I’ve become a fan of Eli Easton’s over the past couple of years, and although I wasn’t wowed by RJ Scott’s foray into romantic suspense (the Lancaster Falls series), I decided to give this first book in their new Lake Prophet Mysteries collaboration a go. I enjoyed Solstice on the whole – the mystery plot isn’t especially complex and the bad guy is telegraphed a mile off, but having an animal behaviourist as one of the leads is unusual and I liked that the mystery has a slightly different angle as a result.

Gabriel Thompson, a former undercover cop in LA, has returned to the hometown he left after his religious father disowned him when he came out as gay. He’s still haunted by the time he spent deep undercover and the things he had to do – many of them things he isn’t allowed to talk about. He’s returned home to Prophet in search of a quieter life, and in hopes of repairing his fractured relationship with the two younger brothers he left behind when he walked out – one of whom, Ezra, was only ten. Ezra is now in college, but the middle brother, Sam, is full of boiling resentment towards Gabriel, who left him to deal with their increasingly difficult father as well as to run the family business single-handed.

The mystery kicks off when the dead body of a park ranger is discovered in the nearby national park, spread-eagled with an X carved into his chest. Any potential forensic evidence has been washed away by the rain, and the only witness to the crime seems to be the man’s traumatised golden labrador, Duke, who appears to be standing guard, but runs into the undergrowth whenever anyone approaches him. Gabriel is directed to Tiber Russo, a specialist in animal behaviour who lives on the outskirts of town and who has, in the months since he came to Prophet, pretty much kept himself to himself.

The pacing is leisurely, but I didn’t mind that because I liked the characters and getting to know a bit more about them. There’s just a hint of romance here, but I’m used to same-couple romantic mysteries so I wasn’t expecting a full-on HEA (and I’m glad there isn’t one because that would have been completely wrong in context). Tiber is extremely cautious about letting someone into his life again after getting out of an emotionally abusive relationship; he’s become something of a recluse, surrounded by his animal menagerie, and although he’s attracted to Gabriel, he doesn’t want to be. Gabriel is similarly smitten and would love to be more than friends, but despite a passionate make-out session late in the book, Tiber insists on their staying firmly in the friend-zone.

The very light supernatural element – can Tiber read animals’ minds because of his Navajo heritage? – feels a bit hokey and unnecessary, but otherwise, Solstice was an easy read and I liked it enough to continue with the series.