One Eye Press
Singles has done it again. They published yet another novella that has left me
speechless and begging for more. Their latest offering, Texas, Hold Your Queens
by Marie S. Crosswell is a police procedural, wrapped in a crime novel, layered
with heartbreaking romance, yet is as dirty and unflinching a novella I have
read in recent memory.
This beautifully
written story centers on Detectives Mason Page and Farrah Tyler and explores
both their hunt for a wanted fugitive and their hunt for love and salvation
within each other. The story is told in two parallel storylines that are
separated by two months and an eluded to event that has torn a hole in the
loving relationship that Mason and Farrah have been strengthening recently.
Each storyline is well written and they merge nicely in the latter half of the
book.
The strength of this
novella lies in Crosswell’s ability to paint an eloquent picture of the despair
and loneliness felt by her protagonists as they deal with the fallout of their
hunt for their fugitive. Crosswell not only gets into the minds of her
characters, but into their hearts and souls, and takes the reader for the ride
as well. Both Mason and Farrah are well fleshed out and contain mountains of
humanity, something that's often lacking in crime novels. As they struggle to reconnect
with each other and themselves, the reader becomes more and more invested in
their elusive quest for understanding and forgiveness, not only from their
partner, but from themselves.
While the crime
aspect of this novella is strong, the humanity of the characters are what truly
lifts this offering into the must-read realm. Crosswell keeps her writing taunt
and I felt a compulsion to finish and see where the characters ended up. I
cared for them as a read and I hope to see both detectives in future writings
from Crosswell. Characters this strongly written deserve to live and and grow.
Recommended.
Reviewed by Derrick
Horodyski.
