Eloreen reviews ‘Dirty Kiss’ (Cole McGinnis 1) by Rhys Ford (Published by Dreamspinner Press July 1, 2011, 216 pages – Audio released March 10, 2014, 8 hrs 21 min length) Narrated by Greg Tremblay
Blurb:
A Cole McGinnis Mystery
Cole Kenjiro McGinnis, ex-cop and PI, is trying to get over the shooting death of his lover when a supposedly routine investigation lands in his lap. Investigating the apparent suicide of a prominent Korean businessman’s son proves to be anything but ordinary, especially when it introduces Cole to the dead man’s handsome cousin, Kim Jae-Min.
Jae-Min’s cousin had a dirty little secret, the kind that Cole has been familiar with all his life and that Jae-Min is still hiding from his family. The investigation leads Cole from tasteful mansions to seedy lover’s trysts to Dirty Kiss, the place where the rich and discreet go to indulge in desires their traditional-minded families would rather know nothing about.
It also leads Cole McGinnis into Jae-Min’s arms, and that could be a problem. Jae-Min’s cousin’s death is looking less and less like a suicide, and Jae-Min is looking more and more like a target. Cole has already lost one lover to violence-he’s not about to lose Jae-Min too.
Buy links: Audible | Amazon | DSP | Kobo | iTunes Audiobook | iTunes | Goodreads
Why I listened: This is re-read week and I happened to finally get to the audio version of this great first book in the story not too long ago. I had done a series review of books one through four when I discovered it here along with a book review of book 4 here. Somehow, we at RGR hadn’t reviewed the first three books individually in ebook or audio, so here I am.
The narrator: Greg is absolutely great. I can’t get enough of him and had started the next book in the series right after this one. I have his ringtones from the series on my phone and with various recommendations from others who had listened, I took the plunge to listen to the audio and never looked back. Now I have to finish them all.
The story: We meet Cole McGinnis as he is running from the object of his surveillance, getting injured from it in the process. And this is basically how all of Rhys’s books go. You are thrown in to the action and mystery right from the get go. And it doesn’t stop until the end of the book and the resolution is revealed. When Cole picks up the case of the apparent suicide and meets Kim Jae-Min, we see the immediate attraction between the two and all of the lovely angst between Cole’s issues from his lover’s death and Jae-Min’s issues with his own secrets. The sex is hot when they come together and it continues throughout the heart-pumping situations Cole, and Jae-Min, get into as they work towards catching the killer. Even though I had read the ebook a while ago, it still somewhat surprised me at the ending because it had been that long since I read it. The complications between the various cases Cole worked on interweaving within the main story and then packaged at the end made for a satisfying mystery and suspense story in addition to the love story evolving between Cole and Jae-Min. I highly recommend listening AND reading this story.
With this, I give Dirty Kiss 10/10 pots of gold.
-Eloreen
Rhys Ford was born and raised in Hawai’i then wandered off to see the world. After chewing through a pile of books, a lot of odd food, and a stray boyfriend or two, Rhys eventually landed in San Diego, which is a very nice place but seriously needs more rain.
While the majority of Rhys’ books are centered around gay detectives and murder mysteries, she also writes the occasional paranormal suspense with a dash of geeky humour as well as urban fantasy. Gay mysteries will always be a first love but there’s something to be said about a ghost or a dragon wandering into the story to spice things up.
Rhys admits to sharing the house with cats of varying degrees of black fur and a ginger cairn terrorist. Rhys is also enslaved to the upkeep a 1979 Pontiac Firebird, a Toshiba laptop, and an overworked red coffee maker.
Rainbow Gold Reviews 
I love Rhys Ford. She is one of the first m/m that I began reading in 2012. Loved the first 3 books, and need to catch up with the rest. Thank you for the great post.
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Indeed. I started with the Sinners series first before getting to this one. They are all good. You do need to to finish this series as it does answer the question to why.
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Great post! Sounds like I should try Rhys Ford’s books! I’ve heard good things 🙂 This sounds like a good cop story!
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It’s a great cop story. You should pick it up. 🙂
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