Lament at Loon Landing

This series is so damn enjoyable: I have loved every single one of the "Secrets and Scrabble" installments, and Josh Lanyon's latest one is no exception.

"Lament at Loon Landing" reminded me precisely how much I adore these novels, what a brilliant and highly lovable protagonist Ellery Page is, and why I love mysteries, of every flavour and kind, so damn much.
It also reminded me I should definitely dive into Josh Lanyon's backlist a bit more thoroughly because I LOVE HER WRITING: it's subtly funny and snarky, clever and so easy to inhale. And all of her mysteries are exactly like that too, brilliant and unexpected, witty and easily devoured.

I inhaled Ellery Page's latest adventure in two sittings because, as usual, I was hooked from the very start. Death threats, mysterious accidents, unexpected discoveries, questionable song-writing, betrayals, quarreling lovers (and quarreling Silver Sleuths), hidden identities and, of course, murder, danger and a whole lot of amateur sleuthing: Ellery has his hands full during the events of this book, especially when these events bring about a new challenge, and a fair dose of doubts and insecurity and drama, to his and Jack's slowly developing romance.

Needless to say, I loved every single second I got to spend in Ellery's head as he tried to solve Pirate's Cove umpteenth mystery. He is, as usual, an absolute joy to read about: funny and kind, insecure and lovable, witty and helpessly unable to resist his calling as an amateur sleuth.
And, as usual, he's surrounded by Pirate's Cove wacky, chaotic, not very law-abiding and definitely quirky, citizens: Nora and Watson steal the show, as per usual; all the Silver Sleuths own my heart; and Jack, despite the drama that unfolds with Ellery, is the perfect dreamboat. Actually, I'm glad we got a bit of relationship angst: it's about time things started moving ahead with these two, and I'm very excited to see if Jack's parents (and/or Rob) will soon challenge the status quo.

"Lament at Loon Landing" wasn't my favourite installment in this series, because some aspects of the mystery could have probably been developed a bit more, especially near the end, but I loved it to bits nevertheless: I'm excited to dive into the next book.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the chance to read this for an honest review.

These are so fun. I love Ellery and Watson and Jack (even when he’s being a turd.) If I have one gripe, it’s that there’s so much build up, and then when Ellery and Jack solve their cases, the resulting wrap up is so quick.

This one gets down to the action right away with Dylan and the festival trying to convince (bribe?) Ellery to help them figure out if the threats to Lara, the music festival headliner, are real. Ellery’s reluctant, but the thousand dollar price tag is convincing.

The second case, the murder of Dylan’s girlfriend, puts Ell and Jack at odds as the evidence stacks up to point at Dylan, and Ellery’s determined to prove he didn’t do it. Sometimes being an amateur sleuth with a cop boyfriend is not fun. But, they work it out, because Ellery’s doing better with stating his feelings and needs clearly and they both know when to say they’re sorry.

Honestly, my most favorite character is the dog, Watson because he has so much personality and is just a little scamp. I could keep reading this series indefinitely.

Lament at Loon Landing is the sixth book in the Secrets and Scrabble cozy mystery series by Josh Lanyon. Released 30th March 2023, it's 212 pages and available in ebook format. 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.

As a light and engaging series, this one is so appealing. Protagonist Ellery is drawn into poison pen letters and skullduggery as always (he's a very dangerous person to be around, statistically speaking). Boyfriend, and handsome officer of the law, Jack, tries to keep him safe and mostly intact. This outing, famous folk singer Lara Fairplay is in town to headline a local festival and keeps receiving threatening letters which Ellery is hired to investigate in a private capacity.

Despite being the sixth book in the series it works fine as a standalone. The mystery is mostly self-contained in this volume, and although there are developing relationships and long term plot elements, new readers coming to this volume won't have any trouble following the story. The author is technically adept and provides necessary backstory without info-dumping. The narrative is lighthearted, including an ensemble cast of oddball small-town characters. This is one series I recommend without reservation to my cozy/romance/mystery loving friends.

There are some fairly silly and over the top developments and plot twists, but it's a small village cozy, so it's really part of the whimsy. The "over the top" characters and dialogue were always on the right side of whimsical and charming and didn't shade over into annoying or yank me out of my suspension of disbelief, so it was a very fun read. The author/publisher has taken pains to make it clear that the romance is between two men, so I won't mention that, but there's absolutely no content which would scandalize anyone's maiden auntie. This is pure escapist comfort reading, simple and fun.

Four stars. Engaging and well written.

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

amateur-sleuth, bookseller, puppy, m-m-cozy-mystery, murder, murder-investigation, attempted-murder, family, family-dynamics, island-life, law-enforcement, silver-sleuths, situational-humor, threats, verbal-humor, Y/A-only-means-no-gratuitous-erotica, small-business, small-town*****

Ellery Page is a former model and actor who inherited the Crow's Nest bookstore and a run-down Painted Lady house in a small town/island on the northeast coast. His significant other, Jack, is a widowed career cop who is police chief in their town of Pirate's Cove, and some of Ellery's friends constitute the zany Silver Sleuths. So much for background for anyone who is not already addicted to the series.
This time a formerly famous country singer is in town to stage a comeback and also claims to have found a bit of an unknown Stephen Foster work and there appear to be several "accidents" in the little theater building where she will be holding her events. Meanwhile, the theater owner's girlfriend is murdered and once again Ellery is in the middle of things. Great addition to a fun series!
I requested and received a free temporary ebook copy from JustJoshin Publishing, Inc. via NetGalley. Thank you!

I'm definitely getting better at sleuthing because I did get a couple things. Not everything but I'm not as good as my beloved Ellery so it's okay.

Ellery was as cute in this book as he is in all the others. He is still insecure and in need of reassurances Jack not often gives him, but they are talking more and kniwing what happens in the following book makes me smile at just how far they've gotten in just a bit less than a year together.

I love this island and its peculiar inhabitants and I love that after all these books you kind of know each of them and you feel part of these group of people just nosing around and gossiping in Ellery's mystery bookshop.

I could read a thousand books of Ellery solving mysteries!

A complimentary copy was provided in exchange for an honest review.

Ah, this was a good one. Not that the rest are bad, far from it, just this one had me from the start, for whatever reason. I mean, I know the reason is JL and Ellery and Jack and Watson, lol. :D

Seriously, does this town not realize they have an unusual amount of murder in their small population? Clearly it doesn't pay to know Ellery because everybody ends of dead! Jack better watch out. ;)

Ellery is on the case again but this time it's not about murder, but about possible attempted murder. When Lara starts getting messages threatening her Ellery is put to work to figure out if they are legit. Things are of course complicated by Lara doesn't want to go to the police, Jack doesn't want Ellery sleuthing, and Ellery just wants the money to pay for work on his home. Not to mention that Ellery is also getting some threatening letters, which the ending on that will surprise you, sure did me.

Lara is a singer who is trying to revive her career after being in prison for manslaughter. She doesn't trust the police so Ellery needs to do the work alone.

It's the normal set up and Watson his Ellery's trusted sidekick. The Silver Sleuths are of course involved as well and then there IS a murder! Later, but it's not Lara. No telling! :)

Like I said, I really liked this one. I read this book and the next book in the opposite order which I think a lot of people have done because of when they were released, but never fear. I didn't really notice it with the exception of Ellery and Jack's relationship. See, the ending to the next book has an interesting something in it that I won't even reveal under spoilers and I had to remind myself those events haven't happened yet, and too the fact that in the next book Ellery has been offered [ to revise his old character in his cult classic movies, for a lot of money, and he is debating if he will take the role again (hide spoiler)]. Just a few plot points that don't really have any impact to reading them out of order. Yes, the series needs to be read in order but in this case, it didn't make much difference.

I do recommend, and I can't wait to get the audios through the library, if they show up. I always read JL's books more than once, and I am going to start listening to Bedknobs and Broomsticks book 1 in the near future. Yay!

This is a cute 5 star read.

"Lament at Loon Landing" is the sixth book of the "Secret and Scrabble" series by Josh Lanyon, a cozy mix of mystery, murder and LGBTQ+ romance.

Our main character is Ellery Page, mystery bookstore owner and amateur sleuth in the sea town of Pirate’s Cove. He is hired to investigate several death threats to folk singer Lara Fairplay, who’s going to be the special guest at the annual maritime music festival. After a couple of alleged incidents and a violent murder, Ellery starts to suspect that there is more to the situation than just hate mail.

Let me start by saying that I haven’t read the previous books in this series (I know, shame on me). But I had no problem following the story here because, being a detective fiction series, this book features an independent case that is investigated and solved by the end of the volume. Moreover, enough information on the continued arcs and the relationship dynamics between the characters is skilfully provided by the author so that all readers can understand what’s going on.

As always, what made the book for me are the characters so let’s talk about them. Ellery is witty, smart and loyal, neither the kind of man that looks for trouble, nor one to shy away from it. As a member of the Silver Sleuths book club, Ellery’s fascination with mystery is well-known and a regular source of disagreement with his boyfriend Jack Carson, who’s also the town’s Police Chief. As an officer of the law, Jack is aware of the dangers that come with the job and wants to protect Ellery from them, though sometimes his approach on the matter is not very diplomatic. It was very interesting to see them navigating their new relationship through everything that happens and striking a balance between the case and their feelings. Special mention to Watson, Ellery’s dog, constant source of joy and barking, as well as Nora and Kingston, Ellery’s quirky employees and fellow sleuths.

As far as mysteries go, the case was enough of a puzzle without becoming too convoluted, though some parts were a bit rushed, especially at the end. Still, it felt like a very fun and light reading because of the smooth and charming way it’s written in so I can honestly say that I really liked this book, and that I can’t wait to go back and catch up on the rest of the series.

So, I highly recommend to mystery lovers looking for a nice whodunnit novel, or more in general to anyone looking a warm comfort reading.

Thanks to NetGalley and JustJoshin Publishing, Inc. for providing me with this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

4.5 Stars
Another mystery filled story from Josh that had me smiling throughout. Ellery the book store owner/ former movie star of horror flicks is once again embroiled in another murder. Unfortunately the prime suspect is Ellery's good friend Dylan.
Dating the police chief makes helping Dylan somewhat challenging. Jack and Ellery are definitely butting heads over Dylan's arrest. A slew of suspects and tons of mishaps swirl around the book. Who killed the gold digging September? Who is sending threatening notes? And to top it off, who is attempting to kill a popular singer?
If you love mysteries please don't pass this this funny and well fleshed out mm cozy that really had me guessing.
Special thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for a copy of this book for my reading pleasure.

Finally! I saw in the author’s review that she asked readers to remind her never to write series books out of sequence again. LOL!

So, was it worth the wait? Yes! Not because there was anything earth shattering about the events that took place or that it kept me on the edge of my seat (though parts of it did…) It was mainly because I just love spending time in this quirky little seaside village with all its “characters”. As much as I love Ellery and Jack, I have to admit, I spent a fair amount of time being aggravated with the good detective. Sure, he had his reasons for acting the way that he did, but I still find myself sympathizing more with Ellery most of the time. *sigh*

Since I already have the next book in the series (and have for a while now…) stay tuned! Death at the Deep Dive is up next!