Reasonable Doubt cover art

Reasonable Doubt

Hazard and Somerset, Book 5

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Reasonable Doubt

By: Gregory Ashe
Narrated by: Tristan James
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About this listen

After almost 20 years, Emery Hazard finally has the man he loves. But things with his boyfriend and fellow detective, John-Henry Somerset, are never easy, and they’ve been more complicated lately for two reasons: Somers’s ex-wife and daughter. No matter what Hazard does, he can’t seem to get away from the most important women in his boyfriend’s life.

While Hazard struggles with his new reality (changing dirty diapers, just to start), a bizarre murder offers a distraction. John Oscar Walden, the leader of a local cult, is found dead by the police, and the case falls to Hazard and Somers. The investigation takes the two detectives into the cult’s twisted relationships and the unswerving demands of power and faith.

But the deeper Hazard looks into the cult, the deeper he must look into his own past, where belief and reason have already clashed once. And as Hazard struggles to protect the most vulnerable of Walden’s victims, he uncovers a deeper, more vicious plot behind Walden’s murder, and Hazard finds himself doing what he never expected: racing to save the killer.

Only, that is, if Somers doesn’t need him to babysit.

©2018 Gregory Ashe (P)2019 Gregory Ashe
Mystery Police Procedural Fiction Detective Suspense Romance Cult

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Incredibly powerful religious murder-mystery!

Hazard and Somers tackle their most confronting case yet: a cult leader who claims to be the reincarnation of Jesus is killed and various cult members collude in cruelty, lies, and violence in an attempt to justify their beliefs and actions. When the cult leader’s body mysteriously disappears, the small town of Wahredua, MI is inundated with rabid followers and the town becomes a powderkeg. Meanwhile Hazard and Somers both suffer crises of confidence about their relationship … Could Hazard really be contemplating going back to Nico? Could Somers be drawn back to his wife and young daughter?

I’m not religious but I found this incredibly powerful, especially Hazard’s grapple with conversion therapy when he was a teen. The multiple-murder-mystery was satisfyingly complex with some twists in the tail. The cult was cynically vicious to its members in the name of religion and I thought the author canvassed both sides of the religious debate well. I was supremely frustrated with Hazard and Somers for not airing their doubts about each other, but I understand that some people hold everything in rather than air their feelings. Luckily, there’s a HFN ending. Tristan James does another great job on the audiobook.

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Can’t listen to this series any more

For me, this series peaked in book 2.

The main characters’ flaws are honest and complex, and written mostly well. The problem is that while they’re likeable and/or tolerable 80% of the time, certain behaviours sprinkled through the remaining 20% outright foil my ability to “root for them”. When you find yourself hoping both main characters will be killed off, you know there’s a problem.

Every second person Hazard deals with in a case is treated with such outright hostility, that I have no idea how they have not complained to the department and some disciplinary action been mentioned. Shouting at a victim of crime, telling them they have no choice but to reveal who did it, and are basically a bad person if they don’t? That’s a bad cop and it’s not called out at all. Oh, and your partner/lover tells you he’s worried about you and is sorry bad things have happened to you and you say “shut up or I’ll break your jaw”. What the actual f. Die already, Hazard.

The narration continues to be problematic. There is no emotion conveyed. When the narrator says something like “person X was shouting with rage”, and this takes the listener by complete surprise, especially after the preceding two sentences of dialogue were delivered in a perfectly calm tone…. It’s an issue.

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