This is book three in a same-couple series, so readers should begin with book one, Skeletons in the Closet. Please note that there are spoilers for previous books in this review.

Nicky James’ Reading Between the Lines rings some big changes into the lives of our two protagonists, PI Diem Krause and Toronto PD records clerk Tallus Domingo. After months spent dancing around – and, in Diem’s case, fighting against – their intense mutual attraction, the pair are now dating, and Tallus is close to finishing his online training course so he can obtain his private investigator’s license and work alongside Diem officially. But even though Diem has finally admitted that he wants Tallus in his life, it doesn’t mean there are no more obstacles to overcome; intimacy doesn’t come at all easily for him but he’s trying hard to be the kind of boyfriend he believes Tallus deserves.

The mystery plotline kicks off when Diem is offered a very large sum of money to investigate what appears to be the accidental drowning of a teenager in the small town of Port Hope. The boy’s mother is convinced that what happened to her son was no accident and hires Diem to prove it, and although Diem thinks her suspicions are almost certainly the delusions of a grieving parent, the hefty fee is something he can’t afford to turn down. Shadowy Solutions is close to bankruptcy and he needs a fast injection of cash to keep it going. Diem is good at what he does and gets results, but his gruffness, his lack of empathy and his intimidating manner haven’t won him many clients over the years, so he badly needs this job, no matter how wild the goose chase.

The client – Delaney Mandel – has asked Diem to come to Port Hope so he can hear her side of the story and decide if there’s anything to her theory that her son – who is in ICU on life support – was murdered. Figuring he might well need Tallus along in order to grease the social wheels, the pair head up to Port Hope and to the accommodation arranged for them – a quaint, froofy little B&B that never met a pink frill it didn’t like and which houses the owners’ huge collection of old-fashioned, wind-up clocks. It’s so absolutely not Diem’s style, it’s not even funny – and discovering that the room reserved for him has Only One Bed is almost enough to have him running for the hills. He and Tallus have not, so far, spent a night together; Diem is slowly overcoming some of his fears around touch and intimacy, but sharing a bed with someone is way outside his comfort zone and not a line he’s yet been able to cross.

After an awkward night and an extremely rude awakening courtesy of every clock in the house chiming at 7am, Diem and Tallus make their way to meet with Mrs. Delaney to find out exactly why she’s so sure her son Weston was murdered. Weston was a straight-A student who was planning a career in journalism and was one of the main contributors to the weekly school newspaper. On the day he died, he was supposed to have been at the library meeting with the other members of the group to finalise that week’s edition – but he didn’t show up, and didn’t go home that night. The next morning, Weston was found, barely alive and unconscious, draped over a rock in the river running through the woods – woods where he had absolutely no reason to be. The police investigation determined that where Weston ended up was nowhere near when he went into the water, and they decided he must have slipped on the bank and fallen in a few hundred yards down river. None of this gives Diem and Tallus any idea why Mrs. Delaney suspects foul play – but then she produces some pages that were tucked inside one of Weston’s writing journals, and things become clear. Because what they’re reading is a heavily annotated short story that depicts, word-for-word, the murder of Weston Delaney.

As Tallus and Diem start working to find out more about Weston Delaney – talking to his friends, his teachers and the townsfolk – they begin to realise that there’s something very sinister going on that likely tracks back to one of the writing groups he belonged to, one whose members focused on mystery writing who called themselves The Whodunnits. And the closer they get to the truth, the more apparent it becomes that there is someone out there prepared to go to any lengths to stop them.

Nicky James once again does an excellent job of crafting an intriguing mystery full of unexpected twists and turns while also continuing the forward momentum of the romance between our very odd-couple. It’s clear that Diem has been working really hard to overcome some of the challenges he faces surrounding intimacy, affection and self-esteem, and while he still finds certain situations quite challenging, it’s a measure of how far he’s come that he’s now open to trying new things, such as sharing a bath or sleeping in the same bed as Tallus, and that he’s learning to allow himself the joy that Tallus brings to his life. Casual intimacy is still not easy for him, but he now admits to himself that sometimes he needs Tallus to push at his boundaries as he works on how not to let his fears completely overtake him and learns to communicate better. And I was pleased to see Tallus, who, in the last book, seemed sometimes to be just a bit too pushy and manipulative, being more understanding of both his own behaviour and Diem’s; it feels as though he’s grown up a little, too. He’s a self-confessed fashionista who would rather eat Ramen for a month than go without his Versace loafers and insists (sometimes to his cost) on putting practicality before style, but he’s charming, insightful and sympathetic, always very mindful of the challenges Diem is facing given his troubled past, and he shows a real depth of understanding and patience. I was also pleased at the way he’s developing as an investigator and enjoyed watching him and Diem working together, their very different but complementary styles making for a vibrant and entertaining dynamic.

The main storyline is framed by Diem visiting his beloved grandmother and telling her about the Weston Delaney case. She’s the only person in his life who has ever really loved him but he’s slowly losing her to dementia, and as she lives with his abusive father, it’s been difficult for him to visit her as often as he’d like. But the novel ends on a positive note all-round; not only has Diem been able to save Shadowy Solutions, he’s now able to pay for his Nana to move into a nice, quiet nursing home, so he’ll be able to worry less and visit her more. Best of all, he and Tallus are in a really good place and looking forward to building a future together. I don’t know if the author plans more books featuring Tallus and Diem, but if this is the last one, then I’m happy with the way she’s left things.

Clever, funny, sexy and emotionally satisfying, Reading Between the Lines is a terrific addition to the Shadowy Solutions series and is highly recommended.