberling - ★★★★☆
Loved it. The mystery was decent, though I would have liked more of the romance.

Twelve Seconds by Meg Perry - ★★☆☆☆
This was an enjoyable read right up until a plot hole appeared near the end. MC1 is an investigator and MC2 is a journalist. The journalist was contacted by the victim right before the vic was killed, and that's how the two MCs meet. Throughout the investigation, the information about the victim's death was withheld from the public, even from the victim's wife (publicly he was presumed missing) and the journalist wasn't supposed to know about the victim's death at all, but the investigator told him when they first met. So, everyone thinks the victim's missing, except for the police and the murderer and the journalist. The murderer calls the journalist pretending he's the victim, trying to set up a meet, the journalist calls his boyfriend the investigator right away (smart) and... no one bats an eyelash? Not one question about how he knew to call the police at all? It was a stupid mistake, and so glaringly obvious I'm surprised it wasn't caught before the story got published. As it is, I'm lowering my rating to 2 stars.

Reality Bites by S.C. Wynne - ★★★☆☆
A decent mystery, and it didn't end as I feared it would based on the first couple of chapters, which is great. The romance part was lacking chemistry though - I couldn't feel it at all and it was kind of boring.

Blind Man's Buff by L.B. Gregg - ★☆☆☆☆
This was a slasher flick, not a mystery. The MC was funny at first but got annoying really fast, and I got the impression the writer doesn't like fat people - seeing how every one of the "good guys" was distinctly described as lean and/or fit, and the only bad guy was described as fat, and there was a running commentary on how he should just get a heart-attack and die. This kind of problematic writing is not a first for L.B. Gregg - I also remember a similar thing done to a trans character in one of her previous books, and it's why I don't think this was an honest mistake.

A Country for Old Men by Dal Maclean - ★★★★☆
This was my first Dal Maclean story and I enjoyed it even though I didn't like the MC whose POV it was written in - frankly, he was kind of exhausting. I'm tired enough of my own headspace to want to participate in anyone else's pity party. But the story itself and the writing were great.

Pepper the Crime Lab by Z.A. Maxfield - ★★★★☆
I really enjoyed this story. It had the right balance of serious and light-hearted. I haven't read Z.A. Maxfield in a loong while (I've been steering clear of her books - but it was not really a conscious decision), so it felt almost like it was my first time reading one of her books. I loved it.

Lights, Camera, Murder by C.S. Poe - ★★★☆☆
3.5 stars. Another new-for-me author, and I was not disappointed. I liked the story, but I feel like it wasn't fleshed out enough - like it wasn't meant to be a short story, but a longer story that was cut down to its bare bones to fit a page requirement. But even so I enjoyed it a lot. I will definitely move this author up on my tbr list.

Stranger in the House by Josh Lanyon - ★★☆☆☆
There was one main thing wrong with this story - it's called "Joel Leslie does French-Canadians speaking English". It was incomprehensible and irritating. It was Beauty & the Beast's Lumiere on steroids. It completely ruined the story for me. When he's not doing accents he's an okay narrator. When he tries any non-English accent, he needs a warning label.
Other than that little niggle (*snorts*), the story was okay but the mystery was kind of on a back burner in favor of endless descriptions of furniture, art pieces & other surroundings.

[Gustaf · Rating 5 out of 5]

I think I liked every single story in here.

[Josh]

It was a pleasure to work on this--I'm really delighted with how it all turned out (and I hope we can do it again some time).

[Nemo ☠️ (pagesandprozac) · Rating 3 out of 5]

Overall rating: 3 stars. Most of the stories here were just okay, although there were some fantastic standout ones. Individual reviews of the stories follow.

Entrée to Murder - 4 stars
Solid and somewhat twisty plot, and great side characters. The romance was good but I thought there could have been just a little more chemistry and tension, but maybe that's just because I was low key wanting it to be an enemies to lovers trope."

Twelve Seconds - 1 star.
I found the mystery to be obvious and lacklustre, mostly because of the very small pool of suspects, none of which we really interacted with in the narrative. This is my ultimate murder mystery peeve, as it means the reader has little to no investment in the culprit. Is it randomer #1 or randomer #2? Who cares!

Reality Bites - 5 stars.
I loved this one! Fantastic chemistry between the two leads, and there was some excellent suspense and plot twists.

Blind Man's Buff - 1 star.
This was an interesting concept that could have had a lot of potential, but the execution was poor. The MC was a judgemental, unlikable asshole, and everyone was quite frankly extremely stupid. Why would you not carry a phone with you in case of emergency, especially when you're playing a game with a relatively high risk of injury? Smfh.

A Country for Old Men - 5 stars.
A masterpiece, and definitely my favourite in this collection. Bloody brilliant writing, multi-faceted characters, and a fantastic mystery.

Pepper the Crime Lab - 3 stars.
Enjoyable but unremarkable. I liked the overall vibe of the mystery, but there were some weird dynamics between the MC and the love interest that felt like artificially manufactured conflict for the sake of it.

Lights, Camera, Murder - 4 stars.
I liked the idea of there being two mysteries, of which the murder was the second, and I also loved the interactions between the MC and the love interest. I did think it was a bit predictable, but still good.

Stranger in the House - 2 stars.
Both the mystery and the romance seemed thin on the ground, as if both plot and character development hadn't really been thought out properly.

[James · Rating 3 out of 5]

I had almost no expectations going into this, and from that perspective, I can say it delivered. The stories were enjoyable enough in the moment, but by the time I finished the last one I had already completely forgotten the first five. Still, not a bad way to spend 15 hours I guess.

[Ami]

Reviews (or rating stars) will be added as I finish reading each of the story -- slowly

ENTRÉE TO MURDER by Nicole Kimberling: 4 stars

Loved this :). Loved the interaction between Drew and Mac, how Drew could clearly frustrate Mac by trying to talk to others about the murder, because he wanted the restaurant to open, darn it *laugh*. It was hard to like Drew's best friend, Sam, though. She was NOT a good friend *boo*

BLIND MAN'S BLUFF by L.B. Gregg: 2 stars

I just couldn't get into the set-up *shrugs*

A COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN by Dal Maclean: 3 stars

I wasn't a fan of Maclean's highly praised debut book -- in fact, I DNF'ed it because I couldn't get into her writing. At all. But my friend told me this was different. In one way, it did. Like she said, it reminded me of Harper Fox's. I loved the 'old letters' that were emailed to Calum. Those were things of beauty. And this story also made me look up for Lewis chessmen, and I love it when a romance book can make me do that. New knowledge!

BUT, the second chance romance didn't blew me away. Didn't ANYONE remembered that Adam was supposedly still had a partner waiting for him (even if we never knew his name and it wasn't mentioned)? Didn't what he did with Calum considered cheating? And let's face it, Calum didn't exactly solved the murder, did he?. Yeah, it was just an okay read this time.

PEPPER THE CRIME LAB by Z.A. Maxfield: 4 stars

ZAM needs to write a sequel to this!! Or at least make it a separate series!! Because I adored Lonnie. I want to see him flourish as the owner of Pepper the Lab dog. I want to read more about his attempt of being amateur sleuth. Because it'll be interesting to see how he works that out, in between his own job (if he returns to the restaurant) as a chef. And of course I want to see his relationship progress with Rick. Simply put, if this is a set-up of a new series, I'm HOOKED already.

STRANGERS IN THE HOUSE by Josh Lanyon: 3 stars

Hmmm, I liked the vibe of the house. Lanyon described it well. And I LOVED Miles :). He was kind. I had a difficult time to believe the romance though.

[Carol · Rating 5 out of 5]

808 pages of 8 M/M romance stories available by authors that are almost all some my favorites. I bought the book from Amazon for $7.75...today its $29.95 so I feel that I really got the best of the best deal here. Most all were authors that I have read and reread...but I had never read any of these stories. For being advertised being all short stories, they are all more than decent in length, so I didn’t feel cheated in any way.

Entrée to Murder - Nicole Kimberling - (Washington) - I had not read anything by this author before so I was looking forward to seeing how she was going to handle the body in the basement. I would have called this one a cozy mystery...which I’m not a real fan of. Chef and restaurant owner Drew Allison and Police Deputy Mac MacKenzie investigates a dead body that turns up in the basement of Drew’s restaurant. I thought that the police dwelled on making Drew feel that he was their only suspect for way too long. And really didn’t do much to find the real killer...but it had a satisfactory ending so it will get 3.5 Stars

Twelve Seconds - Meg Perry – (Florida) - A different type mystery that took place in my home state of Florida at Cape Kennedy. Austin Harris is a space reporter and Air Force Special Agent Greg Marcotte ...he says “it’s Air Force NCIS”, investigate a mysterious rocket explosion and a dead body found in an alligator. Being originally from Florida, I didn’t find that hard to believe at all. I liked the connection of the two main characters...and even though they hit it off right away that wasn’t too odd either. “We’re into each other and so we start dating.” Guess that says it all. It was one of my favorites...so 5 stars

Reality Bites - S.C. Wynne - (California) – Odd...neither either Detective Cabot Decker or the reality TV producer, Jax Thornburn seemed to be really upset that their contestant had been mauled to death by a tiger on the set of a reality-TV show that Dax was MC for. The contestants receive a huge amount of money if they spend the night alone with some kind of animal. The two of them seem much more interested in sniping at each other and then checking each other out …several times. The policing was very unrealistic. Would there not be someone from the show somewhere in the vicinity on a reality TV show? Especially one that has a person encounter something that would happily place you on the menu either as the main course or a midnight snack. In the end I could ignore all that and I really liked the chemistry between the cop and the producer, and I never guessed the killer...even though the tiger was being framed for it. 4.Stars

Blind Man’s Bluff - L.B. Gregg –This was one of my favorites. It reads more like a suspense story than a mystery. I thought at first that these were teenagers but then was surprised to find out they were teachers. I NEVER had a teacher that would have been this much fun. Tommy Cline and Jonah Theroux are part of a group of friends that get together on weekends. They go to different abandoned, or out of the way places to play urban warrior games, The fun on this weekend is a local abandoned mall for a game of capture the flag. Tommy is more interested in capturing his friend and fellow teacher, Jonah who he has wanted “more” from for some time. Their fun time comes to a sudden halt when a bound young boy crashes into Tommy from the floor above. They now find themselves on the run from a psycho who has made this mall his home base for his own particular kind of games. I was excited about this one. Then nothing really happened. The story was set up to have the psycho really didn’t turn out like the story was set up for him to, and I was a bit disappointed. I think it need to be a longer story. It wasn’t bad and I did like the characters so - 4.5 stars.

A Country for Old Men - Dal MacLean - (Scotland) - This was probably my least favorite story but my most favorite two main characters. Way too many Gaelic words...but then it did take place in Scotland...so that won’t affect my rating. The two main characters had been former lovers and I believe me I wanted them to take up again! Actually, their back-and-forth play was a good part of the story. Set on the Isle of Lewis in the Scottish Hebrides we meet Calum Macleod, an inspector with the island’s small police force. We have a murder as well as an ancient chessman that holds some power that I didn’t quite understand but it aided in combining history with culture that was thousands of years old. Another thing that I didn’t understand was the letters, that someone kept sending to Calum. They were never explained very well and seemed to not matter to any of the story. It was a short story that actually turned into a longer story than was necessary. I did absolutely 100% love the ending so it will get 4 stars instead of the 3 stars I was going to give it.

Pepper the Crime Lab - Z. A. Maxwell - (California) - Lonnie, a restaurant owner, and chef, is recovering from an illness and while off work he moves into an apartment. Before he’s even unpacked, his neighbor, who isn’t liked by any of the other residents, is murdered with one of Lonnie’s knives. You know who the police are convinced is the chief suspect...but they have no proof or any reasoning for the crime except for the knife. Everyone in this complex has a dog...including the dead guy. Since Lonnie only dreams of the “perfect” dog he’s going to have one day...the neighbors talk him into taking “Pepper”, the dead neighbor’s dog. He is determined that he is only: fostering” Pepper until someone takes her in. Of course, things work out differently for all. It wasn’t a high-end favorite but it would fall into a possible reread sometime. Cute guys and a really cute dog...so 4 stars

Lights, Camera, Murder - C.S. Poe – (New York) - C.S. Poe is already one of my favorite M/M romance authors. I’ve read and reread several times her Snow & Winter series...so I was prepared to love anything by her. Rory Byrne is a Private Investigator whose client is a TV Producer that I hated from the first words out of mouth and continued throughout the entire story. Rory’s assignment is to figure out who stole a script from the set. He was told first thing not to talk to “The Talent” but he had to talk to everyone if he was going to solve this case...and no one had told “The Talent” not to talk to him. The star, Marion is more than a bit attracted to Rory and Rory returns the attraction...but Marion IS “THE Talent” in capital letters. - Of course, love is love and always wins so Marion and Rory are a pair but not yet a couple...and time is getting short. I didn’t think the person with the script was very well represented...but it fit the storyline. I’ve read much better by this author, but this is a short story and it’s a welcome part of my $7.75 bargain so...4 stars

Stranger in the House -Josh Lanyon – (Canada) - Josh Lanyon is one of my all-time favorite authors of any genre. I have read almost everything she has ever written and loved every single word. I would read the telephone book if she put her name on it as to having written it. Short stories for her are as easy to catch the reader attention with as full-length books. Miles Tuesday is an art teacher whose Godmother left him a mansion in Montreal....and, SUPRISE, a cemetery. That was fine until he arrives and finds Linley Palmer, his godmother’s son and his former “wanna be/almost” boyfriend. is there and things are happening that have no explanation except perhaps that Linley might be behind them...or, the mansion is no as empty as he had originally thought. Hey, It’s Josh Lanyon... so 5 stars without question.

[Karen · Rating 4 out of 5]

"Footsteps in the Dark" is a fun collection of short mystery stories by some of my favorite M/M authors and the narration duties have been shared by Joel Leslie and Kale Williams.

I honestly enjoyed all of these stories and while I may have liked some more than others listening to any of them was by no means a hardship. If your a fan of romantic suspense and the m/m genre I think you'll enjoy this one...definitely recommended.

[Jenny (Nyxie) · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really enjoyable audiobook. Each story was novella length, so we didn't get too in depth with any of the characters, but the stories were well written with compelling characters. If you're an audible member, this is almost 30 hours of audio for one credit. Would definitely recommend.

Individual Story Ratings, in order of my favorites:

A Country for Old Men by Dal MacLean. 5,000*. Buy the whole book just for this story, it was incredible. Story within a story with one of the MC's receiving letters from a long deceased gay man who came home from WW1 to be with his lover, meanwhile trying to solve a homicide in the small Scottish town. Incredibly atmospheric. I cried. Lots of different threads here, with dashed ambition, family responsibility, and being true to yourself. Wonderful HEA.

Blind Man's Buff by LB Gregg. 4*. Believable friends to lovers with spooky abandoned mall setting. Unbelievable falls from heights with minimal injuries, and no way these guys are going to stay employed as high school teachers if they get trespassing charges. But it's an entertaining story.

Lights, Camera, Murder by CS Poe. 4*. Despite the pairing being one of the least believable - lonely PI with hollywood's favorite rising star - I enjoyed this one. The movie production setting was interesting, and I enjoyed reading about the cranky, lonely PI try to fit in with the crew. Also the PI has an excellent cat.

Entrée to Murder by Nicole Kimberling. 3*. Had a lot of potential but fell a bit flat.

Twelve Seconds by Meg Perry. 3*. Space adjacent, which I always enjoy. But the character dynamic was not super strong.

Pepper the Crime Lab by ZA Maxwell. 3*. Humorous vibes but I just did not like the chef MC. How could he not immediately adore Pepper and want to keep her forever? I might be projecting a bit haha

Reality Bites by SC Wynne. Low 3*. I just did not find the relationship believable, and was more concerned for the tiger than anyone in the book seemed to be.

Stranger in the House by Josh Lanyon. 3*. This story was fine, but I feel like it was a shortened mimic of some of Lanyon's older works like Stranger on the Shore. If that's your type of book you'll probably enjoy it, but it felt a bit flat to me.

[Mike · Rating 5 out of 5]

Sooooo worth the money. The best M/M authors all in one place. L.B. Gregg- who’s been quiet lately, has a nice, light caper in an abandoned mall. Josh Lanyon, excellent as usual. And Dal Maclean’s brooding, romantic mystery on a Scottish island is more than worth the price of the book in itself. Do yourself a favor and don’t read the intros- just get surprised by each unique, engaging story.

Recommmeeennnddddddd :)

[Lada · Rating 2 out of 5]

The mysteries in this anthology were mostly so-so, and it was because they're solved by chance rather than by true investigation. And the romance... well, there's nothing new there.

The story I liked the most was Josh Lanyon's because the romance wasn't blatantly sexual and the sex scene didn't take pages.

On the second place was Dal McLean's story. I loved those letters and the moment between MC and his dad when the truth of those letters was revealed. MC's romance was actually lukewarm, and I didn't really like MC. To quote the villain, "... he was gay and spineless too!"

Meg Perry's story was rather boring, but both MCs were all right, and there's no sex scene. C.S. Poe's story was the one where MC managed to figure out the bad guy by himself, but I didn't really like his love interest. SC Wynne's story actually had a good mystery, but it's a pity that the detective thought more with his dick than his brain.

Z.A. Maxfield's story rubbed me the wrong way. I couldn't understand why MC and the other tenants would continue to live in such an apartment. I didn't like the way MC was forced to take Pepper (an untrained Labrador) in, and I didn't like MC being told by his love interest that he couldn't have a trained Afghan Hound while the man himself had a trained Belgian Malinois.

LB Gregg's story was an unreadable mess. It described the setting more than the plot. Basically, it's TL;DR, and I skipped most of it.

I dropped Nicole Kimberling's story early on because I didn't want to read about the alcoholic, messed up BFF.

[C.S. Poe]

Buy Links:

Ebooks, Paperback, and Audio

Footsteps in the Dark features the novella, Lights. Camera. Murder. by C.S. Poe, which is available for sale and review separately in ebook and paperback.

[Rosa · Rating 4 out of 5]

I got this anthology as an ARC through Josh Lanyon Twitter. The stories in the book are really enjoyable and I have discovered new authors that despite being around for awhile I haven't read before. This book has took me a bit more than planned to finish because life have been intruding lately but, when I reached the last page of the book yesterday night, I did it with a satisfying feeling. I had a good time reading this and one of the stories will go to my 2019 favourite list.

Entrée to Murder by Nicole Kimberling is a really enjoyable story. I liked both MC Drew and Mac, the mystery was good, I thought I knew who the culprit was but... well, I was surprised at the end. And I find another female character not to like. I could have done without Sam, Drew associate. That woman was a moron.

Twelve Seconds by Meg Perry was my least favourite of the book. I'm sad to say it, but her books aren't for me. I didn't like Justin nor Greg voices, nor Greg lack of professionalism. Being this a short, I was prepared to overlook some things, but even going into this with that in mind, I was rolling my eyes most of the time. And then we have the thing with the crocodrile... that had me upset during a lot of time, I don't like when killing animals is treated lightly. That has made me stop reading some authors in the past.

Reality Bitesby S.C. Wynne. First time reading this author and I liked it. It was a bit predictable but enjoyable enough.

Blind Man's Buff by L.B. Gregg was a really nice surprise. Another new author for me and I liked this story a lot. The ambiance was spooky and I liked the characters voices. Also, it was refreshing that despite being thrown into a difficult situation, none of them were law enforcement and they manage to come out of it successfully, well... more or less. I'll keep an eye for her books in the future.

A Country for Old Men by Dal MacLean. First time reading something writen by her and, what a wonderful story! This is my favourite from the antology. I absolutely loved this one. It's full of what I call "the Scottish feeling". I haven't been to Scotland but I fell in love with Lewis Island though Peter May's eyes when I read The Lewis Trilogy. Scotland is a character in itself in this story and one really important. Like The Chessmen, this story made me cry, not due to Cal and Adam story (I didn't like Cal much, though I can undestand why he acts like that), but due to the other story that unfolds through the case. I'm going to say no more, I don't want to spoil that discovery for others.

Pepper the Crime Lab by Z.A. Maxfield. This is also a new author to me. The story has an adorable dog and that's always a plus, but I didn't like Lonnie personality much, nor Rick either. And the mystery wasn't really a mystery, it was pretty obvious in my opinion, taking into consideration how Pepper reacts to that character. Another thing that didn't work for me was that past connection between Lonnie and Rick. I think the story would have been better developed without that.

Lights, Camera, Murder by C.S. Poe. This story was quite entertaining, I was worried because while I enjoyed Joy, her Snow & Winter series wasn't for me. Rory and Marion were cute together, I found some of the situations hard to believe, but this is a short story so I was ready to cut it some leeway.

Stranger in the House by Josh Lanyon. I liked the mystery in this story but the romance not so much... I found it weird and forced at times. I think it would have needed some more pages. Still, as the romance is not something I need to enjoy a story, I liked this one a lot. Gathering the clues was fun and I loved being right about the culprit when I reached the end.

[Dumbledore11214]

I hesitated as to whether I should review this anthology at all, because while I was eagerly waiting to read Nicole Kimberling's story and Dal Maclean's and couple other authors, there are some authors in this anthology whose writing and my taste begun to run far away from each other and only seem to run further away. So this is just brief comments for myself to remember which story I liked and which I liked LESS or not at all, I am not nearly finished yet so will add later.

Nicole Kimberling's "Entree to murder" - one of the favorite m/m author rarely fails to please me and this novella was no exception. The couple in making is police and chef, loved them together, they amused me, I didn't think either of them was too stupid to live and very importantly the villain surprised me - in the novella, no small feat. 4.5 stars

ZA Maxfield "Pepper The Crime Lab" - I was very pleasantly surprised by this story. I loved the guys and the mystery was surprising enough. I say I was surprised because I kinda left ZA Maxfield's work behind and now I wonder if I should come back, but I was beyond annoyed at the ending. Ever read the mystery where the villain was not caught?! Here you go. To be fair - there were two crimes ( or a crime and a series of crimes) committed here. The murderer was caught, but I think I wanted whoever did the other horrible things punished even more! Annoying 2 stars.


S.C. Poe "Lights. Camera. Murder." Meh. The couple was pleasant, but could the author be a bit less obvious in pointing a big red arrow at the murderer ? Look here is a horrible person, of course they end up being murderer. - 2 stars

S.C. Wynne "Reality Bites." - well it was another pleasant surprise - up to a point that is. This author's work and my taste really don't mesh from the past experience, but since I already bought the anthology I figured why not . Wonderful, fast moving story, two guys have good chemistry , but I am sorry I am REALLY REALLY over the one female character in the story being a horrible crazy sociopathic piece of shit had been over that plot twist for a long long time. 2 stars

Will add later, although I will be frank, when I read the description of Josh Lanyon's story all I could think was - not another haunted house please.

Edited to add.

"Blind Man's Buff" by LB Gregg.

Oh man, just what did I just read ? They gathered to play the game and now they are running from the shooter. The end. I am really bummed, because LB Gregg's story I was looking forward to . I loved her "Men of Smithfield " novellas and some others and wanted to see a new stuff. I am perfectly happy with romantic suspense, but somehow setting failed to excite me and make me nervous and don't get me started on the couple. I get that the story tries to tell us that they at least in their heads already moved from the "friends" to more than friends, but I need to see it and what writer showed me just wasn't enough. Two stars.

So far this anthology is quite a disappointment overall :(

Edited to add:

"A Country for Old Men" by Dal MacLean.

I know Dal Maclean is not for everyone, but I loved her two novels and was so looking forward to this novella. Did not disappoint me in the slightest. Beautiful setting, very interesting basis for the mystery, always love when we are shown the investigation and the detective/policeman whoever doing an actual thinking. I also loved how the writer managed for me not to make the guy look completely stupid even if he didn't figure out the main culprit. He did manage to zero in on the secondary one even if temporarily lol.

I also enjoyed the romance, actually no, it was a start of the second chances, but the one that made sense to me. Beware if you care, because I really don't Adam, the guy with whom Calum is reunited has a partner when he has sex with Calum. However he shares this with Calum and says his partner will not mind, so to me this suggested either an open relationship or relationship that is about to break. I know many romance readers care about this kind of thing - if it is well done, I don't as I mentioned.

Mystery was excellent I thought. I had no clue and for novella this was no small feat and more importantly I absolutely saw why Calum would not even let himself think about this possibility and this was such a shock for him.

[Anabela.M. · Rating 5 out of 5]

This anthology is fantastic! I loved the diversity, the opportunity, each story at a time, to get attached to different characters, all unique with different personalities and quirks. The mysteries and investigations are captivating and engrossing, all thrilling in their own way.
Footsteps in The Dark has put together eight amazing authors. Their stories, although short,are well constructed and fascinating. Despite the seriousness of the circumstances, there's also a lot of laughter, funny banter and of course, romance.
Eight different experiences and I loved them all!

[Caz · Rating 4 out of 5]

B+ / 4.5 stars overall

I really enjoyed this collection of mm mystery/romance short stories and novellas, which all benefit from expert narration by Kale Williams and Joel Leslie.

The standout of the collection is Dal MacLean’s A Country For Old Men, an atmospheric and beautifully written second-chance love story set on the isle of Lewis in the Outer Hebrides. Joel Leslie obviously did his homework on the Gaelic pronunciations and does a great job with the Scottish accents. The story centres around a deeply closeted police inspector called to investigate a murder involving a centuries old artifact – which brings him face-to-face with the love he left behind five years before.

I read and enjoyed C.S. Poe’s Lights. Camera. Murder. a couple of years back when the author published it separately. Hard-boiled PI Rory Byrne is hired to go undercover on the set of a TV show to investigate the theft of a script – but his job is complicated when he begins to fall for the show’s gorgeous and talented star, Marion Roosevelt. The mystery is clever and well-thought out, and the romance is sweet. I think the author had intended this to be the start of a series, but she’s been focused on Memento Mori and Magic & Steam the last few years, so I imagine it’s on the back-burner.

In Meg Perry’s Twelve Seconds a journalist receives a mysterous phone call the night before the next shuttle launch – the shuttle (unmanned) explodes just after take-off, and whoever placed the phone call has disappeared. I enjoyed the mystery and the romance in this one, even if there are a couple of plot holes.

Nicole Kimberling’s Entrée to Murder is a cosy mystery featuring a chef who finds a dead body in the basement of his restaurant, and S.C Wynne’s Reality Bites is, I think, the only mystery I’ve ever read in which the murder victim was mauled by a tiger! In Z.A. Maxfield’s Pepper the Crime Lab, Lonnie’s first night in his new apartment is disturbed by a dog’s constant barking coming from next door – and in the morning it appears her owner was murdered. With one of Lonnie’s knives. With the help of his other neighbour – a handsome ex-cop – Lonnie sets about finding out who tried to frame him.

The final story is Josh Lanyon’s Stranger in the House, in which teacher and aspiring artist Miles Tuesday inherits a mansion in Montreal – but something doesn’t feel right. The thing that does feel right, however, is the presence of his childhood crush, art dealer Laurie Palmer. The mystery isn’t expecially complex, but I liked the main characters and their romance.

I did, however, find myself scratching my head over the L.B Gregg story, Blind Man’s Buff. When I first the group who were going to play some kind of game in an abandoned shopping centre I assumed this was a YA story – then I realised they were thirty-something teachers! Which made no sense to me. And neither did the plot, although I admit I lost interest early on.

It's a good collection on the whole, and the narrators do an excellent job. I've been meaning to listen to it for ages and saw it was available in Audible Plus, so I picked it up. But it's great value for a single credit, so I'll probably get myself a copy when it leaves the Plus catalogue.

[Sharon Cox · Rating 5 out of 5]

I stayed in this morning to finish Footsteps in the dark and I thoroughly enjoyed what I read. I have books by all of the authors so I know their writing styles and I was very happy to put up my hand when offered the chance at an ARC.
According to my e reader Footsteps in the Dark is over 600 pages in length and each story could be considered a novella. They were long enough that I could become involved with both the story and the characters.
I'm not normally a short story reader but, as I said before, I have read books by all of the authors who have contributed and that was enough to pull me in.
Definitely recommended.

[Amanda · Rating 3 out of 5]

I thought this would hold my attention more than it did, as I love mysteries, I love a couple of these authors, and I enjoy anthologies. However, for some reason I just kept spacing out at times. I will say, there were some notable standouts for me. A Country for Old Men by Dal Maclean was easily a 4.5 star read. Lights, Camera, Murder by CS Poe and Stranger in the House are both between a 3.5 and a 4 (although Leslies narration did no favors for me)

[Jules Lovestoread · Rating 5 out of 5]

Run, don't walk, to buy this anthology. This thing is $3.99, guys! And worth many times that amount. So gooood. :)
See my full review here: http://www.thenovelapproachreviews.co...

[Sarah · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a solid read. My favourites were the first story from LB Gregg and I also adored the Dal Maclean story. They were just excellent. One or two I wasn’t keen on, but worth a nosey if you’re a mystery fan.

[Em · Rating 5 out of 5]

I gave this anthology a B+ at All About Romance. My favorite stories are reviewed below. Grades for the rest of the stories are here: Footsteps in the Dark
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I had high hopes for this anthology when I saw two of the names attached to it (Dal Maclean and Josh Lanyon), and Footsteps in the Dark more than met my expectations, although in the end, all but one of my favorite stories were penned by new-to-me authors (yay!). None of the eight stories are particularly scary or horrifying; instead, they’re uniformly clever and compelling – featuring an intriguing cast of principal characters (heroes and villains), disparate plots, and settings that transport the reader around the globe. It’s always challenging to review an anthology and this one is better than most. I’ve limited my comments to my favorite stories in the collection (and then graded them in order of preference), but reader – this is a strong assortment of stories you will be hard pressed to put down, and Footsteps in the Dark is more proof that m/m romantic suspense writers are crafting the best stories in romancelandia these days.

Blind Man’s Bluff by L.B. Gregg
Grade: A

The set-up of this novella – a group of adventurous high school teachers/friends meet-up for a game of Capture the Flag inside a long abandoned shopping mall – didn’t initially grab me, but after the first few pages, told from the extremely sarcastic and self-deprecating PoV of Tommy (not Thomas) Cline, I was hooked.

Tommy has been best friends with Jonah Theroux for years, and after witnessing Jonah masterfully break-up a school fight, he suddenly realizes he’s attracted to him, too. Hoping to sneak away once the game gets underway, Tommy’s surprised and thrilled when it turns out Jonah had a similar plan. The teams split up and Jonah grabs Tommy’s hand and kisses him, whispering about how long he’s waited for Tommy to wake up and realize they’re meant to be together. They trade kisses and finally separate to join their team mate, but just as Tommy turns to follow Jonah, a trussed and blindfolded body drops on top of him.

Gregg, a new-to-me author, hits the gas pedal after the body drops and never backs off until the very end. Tommy and Jonah – and their newest team member, a surly teenager who escaped his captor by flinging himself off the second floor – face off against a homicidal maniac who knows the abandoned mall like the back of his hand. The pace is frantic as they fight off a smug, crazy killer and search for an escape, all the while hoping for help from their missing (possibly dead) friends. Exciting, heart pounding, and romantic, I couldn’t put this story down. Blind Man’s Bluff is my surprise favorite novella in the anthology.

Pepper the Crime Lab by Z.A. Maxfield
Grade: A

After a bout of pneumonia and near fatal allergic reaction to the medication he took to treat it, chef/restaurant owner Lonnie Boudreaux needs a fresh start. But his first night in his new apartment gets off to a rough start when he’s kept awake by a neighbor’s barking dog. Failing to get the manager to do something about the noise, he meets another frustrated neighbor in the hall – and when the barking abruptly changes to crying, they enter the unlocked apartment and discover the dog with a lampshade cord wrapped around its neck, and a dead body in the master bedroom. Lonny, shocked by the sight of so much blood and a familiar knife in the man’s chest, unthinkingly pulls it out. Oops. His actions make Lonnie the primary suspect in the murder, as his handsome – possibly a cop? – neighbor Enrique “Rick” Garcia makes abundantly clear after he calls police to the crime scene. Lonnie knows he isn’t a murderer and he sets out to find out who is.

Lonny is a stereotypical workaholic restaurant owner. He’s never been good at relationships or taking care of himself, but hopes the forced sabbatical and his goal of pet ownership will help him find balance. He didn’t expect to become a murder suspect or to meet an enigmatic and beautiful stranger from his past. But that’s what he gets.. .along with Pepper, the barking (now ownerless) labrador. This tiny gem of a novella tracks two parallel storylines – Lonny’s search for a killer (and possible dog poisoner) and his personal journey from loner workaholic to loving partner and dog owner. He’s a quirky, horny, loveable mess who finds happiness where he least expects it, and Rick is the gentle and fierce protector (with a heart of gold) who tries diligently to keep him out of harm’s way. I guessed who the villain was early on – but it didn’t stop me from loving every single thing about this story or this pair (and Pepper too!).

A Country for Old Men by Dal Maclean
Grade: A-

After nearly a decade away, Inspector Calum Macleod has returned to his parents’ remote and isolated home in the Western Isles of Scotland, determined to repress his sexual desires and fulfill his destiny – marrying a local girl, giving his parents grandchildren – and spending the remainder of his years tucked away in this quiet corner of the world. But when a neighbor is brutally murdered and evidence at the scene suggests the murder might be linked to a valuable family heirloom, Calum follows the clues… straight to Adam Patterson, the man he’s spent years trying (and failing) to forget.

Atmospheric and sombre, ACFOM is tonally the darkest story in the anthology. Calum is a remote and damaged hero who grows on you as the story progresses, but his deep sadness at the bleak future he imagines for himself is powerfully affecting. Even after the author introduces Adam (clearly his soul mate), it isn’t clear there is a happily ever in the offing for this pair. Adam is aloof and distant, Calum is overwhelmed by the intensity of his feelings being near him again, and it’s an awkward and painful reunion. Maclean loves imperfect characters, unreliable narrators, and genuine emotional conflict and this one has all-of-the-above in spades. I wanted happiness for Calum… but wasn’t sure he wanted it for himself.

Unlike the other stories in this anthology, the whodunnit in ACFOM is impossible to guess, and although I liked how all the disparate plot threads come together, it was a bit overwhelming and a tad too neat. There’s a lot to unpack in this gem of a novella and readers unfamiliar with Maclean might be concerned it’s too much. It isn’t.

Pro tip: Save yourself some frustration and read the bonus Scottish Gaelic glossary before you start reading the novella.

Reality Bites by S.C. Wynne
Grade: A-

Opposites attract when Detective Cabot Decker is asked to investigate the possible murder of one of the contestants in a reality TV show. Cabot isn’t convinced it’s murder – after all, the man was mauled and eaten by a panther after agreeing to spend the night locked in the animal’s cage. Even after he meets the show’s anxious and concerned (handsome) producer, Jax Thornburn, he isn’t convinced the case is anything more than an animal behaving like an animal should, but watching tape of the night the contestant was killed changes his mind. And when someone tries to run the producer off the road and then sets his office on fire, Caleb’s investigation takes on a new urgency. Can he find the killer before Jax becomes a victim?

Reality Bites is a terrific title for this clever novella, especially since reality turns out to be a many layered thing. Is the show reality? Nope. And Caleb’s assumptions – about the case, about Jax, about himself – aren’t reality either. Caleb can’t help but be protective of Jax, and even though he’s attracted to him, he tries hard to resist Jax’s obvious interest. But his efforts are wasted since Caleb likes Jax and wants to keep him safe, and Jax – who’s made a career out of taking chances – wants a wary Caleb to take a chance on him. These two have great chemistry despite their differences, and I enjoyed the developing dynamic between them as much as the investigation into the murder that brings them together. I had my guesses about the villain – and I was partially right – but the climatic ending was still somewhat of a surprise. Reality Bites is a clever, exciting and sexy novella, and S. C. Wynne is another author I’ll be spending more time with in the very near future.

[Sunne · Rating 5 out of 5]

So - this is not a collection of short stories.

This anthology contains several fully fledged novellas (actually, I didn't check the word count but some even felt like novels).
Each story itself was well crafted, well written and a pleasure to read. I'm really in love with it.

Entrée to Murder by Nicole Kimberling
I didn't know the author so I was very pleasantly surprised by the well rounded, good paced and interesting mystery. There was a certain charme in the way Drew couldn't help to stumble over critical information and the chemistry between him and Mac. Add the quirky ind individual side characters - I'm sold. I'm going to check out more written by her.

Twelve Seconds by Meg Perry
Justin and Greg have a good chemistry and the subtle humor I love in books. I found it a bit irritating how the agents had been called in to organize and document the "debris" but the moment they ...erm..spoiler...well, okay, let's say nobody cared about the original job then. That was a bit odd. But all in all the writing was good, funny and sweet.

Reality Bites by S.C. Wynne
Now that was interesting to read. I had my suspicions and funny enough, I was right :D
But I loved the development of the story. It was a very good and entertaining mystery read.

Bling Man's Bluff by L.B. Gregg
This is probably the story I liked the least in this anthology. I assume because I couldn't actually really understand motivations or descriptions. A lot of the story was depending on the surroundings, descriptions of the building, its built. I found that a bit boring and therefore I probably missed maybe relevant parts. Also the "romance" took to much of a back seat to the "thrill". I also found it very unbelievable that teachers would actually act this questionable by breaking and entering an abandoned building (or believing the friend with the crowbar that they had permission - which is very unbelievable based on insurance reasons).

A Country for Old Man by Dal Maclean
Oh my god - I'm in love. I love, love, love stories where the atmosphere of the surroundings, the way of living, permeates the whole story. How I suffered with poor Calum. Oh my, I wanted to shake him, talk to him, hug him, admire his steadyfast character and slap his stupidity. How can you cope when the guy is so, so good that you just want to slap a bit of egoism into him?
And the mystery, how witty was that? I had no idea.
I could have stayed in that story for a while longer...I loved it.

Pepper the Crime Lab by Z.A. Maxfield
Nice, actually two love stories and I have to admit, I liked the one between Lonnie and Pepper maybe a little more than between Lonnie and Rick ;)
It's just - the clumsy overgrown baby lab is just adorable and it was fun to see - before Lonnie himself realized it - how this dog had wormed its way into his heart.
Rick and Lonnie also made an interesting couple. The mystery itself was kind of obvious to me. Duh...but it was a fun read.

Lights, Camera, Murder by C.S. Poe
Hm, I don't know. I liked it, yes, but somehow I felt a bit let down by it, too. Maybe because I didn't feel the chemistry so much. It came down to me as a instant visual attraction. The part, where the reader could have get a better grasp on the connection, was glossed over by listing what Marion and Rory did on the "day off" but not really showing. For me it was a bit to superficial instant attraction.
On the other hand...a PI who talks with his cat? That was a cute bit.

Strangers in the House by Josh Lanyon
Let's be honest - this name sold the anthology to me. I freely admit: Josh Lanyon is a synonym for well written mysteries for me.
So no wonder I enjoyed reading this one. I actually also bought the romance, despite the rocky start.
I was wrong in guessing who the bad guy was, too. Duh...that is fun. I loved it, it's been a typical Josh Lanyon story.

I didin't rate the single stories - they all were good, some very good. The whole anthology is 4,5 stars from me and definitely worth the money. Highly recommended.

[Enirehtak Melas · Rating 4 out of 5]

Overall anthology rating: 4.5 stars

Entree to Murder by Nicole Kimberling

*4 Stars*

I liked this one. I have not heard from this author before, but I will be checking out other titles from her for sure. I liked the romance between the two MC's, their relationship burned hot and cold at times because of the nature of the mystery that surrounded them. I liked the pairing between a chef and a deputy sheriff, it added a lot to the story. Now, the mystery worked well for me. I liked the build up, but I knew who the culprit was from early on. I am pretty sure we were meant to though. What I wish was different was the POV. I really wanted dual POV so that we can have insight to both of the main characters. Also, the secondary character Sam was so annoying and I wanted Drew to give her what for , but he never really did.

Twelve Seconds by Meg Perry

*4.5 Stars*

Yay for dual POV! Win for the creative professions of both MC's, a space reporter and an Air Force Special Agent. That was something new and something that I definitely enjoyed! There was a good balance between the romance and the mystery, and I do not think one was forfeited for the other to take the focus. I loved the chemistry between the two men, but the humor was on point. Yet another new author for me.


Reality Bites by S.C. Wynne

*4.75 Stars*

I loved this one! Hard not to love a book by this author. Perfect blend of balance between the romance and the mystery, there was undeniable chemistry between the two main characters, there was a hate to love kind of trope in their . The latter was based off of preconceived notions about what Hollywood types are. I will say that at times the bickering put me off, but only a little bit.

Blind Man's Buff by L.B. Gregg

*3 Stars*

I do not know if I ultimately liked this one. I did not feel the vibe between the two men in this one. The romance was bit too light for my taste, it focused more on the mystery. The mystery itself was SUPER fast paced and action packed. It was single POV. I wanted more.


A Country of Old Men by Dal Maclean

*4.75 Stars*

Oh this one is my favorite! I loved everything about this one (but for the single POV). Perfect blend of mystery and romance, one did not take over the other. Apparent chemistry between the main characters, and I loved how it was written!


Pepper the Crime by Z.A. Maxfield

*3 Stars*

This is not my favorite one. It started off a bit detached for me and the mystery (about the dogs) was not actually solved at the end nor was the culprit of the murder caught. I expected more from this title because I tend to like Maxfield's writing.


Lights. Camera. Murder by C.S. Poe

*3.5 Stars*

This might be my third book from C.S. Poe and I think I need to read more of her books. I have no idea why I have been sleeping on her titles. I will say though that the pairing between these two MC's was my second to least favorite because I do not really believe if I felt genuine chemistry between the both of them. The mystery aspect was okay, but I think it could have benefited from a bit more balance from the romance and the mystery.

Stranger in the House by Josh Lanyon

*3.75 Stars*

I was surprised that I did not like this one more as I usually love Lanyon's books a lot. This one just pretty good, but one of the MC's kind of annoyed me because of his attitude. I liked the whole second chance/reunion trope/vibe of this story. It mostly worked for me, but I kind of wanted more from the mystery.