Ami's Hoard

3.5 stars

I stumbled to the review of the latest Jimmy McSwain Files series over at The Blogger Girls. I just finished Neil Plakcy's Ghost Ship so I was in the mood for another mystery book that didn't focus on romance. Based on the review, this sounds like it fits with what I am looking for.

And it was...

There were two 'cases' that Jimmy McSwain, openly gay private investigator, must taken care of. First case, he is hired by the Rothschilds to find their son, Harris. Then the second case became somewhat related when Saul Rothschild, Harris' father, was murdered after Saul met with Harris.

I really liked it. The cases are pretty straightforward, not very complicated, but still enjoyable for a mystery fan like me. Jimmy does his thing where he gathering up information, talks to the people involved ... and even if there is a side-plot of Jimmy having sexual entanglement with an Englishman but the book never focuses on any kind of romantic relationship.

I also liked Jimmy's background -- his father was murdered when Jimmy was fourteen years old and the police never caught the murderer. It somehow shaped Jimmy to become the person he is right now at twenty-nine, and I can see that his father's unsolved murder case will be the big arc to the whole series.

Jimmy's family is also an interesting bunch. His mother works as head usher at a Broadway theater, his sister works for a law firm, and his other sister also works at the theater. Growing up in theaters sure helps Jimmy with his first case with the Rothschild's son.

Anyway, I am definitely going to read the next books. It's nice to have a mystery mystery series with gay-character-lead to follow -- rather than mystery that has too many romance plot :)