Elusive Relations by Nicky James

Narrated by Nick J. Russo

Note: This is a direct sequel to Temporary Partner, which should be listened to first. There are spoilers for that book in this review.

I used to listen to and read a lot of the same books, but in recent years, I’ve found myself only doing that with books that a) I’ve absolutely loved in print and b) where I know the narration is going to be top-notch. Both those things are true in the case of Nicky James’ Elusive Relations, book two in her Valor and Doyle Mysteries series. So often the second book in a trilogy (I don’t know if there will be more than three books in the series, so I’m going with “trilogy” for now) is a bit of a disappointment, a filler that just ticks along after the introductions and expositions of book one and doesn’t advance the plot/relationship very much because the author is keeping their powder dry for book three. Well, that is absolutely NOT what Nicky James does here, combining a fascinating plot with some stellar character/relationship development as a a new case hits close to home and detectives Quaid Valor and Aslan Doyle try (and fail) to forget their spectacular night together and move on.

When Aslan and his partner Torin Fox are called to the scene of a particularly brutal murder, they find one man beaten viciously to death and learn that his bed-partner survived the attack and has been rushed to hospital. The detectives learn that he is the owner of the house, Jack Pilkey, and that, according to the neighbours, he brings home a different guy every night. The dead man’s wallet and driver’s licence identify him as a twenty-five-year-old student at the local university, and when Aslan sees the photograph of the other guy, his stomach drops. Jack Pilkey is Quaid’s cheating, douchebag ex-boyfriend.

Quaid hears the news from Jack’s parents, who are absolutely devastated. He tells them he’ll find out what he can for them, and, after dropping by the hospital, finds himself back at the precinct and making his way to Homicide, intent on talking to Aslan and offering to do whatever he can to help. It’s the only thing he can think of to do right now; Jack might have been an emotionally manipulative arsehole, but that doesn’t stop Quaid from wanting to find out who hurt him.

The rivalry between the detectives from Homicide and the MPU (Missing Persons Unit) is legendary, and the teams have as little to do with each other as they possibly can. So an MPU detective crossing the demarcation line and actually venturing into Homicide’s part of the building is a very unusual occurrence. Against his will and better judgement, the sight of Quaid stalking towards him fires a spark of excitement through Aslan; in order not to show it, he resorts to his usual method of deflection – outrageous flirtation and cockiness – but Quaid doesn’t rise to the bait this time. He asks to be allowed to act as a kind of consultant on the investigation – after all, he dated Jack for over a year and might be able to provide some useful insight or information that might otherwise be overlooked. Fox is adamantly against the idea and Aslan thinks Quaid is too close for objectivity – but he eventually agrees to keep Quaid in the loop, provided their superiors agree.

Nicky James has once again devised a fascinating and complex mystery that takes a number of unexpected twists and dark turns and I was especially impressed with how she’s come up with a plausible way for Valor and Doyle to work together despite their being in different departments. She achieves a perfect balance between the romance and the suspense in the story; with Quaid and Aslan working together closely once more it becomes impossible for either of them to continue to ignore their mutual attraction or deny that there’s something more than ‘just sex’ happening between them. In the six weeks since the night they spent together at the end of Temporary Partner, they’ve seen each other only in passing and have been telling themselves that’s for the best. Yet Aslan has been out of sorts ever since that night, for reasons he can’t – or won’t – admit to himself, and Quaid continues to struggle with his tendency to become too easily emotionally attached. He knows that taking up Aslan’s flirtatious offers of a repeat will mean opening himself up to a world of hurt, but he can’t forget that night or ignore the strong pull he feels toward the other man – and deep down, he doesn’t want to.

The character and relationship development in this story is fantastic, the growing closeness between the two men engendering some really heartfelt and intimate conversations about deeply personal issues that serve to further cement their already strong connection. On the surface, they’re still very much ‘them’ – prickly, aloof Quaid with his trademark scowl and flirty, outrageous Aslan who loves getting under Quaid’s skin and provoking a reaction, but underneath that, they’re falling hard for one another no matter how hard they’ve tried not to. The witty banter and humour I so enjoyed in the first book is still very much in evidence, and I loved those small gestures that clearly show how much these two are starting to care for each other; the immense satisfaction Aslan derives from getting a smile out of Quaid is ridiculously cute!

Nick J. Russo delivers another technically accomplished and expressive performance here, portraying the two leads and recurring characters consistently, providing appropriate characterisations for the supporting cast members and skilfully differentiating between all of them.  As I said in my review of Temporary Partner, Valor and Doyle are distinguished more by tone and timbre than by pitch; Quaid’s voice is perhaps a little deeper at times, but mostly his speech is delivered in a very precise way that speaks to his reserve while Aslan’s is more open and relaxed with more of a natural warmth to it. The affection and understanding developing between them come through very strongly, and the depth of their connection is expertly conveyed in the sex scenes – which are intense and steamy – and in the small moments of intimacy and understanding that are happening more and more between them.

Elusive Relations is that rare second book that is even better than the first, another fantastic blend of clever, intricate mystery and beautifully unfolding romance. The first two Valor and Doyle Mysteries are among my favourite books and audiobooks of this year and I’m chomping at the bit to get stuck into book three, Unstable Connections, when it comes out later this month (with audio shortly to follow.)

Caz

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