This was wonderful. As compelling as all the previous ones, with a murder mystery that left me guessing right until the end. I'm getting repetitive, but THIS SERIES IS JUST THAT GOOD, so it deserves all the praise, and then some. It's so good it might be on my top 10 favourites reads of the last few years.
Seeing Tom and Phil finally reaching their wedding day, finally at that stage of their relationship where a minor squabble or even a full-blown fight won't lead them to questioning their love and commitment, finally at ease (well, kind of, I'm still missing a bit of that: these two are still a bit emotionally stunted! But yeah, there is progress) with talking about the tough stuff and their future. I nearly cried at the end: the epilogue was truly beautiful, hilarious and heartfelt and perfect.

The mystery, as I said, was very compelling, although it's not my favourite out of the five I've read (I think that might be either the first one, since it's the beginning of everything), and it introduces new faces, hilariously quirky as usual, and it also explores some older ones: mainly Tom's parents (all three of them) and, surprisingly, a bit of Darren too. There's also quite a revelation about Tom that left me reeling and completely heart-broken: I'm not sure if J.L. Merrow will address that a bit more further on, since she's not in the habit of exploring Tom's painful high-school memories. Le sigh. Or, to be fair, Tom's got a nasty and frustrating habit of glossing over his pain, both phyical and mental, one that leaves me grasping at even the tiniest hint of it, so I really, really hope the next book will have a bit more of that. I still love him though: he owns my heart and seeing so insecure about his appearence and his physical disadvantages left me heartbroken. Phil was pretty great and surprisingly romantic and soft, even though he also has a nasty habit of glossing over his past (and his previous marriage) and any deep conversation about insecurities or painful memories with humour or snarky comments. Gah, I love them together though.

I think I might start the next (and for now, last *cries*) book now so I can start re-reading sooner rather than later.