How unexpected was this colourful treat? After years of waiting for new books, Jennifer Crusie- and Bob Mayer-fans got themselves a delicious serving of snark, mystery, romance and mentionings of good food in the Liz Danger-series, starting with Lavender's Blue (Cool Gus, July 25th 2023) . Whether this series would eventually be available as audiobook was unclear for the longest time, but now, finally, it's here! (Brilliance Audio, February 6th 2024)

When ghost-writer Liz Danger's car breaks down just outside the home-town she fled 15 years ago just after she's stopped for speeding by a seriously attractive cop with a very nice rear end, it's only the very start to her problems. Trouble is brewing in Burney, and what with Liz's family being nuts, her ex-boyfriend being about to marry gorgeous beauty Lavender Blue and all kinds of unrest boiling up to the surface as Liz arrives in town, it might be more than even a cop with a nice ass and and lug-nuts at the ready can fix.

Vince Cooper chose to become a cop in Burney for it's perfect, 70+-years record of no murders and peace. Little does he know that from the moment he stops Liz Danger for speeding, life is going to become vastly more exciting. Soon he and Liz have their hands full with more than they bargained for: Corrupt people in power, small-town secrets, Liz's boss and family driving her crazy, 393 teddy-bears, each other and . . . murder. It seems like Burney is doing it's very best to force the ever-moving Liz Danger to stay, and to discover that having a cop on your side can be . . . well worth it.

Written in first-person perspective, this novel takes us right into the heads of both Liz and Vince as they navigate the streets of Burney and their relations with its citizens and each other. Part mystery-thriller, part romance, it's a delightfully snarky novel with Jennifer Crusie's trademark focus on community as a positive force of love, light and comfort, here balanced with Bob Mayer's penchant for action, mystery and the darker sides to life and humanity. Heavier themes are sprinkled throughout the novel, such as parental issues, alcoholism, corruption, loneliness and death, but they never take over or overwhelm, but are instead counteracted by the power and resilience of friendship, trust and love. The story is brought forward on the wings of mystery and the slow-burn romance starting to grow between Liz and Vince, but it circles back to the importance, and power, of community.

Initially I wasn't sure how a Jenny Crusie & Bob Mayer-novel would work out from a first-person perspective, but I'm never having any doubts about this again. Lavender's Blue is a delight to read, full of both happies and sads, mystery and action, never leaving the reader bored or overwhelmed, but instead engaged and entertained. Carried on the excellently cast voices of Cris Dukehart and Eric G. Dove, Liz and Vince and the people around them are brought to colourful life, telling their story in a way easy to connect and identify with. Vince might very well be the warmest and most human Mayer-character up to this day; an ex-military, yes, but still with a lot of heart and layers of thoughts and emotions that are not shut down by force of thought or alcohol. Liz posesses Crusie's well-known wit and snarky tongue, but is carrying around a lot of loneliness and pain inside that makes it easy to understand why she's fleeing and unwilling to commit. Even when facing death, corruption, despicable family-members or dogs with issues, you know Liz Danger and Vince Cooper will make it through it all together somehow. No matter what storms are thrown their way, I know that where Jenny Crusie is involved, there will be a happy ending somewhere, and Bob Mayer will make sure the bad guys get what they deserve. What's even better: Lavender's Blue isn't the end - the fun has only started!