If you dig up the past, be prepared for some dirt to stick.The relationship between Tom Paretski, a cheeky plumber with a gift for finding hidden things, and PI Phil Morrison may only be a few weeks old, but already it¿s under attack. Tom¿s friends and family are convinced the former bully isn¿t good enough for him, and they¿re not shy about saying so.Then Tom¿s prickly older sister, Cherry, … prickly older sister, Cherry, is poisoned at her own engagement party. Tom¿s left reeling and not knowing who to suspect. Could it be her new fiancé, Gregory, a cathedral canon with an unfortunate manner and a taste for taxidermy? Or someone from her old writers¿ circle, which she left after a row? Or could the attack be connected to her work as a barrister? Meanwhile, Tom¿s honorary auntie¿s left him a gag gift from beyond the grave that could be more significant than anyone knows.
Phil¿s fighting against the clock to solve the case before somebody ends up dead. And with the poisoner hiding a dark secret, Phil¿s terrified Tom could have been the target all along.
Publisher’s note: This is lightly edited reprint of a previously published novel.
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Utterly fantastic sequel. I’m completely hooked on this series and I’m already dreading the day I’ll have to leave Tom (and yes, alright, Phil) behind.
I’m not sure if I loved this more than “Pressure Head” or not, because in some ways they’re very similar and a lot different.
Tom and Phil’s relationship is progressing nicely, with some minor hiccups (mainly Phil acting like a mean dick at times and Tom being a bit scared of what could happen between them if he finally lowers his walls), but all in all, I really loved them. Tom was, as usual, my favourite: he’s snarky and down-to-earth, responsible and nice and charming, and I really appreciated seeing a bit more of his emotional hang-ups and his insecurities about his education and general “rough” exterior. I wanted to simultaneously kick him for being daft and hug him to death. Phil, the assoholish comments he could have easily avoided aside, is slowly growing on me: I really loved seeing him being all protective and alpha-man over Tom, and he CAN be charming when he wants to. I’m really intrigued about his, still somewhat secret, past, and his relationship with his family and the Mysterious Mark: I’m hoping we’ll see a bit more of that in the next one.
The mystery plot was even more bonkers than the last one: completely unhinged and riveting at the same time, and as usual, I was left guessing up until the end. The one thing I truly loved of this second novel, though, was its side characters: Gary and Darren continue to steal the show, as Arthur and Merlin, but what I really loved was seeing Tom’s family, finally. Cherry was an absolutely surprising character, and I ended up really loving her, and the Reverend Greg? ICONIC: Tom’s commentary every time he appeared, their interactions and dialogues, were so hilarious I found myself sobbing from laughter. JL Merrow is a witty, capable storyteller and I’m so happy I have an extensive backlist to explore as soon as I finish this series.
That ending though? I gasped and swooned and now I really cannot wait to dive into the third book.
This second entry in The Plumber’s Mate Mysteries has me just wanting to say in my review: I laughed myself silly, now read the book! Does that work? No? Okay, then the reason why you need to read Relief Valve is not the plumber’s mate but the plumber himself!
This time around we find Tom and Phil are in the early stages of their relationship….and the only ones happy about it are the cats! Then Tom finds out his older sister is not quite the spinster he assumed to be. Nope, not only does she have a man in her life, but she is engaged to a canon of the Church of England. Will wonders never cease? Should I mention now or later that someone is happy with the engagement? Add to that, Tom’s Auntie Lol has died and left him a gift. And since she knew about Tom’s special talent, the only way to collect his bequest is to use them by searching her old house. Don’t think the husband she left is going to enjoy that much. O.o
Tom, Tom, Tom. The things you get into and the people around you. Honestly, they had me giggling the whole way through. Well, not when someone attempts to kill Tom’s sister Cherry but certainly when he meets her fiancé and discovers not only is he an odd duck but his taxidermy hobby. Conveniently, with Phil being a PI, Tom naturally asks for his help to discover who poisoned his sister and immediately proceeds to help. Oh, the way he mucks things up. Giggle snort! Speaking of Phil, things are proceeding nicely between them (might I add I’m loving every minute of it!) despite everybody thinking Tom can do better. Let us also not forget the whole bequeathing done by his Auntie. Now that ended up being a rather unexpected surprise to everyone. Weeeeell, maybe not for everyone. Nothing like skeletons coming out of the closets. Wink-wink!
What has me head over hills with this series is Tom himself. His inner musings and dialogs in his day to day life, while he sorts it all out, are some of the best I have read in a long time. Took me a while to sort through all the slang and now I find myself wanting to quote all of it. Oi, what I can say, it’s catchy. The scraps he finds himself in are humorous, the people in his life are colorful characters and as for Tom…he’s just adorbs.
I received this book from The JeepDiva with the express purpose of an honest review. The opinions, contents, and rating of this review are solely mine
Stars – 4.5