I really enjoyed this book and will be reading more in the series! This book had it all! It had murder, mystery and adventure. I thoroughly enjoyed! Highly recommend!

I feel very conflicted about this book. I probably feel slightly disappointed since I have such a high expectation due to the intriguing synopsis I read at first.

I really like the forensic side from this story. Seeing it from Dr. Grey- the forensic anthropologist a genius whose trying to solve multiple cases. It was an interesting combination of crime and anthropology.

The secondary characters are also pretty well developed, Tiffany and Hank's character really liven up the mood and Tiffany can bring out another side of Dr. Grey.

The story was told from various POVs, it can get confusing at first but it'll eventually makes sense near the ending. The little things will start to come together and solve the puzzle.

To be honest, I'm having difficulties with the writing style. It's very descriptive in certain parts.
I don't mind getting into detail with the forensic parts, but other than that it's unnecessary to go into heavy detail about the character's clothes.
In the end, I find myself skimming in some parts just to get the story going.

Overall, it's a very quick read for me. There's not much surprises in this book, nonetheless, I still enjoy reading about the forensic parts and the character development. While I do enjoy it I wish there are more development in other areas.
For fans of police procedural and forensic books with descriptive writing style then I recommend reading this one.

Thank you to Netgalley, Ryburn Dobbs and Book Publicity Services for granting this review copy to me. I'm leaving this honest review voluntarily!

The Comfort of Distance is the first Sebastien Grey forensic mystery by Ryburn Dobbs. Released in 2020, it's 274 pages and is available in paperback, audio, and ebook formats. It's worth noting that the ebook format has a handy interactive table of contents as well as interactive links and references throughout. I've really become enamored of ebooks with interactive formats lately. For Kindle Unlimited subscribers, this book is currently included in the KU subscription library to borrow and read for free. The second book in the series, The Boxwood Torso, is also currently available on KU.

This is an interesting forensic mystery with a neurodivergent protagonist. He's meticulous and neurotic, intelligent, and has moderately severe interpersonal social anxiety. He's more or less independently wealthy, and that's a factor in the story and the emphasis makes him come across as a bit of wish-fulfillment on the part of the author (who also worked as a forensic anthropologist and consultant and who could, for all I know, actually also be independently wealthy).

The writing is very choppy and almost frenetic. The story hops from thread to thread seemingly without rhyme or reason. I found the back-and-forth distracting and at places, and it yanked me out of the overall story. The dialogue and characterizations are adequate and the scenery descriptions are very good. There's an exhausting overabundance of minutiae; street directions for example ("After snaking his way through town—5th Street, right on Mt. Rushmore, left on 2nd Street, left on Washington, left on 5th, right on Custer—", etc) and I found myself taking breaks more often than usual because I felt bogged down in the non-essential details. The eventual climax, resolution, and denouement are satisfying and well written.

The bones of a very good mystery and series are here from the beginning. The book would have benefited immensely from being subjected to a thorough and merciless editing process, but only in tightening the prose, editing a few loose ends, and mostly in the finishing and polishing process. The basic story, including the neurodivergent and interesting protagonist and his dysfunctional and complicated relationship with his brother and his brother's wife are well written, nuanced, and complex. I really liked that the author clearly shows that Sebastien's atypical neurology and personality aren't a super-power, but can make him difficult and irritating to people around him.

Three and a half stars, a promising start to the series.

Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes.

*I received a copy of this book on NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you to the author, publisher, and NetGalley for this opportunity*

Called into the Black Hills of South Dakota by his semi-estranged brother, Sebastian Grey finds himself practically leading the investigations on not one, but two murder investigations. A prickly sort of guy, Sebastian is surprised when the community not only respects him, but embraces him during his short stint in the small town.

THE COMFORT OF DISTANCE is perfect for fans of Bones or someone interested in forensic anthropology. As someone in the medical field, the book's attention to detail is meticulous and very accurate (I wasn't surprised one bit to find out the author has worked as a forensic anthropologist for ten years). The plot departs from the thriller/mystery usual exploration of who and why, and instead focus on the how-- which is fitting for the main character's thought process.

The story is told in multiple POVs, and the transition between them wasn't always clear (at least when reading on Kindle mobile). Overall, this book wasn't my personal favorite-- but (as the other reviews show) this book is well liked and received.

I really wanted to like this one. I love a new detective/crime series. I just felt like the writing was basic and elementary. Example, if this book is for adults and is not an inspirational (christian) fiction book, please don't use the word "crap", you can use the word "shit". Moreover, sometimes actual curse words were used, other times not. That did not make a lot of sense to me. And it was distracting enough that I couldn't concentrate on the story line