Skeletons in the Closet gets Nicky James’ new romantic suspense Shadowy Solutions series off to a great start. It’s a spin-off of her popular Valor and Doyle stories in which the author continues her winning combination of intriguing, twisty suspense and sexy, emotionally satisfying romance with a new and compelling central couple, one of whom we’ve met before, the other appearing for the first time in the prequel novella, Invisible Scars, which I strongly recommend reading before jumping into this.

Tallus Domingo – whom we first met in Matrimonial Merriment – is the cousin of IT guru, Costa Ruiz, and recently joined the Toronto PD as a records clerk. He meets hard-boiled PI Diem Krause (and yes, the author is continuing with her penchant for unusual names!) under somewhat embarassing circumstances (as detailed in Invisible Scars), and despite Diem’s objections, they team up to investigate a case. The two of them couldn’t be more different; Tallus is good-looking, funny, charming and confident, everything the big, gruff, awkward Krause – a veritable mountain of a man whose imposing exterior hides a deeply wounded soul – is not.

It’s been six months since Tallus fell (literally) into Diem’s life and Diem has deliberately been avoiding him. But now, he needs help only Tallus can provide – or rather, Tallus is the only person he can ask for help because Diem doesn’t have friends or colleagues he can turn to. His current client is a bereaved wife who is convinced her recently deceased husband was cheating on her. Her husband had become edgy and short-tempered after a visit by a woman she doesn’t know, and then moreso after the police came calling a couple of weeks later. His wife doesn’t know what the visit was about, but two weeks later, she found her husband dead on the couch, surrounded by empty booze and pill bottles. His death was ruled a suicide, but she’s not convinced – and she also suspects her husband was having multiple affairs. She’s hired Diem to uncover her late husband’s secrets.

The mystery woman who came calling is Olivia Lansky, CEO of a fashion company. Diem has been able to find out very little about her and the suspected affair so far because she’s surrounded by bodyguards 24/7, which has made surveillance very difficult. Getting into her house to snoop around is impossible, so Diem’s best bet is to get into her office to access her computer or phone. There’s a big gala taking place there at the weekend, and having so many people milling around will provide a good opportunity for Diem to sneak in – but therein lies the problem. Diem’s physicality makes ‘sneaking’ anywhere difficult and as people-ing is not at all in his skill set, he needs help to get past the front door… which is where Tallus comes in.

Tallus, who has tried not to allow Diem to take up too much real estate in his brain since they last met, is both annoyed and eager at the approach. Annoyed because, after six months of nothing, Diem has left it until the last minute to ask (and he knows that’s because Diem really doesn’t want to ask); because last time, Diem basically fucked and ran (and I applaud the author for writing underwhelming sex in the prequel – it’s rare, in romance, to read sex scenes that aren’t all wild abandon and mindblowing orgasms), but eager because he wants to do more than shuffle papers and input data for a job (and because he’s secretly thrilled Diem has come to him for help).

Of course Tallus agrees – although he makes Diem work for it, insisting he actually talks to him instead of communicating in cavemannish grunts. He already knows that there’s much more to Diem than meets the eye, that he’s been badly hurt and that he’s used to being alone with no-one on his side or in his corner. Tallus longs to know what happened to make Diem the way he is, and he knows Diem is strongly attracted to him, despite not wanting to be, but Tallus doesn’t push; or at least he doesn’t push Diem to talk about his past, but he does encourage him to use his words and share his thoughts about the case.

The story is written in alternating first person PoV, and in Diem’s chapters we get to learn more of his background and what makes him tick; about his constant battles with anxiety and negativity, how scared he is of messing things up, how little he thinks of himself, and just how difficult he finds it to interact with people in general, let alone someone he finds attractive. He’s damaged inside and out – his body and psyche are badly scarred – and Tallus is gorgeous and can have anyone he wants. Why on earth would that be someone like Diem, who struggles with anything approaching intimacy or affection and avoids physical contact?

Nicky James has a real talent for creating damaged yet loveable characters, and Diem will break your heart. That’s not to say Tallus doesn’t have demons of his own, because he clearly does – his colour-blindness barred him from the career he wanted in law enforcement, his father disowned him when he came out as a teen, and he has money worries – but he doesn’t let that stop him from being himself and living life on his own terms.

Tallus and Diem may be a classic ‘odd couple’, but their differences not only complement each other – Tallus’ energy and confidence a strong counterpoint to Diem’s more reserved nature – they turn out to be a winning combination as far as the case is concerned. And as they spend time together on stake outs and elaborate schemes to access the information they need, they start to take some baby steps forward in their personal relationship as well. Diem very obviously has a looooong way to go if he’s to overcome at least some of his inner demons and move towards having a healthy relationship with someone, but what comes through very strongly here is just how hard he’s trying, for Tallus’ sake. Every little moment of humour and/or understanding they share means so much because of just how difficult it is for Diem to let his guard down, even a little – and I loved that Tallus recognises and appreciates the effort behind it.

I enjoyed the cameo appearances from Valor, Doyle and Fox here – I always like getting to see beloved characters through someone else’s eyes, and I rather enjoyed the different perspective. Diem (an ex-cop) clearly has history with them and they’re not exactly besties; they’re suspicious of each other and territorial about their cases. This also highlights the different way Diem has to work because he doesn’t have the same resources available to him as they do.

It must be somewhat nerve-wracking for the author of a successful series to embark on a new one featuring new characters, but Nicky James does a great job of bringing us something different while also retaining the things that have made Valor and Doyle so beloved. Tallus and Diem are very different individuals – their dynamic is different, their situations are different and their personalities are different – but the clever plotting, the humour and the insightful characterisation that are hallmarks of that series are still very much in evidence.

At the end of Skeletons in the Closet, we leave Tallus and Diem in a slightly better place than at the end of Invisible Scars, although with no real indication that they’ll see each other again. They will, of course, and I’m really looking forward to finding out how Tallus is going to finagle his way into Diem’s next case (and further under his skin) in Power of the Mind, due out in September 2024.