Rating: 5 Stars

Publisher: Self-published

Genre:  Gay Romance/MM

Tags: Detectives, Serial Killer, Manipulation, Morally Grey, Possessive MC, Dark, Humour

Length: 357 Pages

Reviewer: Kazza

Purchase At: amazon, Author’s Page

Blurb:

Liam
This was never supposed to happen.

My desire to rid the world of these vile people who make others suffer was never supposed to bleed into my personal life, but here I am… sorting out the pieces to keep my two lives separate.

Of course, Gabriel is the good that keeps me balanced. He makes me laugh, he makes me happy, and he makes me feel emotions I never thought were possible. But when a body is found at the zoo, unveiling a string of murders that go back years, we’re both pulled in… and we soon realize that we’re not the only ones working in the shadows.

Gabriel
Liam’s pleased that I’ve caved and moved myself and my beloved cat into his spacious house after mere weeks of dating. I just need to watch out, or he’ll be proposing to me the next chance he gets. Life with him is amazing, whether we’re epically failing at packing (where did that silicone toy come from?) or he’s insisting that Matthew isn’t his bestie (he is).

But our newest case leads us to a crossroads where we have to decide whether we should do things the proper way or Liam’s way. And I have to admit that the line of what is right and wrong is beginning to blur as a serial killer draws us into his web. He just doesn’t realize that he’s not the only hunter spinning it.

Review: 

I really don’t need the world. I just need him.

*Sighs. This series. I actually kept stalking Amazon to see if there was a third book ready for preorder. That can go badly when a book doesn’t live up to your personal obsessive expectations, but no problems here. This was a fantastic addition to the series. I have immense Liam love and, via that, Gabriel. Gabriel started out a tad less interesting than Liam in A Simple Mistake, book #1. Not hard because Liam is extra. Gabriel has grown and grown on me so much. I couldn’t imagine them not being an ‘us’ which felt like a possibility at one or two points in this book. Bit of a rollercoaster. 

Liam is a detective but he’s also a serial killer. He loves it when parasites, his word, appear so he can eradicate them. He enjoys the hunt. The games that are involved. In this book, there are multiple people killing and one puppet master manipulating. This is Liam’s crack. The only person (still breathing) who knows Liam’s a serial killer is Gabriel, his work and life partner, and while Gabriel grounds Liam he also fully accepts Liam’s need for killing certain people. He came to that conclusion last book and is even more understanding of Liam’s nature now, but it still scares him. Not because he worries about himself, he knows Liam adores him, but because something might happen to Liam. He worries about Liam’s murder book, the one with all the fingerprints of those he’s unalived, that it will be discovered. We see Gabriel’s not unreasonable concern that maybe this time will be the time that Liam won’t come home because he’s been caught or he’s been killed. These are never nice people, they’re dangerous people, that Liam goes after. He’s also a serial killing detective. So….

While Liam is his usual confident-self he’s also thinking about blowback from this case. He has concern that something might hurt ‘his Gabriel’ because of some mitigating, uh, circumstances that Liam has to tread carefully around because of who’s involved, what’s involved, and Gabriel’s feelings about that.    

The usual suspects are back – Matthew, Jesse, Chris, Michaels, Robinson, Gabriel’s family, also Gabriel’s kitty – Lucille Pawl, or Lucy Fur as Liam aptly names her, and Liam’s kitty, Butter. There are a couple of times when their cats are on page and they are scene stealers. Liam’s primary Christmas gift to Gabriel involves the kitties and that was… something. Lucy Fur is mad as a cut snake and as I’ve noted in another review, Gabriel’s taste in cats and men is eerily similar – spicy and antisocial. They’re both loyal and loving to Gabriel, and only Gabriel. 

“I’m happy with Lucille Pawl and Butter, I promise.”
“How could you be happy with either of those things? One is Satan’s spawn and the other just… exists.”
“You love them both and you know it,” Gabriel says.

No. Liam doesn’t know that.

This book is murdery, there are definitely some dark moments. Humorous moments too. Liam continues to poke fun at his coworker’s expense.

“Matthew, look at you, using that big head for something useful,” I observe.

There is a running gag about Liam wanting to get engaged and married as of yesterday, and it’s Christmas, so Gabriel is worried about small, ring-sized packages. It’s on brand for the possessive Liam. That Gabriel would like to take more time is just like him, it’s more sensible. Look at me talking sensible in a serial killer detective romance book. They both give each other something very heartfelt for Christmas and that was just so romantic in a perfect Liam and Gabriel way. The romance and vulnerability in this book, in amongst the killings, is so damn perfect. We really get to see inside both of these MCs heads and hearts in this instalment.  

There are emotions. For us and the MCs. Gabriel has his concerns that I mentioned earlier. Liam has to deal with some actual feelings, fear being the primary one. How similarities to what Liam felt after the murder of his parents and the proximity of this case’s potential fallout over Gabriel makes it more difficult for him. The amount Liam’s juggling to stay one step ahead is immense. There is a fragmenting at one stage for Liam. However, I love how consistent Winters is in her delivery of Liam and his unerring atypical behavioural patterns and thoughts. Getting his inner viewpoint that differs to what others feel is awesome and remains solid as a rock.

I know I should feel upset about the woman. I know that the death of a young woman like this who is almost certainly innocent and is the victim of a monster should make me feel things, but generally, the only thing I end up feeling is a desire to kill those who killed them. But seeing Gabriel upset makes me feel things. He’s desperate to find that the woman is alive.

I’m so satisfied at just how outside the social mores box he remains. I love that Gabriel is a loving, calm presence in Liam’s life who does have a fairly solid – if not flexible for Liam – moral compass. It’s a nice balance. If Gabriel hadn’t wavered and understood Liam’s dark nature, and why, I would have been disappointed. That Liam listens to Gabriel when it matters makes for a great romance pairing. We’ve got some yin and we’ve got some yang.     

The murder/mystery element is complex. Kudos to Winters for how cleverly she pieces together the events of this book. It starts with a human head being found in a bag of a wild dog the zoo has sent to a pet crematorium. How they normally don’t look at animal remains but this time they did. While it begins at the zoo it  has a far broader ripple effect. There’s the overarching plot and then people within that primary arc. There’s also some non-linear parts about one of the characters we get to know more about. How rough his life had been and how easily people prey on those who are lost and young and vulnerable. The repercussions of lousy parents, that isn’t dwelled on, and the teen behaviour that can follow you even if you’ve escaped and rebuilt your life.  

I enjoy Liam’s dedication to having people on his blackmail list, like Michaels, Robinson and Matthews and he’s adding to that list. He’s also accruing friends, disturbingly so in Liam’s mind. Then there’s a family that embraces him, that would be Gabriel’s. The Hyde family are delightfully quirky and accepting and have taken to Liam like a duck takes to water. He’s especially appreciated after making sure the bully that is Cousin Tom can’t make it to the Hyde family Christmas. The long game. The lengths Liam went to, even sweet Gabriel joined in. Ahhh, petty me loved that for them.  

Overview:

Alice Winters packs a lot of bang for your buck into the pages of A Present Mistake. Quite a bit of it I can’t talk about in my review because spoilers. However, I can sing the praises of this series. I have tried the vampire series of Winters and it was fine, okay, but this, this series rules. Obviously personal choice, but if you’re thinking about this one, grab a sample, jump on in and see what you think. Start at A Simple Mistake, go to A Forgotten Mistake, then come here. This book could be read as a standalone but you won’t understand the depth of the interactions and nuance of the characters enough. For the moments of laugh out loud humour that is a nice relief in among other events, for the wonderful grey shades, the murder/mystery, the sheer entertainment value, the absolute adoration I have for Liam and Gabriel, A Present Mistake gets 5 Stars!