This fourth volume in the amazing ‘Lifting the Veil’ series was certainly a surprise! Initially, it reads like a pretty intriguing murder mystery with a determined PI, who has been hired by the victim – after said victim’s apparent suicide, no less – to figure out who killed him. Then, step by step, clues begin to emerge that hint at a much more complex situation than a “straightforward” mystery. For the longest time, I wasn’t even sure what sort of mythological creature would be starring in this volume, and then it began to happen seemingly all at once. What a rush! The PI tells the story in the form of journal entries, which made for a nice flow and allowed some delightfully quirky humor in his reflections.

Sam used to be a cop, then a detective, but for the last five years he has been a private investigator. His family didn’t agree with many of his choices and is now a distant memory, but Sam shares his life with his partner Ford, and they are blissfully happy. It didn’t always use to be that way, but Ford changed his life about five years ago becoming a landscape architect, and ever since then, Sam and he have been happy. Now that an eccentric billionaire and boy-wonder has hired Sam – posthumously, I might add – to investigate his death, Ford is worried about Sam’s safety. Neither he nor I understood why at first – but as things progressed, and one weird thing happened after the other, I began to see Ford’s point.

Sam, like any detective or PI worth their salt, questions all the suspects – everyone who is about to inherit – and little by little, the pieces of the puzzle begin to emerge. To me, one suspect looked about as likely as the next to have been the murdered, but then, there is a reason I don’t usually read murder mysteries. I always miss all the clues. All of this to say that I thought this was a very cleverly put-together story and the truth didn’t dawn on me until I had almost finished the book. Experienced murder mystery fans may figure it out more quickly – but even then, the imaginative events and the fascinating characters are extremely entertaining in their own right.

If you like murder mysteries of the mythological kind, if a determined PI and his supportive, worried lover, are your thing, and if you’re looking for a read that is as suspenseful and intriguing as it is entertaining and fun, then you will probably enjoy this novel. I think it’s unusual and totally adored the final reveal – and Sam and Ford are adorable together! ( )