I’m always on the lookout for good m/m romantic suspense novels or series, so when new-to-me author Thom Collins’ Nothing But the Night was offered for review, I decided it was worth a look. The synopsis sounded interesting, and I always like to find stories set in the UK – even though the town of Blyham is fictional – and while I found the writing in the opening chapter a bit off-putting in its choppiness, I persevered and began to enjoy the story. In the end, Nothing But the Night turned out to be one of those books that kept me engaged and invested while having a handful of flaws that mean I had to knock the final grade down a few notches.

It’s a mystery with a romantic sub-plot that begins when successful businessman Marc Glass is approached by a tabloid journalist, who drops the bombshell that the hit and run accident that recently killed his younger brother, Theo, was no accident. Theo was a sex worker whose videos had gained him a large following and a lucrative income stream who did some escorting on the side, and the journo tells Marc that Theo’s clientele included the local, married-with-kids Conservative MP. She’s sure Theo was killed because someone wanted to keep that relationship from coming to light. Marc doesn’t want anything to do with her or her newspaper; all he’s worried about is keeping the truth of what Theo did for a living from their grieving parents, but then he realises that he’d rather find the truth himself than let them be blindsided by a reporter. So he employs private investigator Jason Durham to look into Theo’s death, telling him about the journalist’s claims and her theories about what happened and why.

It’s not a lot to go on, especially as most of the men Theo made videos with used aliases, but Jason gets to work, and finds one of Theo’s regular on-screen partners who is willing to talk to him. At this stage, Jason isn’t completely convinced there’s anything truly sinister going on, but when he and Marc arrive at the appointed time and location to find the guy slumped on the floor covered in blood from several large stab wounds, he has to concede that maybe there really is something to Marc’s fears. As he delves further into Theo’s life and connections, the murkier the waters become; and as more of Theo’s associates wind up dead, he and Marc find themselves firmly in the killer’s sights.

The mystery here is well-conceived and well-paced and it held my interest throughout, but while the the writing is decent, it’s somewhat choppy at times, with lots of short sentences in quick succession. Kudos to the author, however, for keeping his cards so close to his chest when it came to the identity of the murderer; I really had no idea who it was until the reveal. On the downside, the characterisation of the two leads is fairly superficial and there’s no real chemistry between them, so the romance never gets off the ground. I’m fine with two people being instantly attracted to each other – that’s how attraction often works, after all – but there’s nothing really beyond that; they have sex fairly quickly (again, not a problem), but the sex scenes are a bit wooden and their relationship isn’t well-developed. The mystery plot is in the driving seat – and that’s fine; I’d just advise potential readers to adjust your expectations if you’re picking this one up expecting a romantic suspense novel, because while the suspense element is good, the romance is lacking. That said, I liked that Jason and Marc behave like men in their thirties and forties; there’s no starry-eyed mooning or overdone mental lusting, and the eventual HFN feels appropriate.

Nothing But the Night is billed as book two in the Basic Instincts series, but the plotlines and characters are new for this story, so there’s no real overlap, other than what we’re told about the local police bungling the search for the serial killer who terrorised the LGBTQ+ community that formed the plotline of Now Comes the Dark, and Jason and Marc’s suspicions that they’ve not put much effort into finding out who killed Theo because he was a gay sex-worker. I haven’t read that book, but it’s not necessary to do so in order to enjoy and understand this one.

To sum up; Nothing But the Night is one of those books that ended up being a bit more than the sum of its parts, because I enjoyed the story despite the flaws I’ve outlined, and may pick up another book by Thom Collins. If you’re interested in trying a new m/m romantic suspense author and don’t mind adjusting your expectations for the romance, you could do worse than give this one a try.