My favorite of the Arrows in the Hand series. Gah, it was just perfect. I loved everything about this book. I liked how all the characters just get more depth in each book, and then the mystery was good, albeit easier to solve IMO, but no less great. Tristan James did a great job on the narration. I so hope there are plenty more Hazard and Somerset books. Also, this definitely made me want to read Auggie and Theo's story for sure. So, onto that!

Another intense read from the Hazard and Somerset universe. The book had so many things I appreciate about a good story that includes: personal development for important characters, socially relevant issues, realistic action scenes, challenging puzzles to resolve, a dash of humor to keep the story from becoming too dark, the continuing evolution of a complex relationship between the main characters, and a resolution that makes you want to shed a few tears and smile at the same time.

I keep finding so many bits and pieces of this series that I relate to on a personal level. Gregory Ashe has a gift for putting nasty bits of reality into perspective, and Tristan James' narration maintains the calm inside the chaotic bits of the story.

I MADE IT!! 16 books with these guys, and Iron on Iron up next! Even though Hazard and Somers stress me tf out, I really do love the series. The character growth! The angst! The found family!

Emery has come so far and I couldn’t be prouder of him. This is another intense storyline with a mystery that was not so much a “mystery” if you understand my meaning. It makes sense though because this book was more about relationships and it’s wonderful!

Oh. My. Goodness.

This was one heck of a finale for some of gay mystery’s favorite protagonists—none other than Emery Hazard and John-Henry Somerset. Final Orders by Gregory Ashe has it all: familial expectations, murder, red herrings, a twisty-turny mystery, danger, as well as timely and difficult-to-swallow societal drama, all in this small conservative-ish Missouri town we’ve come to know, love, and perhaps even fear just a little bit!

Ashe kicks off our last foray by sticking Hazard and Somers in the midst of a schoolboard meeting at Colt’s high school, where Dr. Stratford has been struggling with a growing base of fanatical parents seeking to prohibit books he’s assigning his students, and now those same book-banning adults are calling for his immediate removal from the faculty when he invites the author of one of these books to Wahredua for a speaking event. But Theo won’t be bullied by parents, and Loretta Ames, the author and she herself, a gay woman, won’t be either. In fact, Ames seems to revel in the publicity and is unafraid to visit Wahredua, despite her daughter’s growing concern that someone is trying to kill her. You can guess what happens, right? Loretta Ames winds up dead. Her murder puts Hazard and Somers on the case, mirroring those early days they shared together on the force, which I thought was a great nod to how their intertwined lives began, while managing to keep the risk, the unknown, and the cost of failure so high that I literally did nothing for days but plow through this book.

Nothing else can be said about the content that isn’t in the book’s blurb. I don’t want to spoil this story. I want you to read it. I want you to laugh at the ridiculous one-liners of Dulac and the unintentional, defensive humor of Hazard. I want your heart to go out to Somers and all of the stress weighing down on his shoulders as the Chief of Police. I want your brain to be firing on all cylinders to catch the red herrings in time. And I want your breath to stop when you hit that finale and don’t know what to do other than keep reading. Ashe isn’t afraid to write about dark and uncomfortable topics, and I applaud his courage and willingness to represent such a wide array of subject matter, much of which is the focal point for so many communities in the United States currently. Mix with this Ashe’s evocative and poetic use of the English language, and you’ve got another winning title for readers of not only LGBT fiction, but mystery, romance, and beyond.

This was a phenomenal ending to the Arrows in the Hand arc. With Hazard and Somers wrapped (for now?) this is a great time to begin the book that started it all: Pretty Pretty Boys. Strap in, hold on tight, and good luck. We’ll all be waiting for you at the end!

Gregory Ashe continues to shred my heart into pieces and and put it back together with gorgeous complex characters, thoughtful and engaging mysteries, and beautiful and evocative prose.
Obviously these got 5 stars.

I loved this one and the ending was perfect.

ahhhhh humongous congrats to GA for placing third in Best Family Drama with this book in the 2022 M/M Romance Group Members’ Choice Awards!!


*audio review:

guess who relistened to their favorite scenes and is crying once again? THIS GIRL