Murder Most Lovely by Hank Edwards & Deanna Wadsworth

A killer at a small-town literary festival. Bumbling drug dealers. A kidnapped cat. Starting a romance among all this chaos might be the death of them.

Michael Fleishman is excited to meet his favorite mystery writer, Russell Withingham, at Lacetown’s Literary Fest. He is not expecting to cross paths with sexy hairdresser Jasper “Jazz” Dilworth—or become embroiled in a real-life mystery. As Lacetown’s only mortician and the county coroner, Michael is called to his first murder scene and is shocked to recognize the victim—Russell’s young lover.

Jazz only wanted to confront his ex, Russell, over his cheating. Instead, he meets the adorably awkward Michael and becomes a murder suspect. Soon Jazz is teaming up with Michael to clear his name. Along the way, they are helped and hindered by Michael’s sassy assistant, Kitty, the grumpy Sheriff Musgrave, Russell’s creepy PR rep, Norbert, and Michael’s lothario grandfather, who likes his manhattans strong and his women saucy. And of course, Mr. Pickles Furryton the Third…

Book 1
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Dreamspinner Press

Reviews by the Wicked Reads Review Team

Veronica – ☆☆☆☆☆
Michael Fleishman runs a funeral home and is the coroner in Lacetown, a small town on Lake Michigan. Waiting in line to meet is favourite mystery writer, he meets local hairdresser Jazz, who also happens to be the mystery writer's soon-to-be ex-husband. Jazz and Michael flirt as they share an umbrella in the rain.

I love reading murder mystery/romance novels and lately many of them have been brilliant but very serious. But Murder Most Lovely is full of levity and humour – it never feels heavy, even when Jazz's ex's new squeeze turns up dead with his hand cut off. The quirky diverse characters had me repeatedly laughing out loud. The sheriff with questionable intelligence, young wannabe drug runners, Michael's grandpa, Mr. Pickles the cat, and the workers at Michael's mortuary all make for an entertaining supporting cast. The stars themselves, Michael and Jazz keep having drama get in the way of their dates, but among the search for a killer and kidnapped cat they manage to grow close and provide us with a few incredibly hot scenes and a lovely romance.

Murder Most Lovely mixes a sexy romance between two 40 something men with a murder mystery and provides lots of laughs along the way. This is the first book in a new series, and I get the feeling Lacetown is going to become the new Cabbot Cove. I look forward to more adventures with Michael and Jazz.

HANK EDWARDS has been reading books from an early age. Now that he’s an adult—or at least older than he used to be—he likes to write stories that revolve around gay characters. His writing crosses many sub-genres, including romance, rom-com, contemporary, paranormal, suspense, mystery, and wacky comedy.

When he’s not writing, Hank loves to read, go to movies, watch some TV, and because of Paul Hollywood’s influence, has recently been trying his hand at baking. He visits his mother once a week, not just for the free cookies, and enjoys spending time with close friends drinking wine and making up ridiculous things that sometimes show up in his books. Although he hates the process of travel, he does enjoy experiencing new places. His dream trip is to one day visit the country of Greece, and he is currently saving his nickels and dimes to make that a reality.

Back in the ’90s, he met a man who understood and encouraged his strange, creative mind, and who made him laugh more often and more freely than anyone else. Today they are legally married and still laugh often as they live in a suburb just north of Detroit with their two cats who act as both muse and distraction to him while he writes.

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DEANNA WADSWORTH might be a best-selling erotica author, but she leads a pretty vanilla life in Ohio with her wonderful husband and a couple adorable cocker spaniels. She has been spinning tales and penning stories since childhood, and her first erotic novella was published in 2010. When she isn’t writing books or brainstorming with friends, you can find her making people gorgeous in a beauty salon. She loves music and dancing, and will often be seen hanging out on the sandbar in the muddy Maumee River or chilling with her hubby and a cocktail in their basement bar. In between all that fun, Deanna cherishes quiet times in her garden when she can let her wildly active imagination have the full run of her mind. Her fascination with people and the interworkings of their relationships has always inspired her to write romance with spice and love without boundaries.

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Reviewers on the Wicked Reads Review Team were provided a free copy of Murder Most Lovely (Lacetown Murder Mysteries: Case One) by Hank Edwards & Deanna Wadsworth to read and review.