Murder on The Mountain by Jamie Fessenden {Review, Author Q&A and COMMENT Giveaway}

When Jesse Morales, a recent college grad who aspires to be a mystery writer, volunteers to work on the summit of Mt. Washington for a week, he expects to work hard. What he doesn’t expect is to find a corpse in the fog, lying among the rocks, his head crushed. The dead man turns out to be a young tourist named Stuart Warren, who strayed from his friends while visiting the mountain.

Kyle Dubois, a widowed state police detective, is called to the scene in the middle of the night, along with his partner, Wesley Roberts. Kyle and Jesse are instantly drawn to one another, except Jesse’s fascination with murder mysteries makes it difficult for Kyle to take the young man seriously. But Jesse finds a way to make himself invaluable to the detective by checking into the hotel where the victim's friends and family are staying and infiltrating their circle. Soon, he is learning things that could very well solve the case—or get him killed.

Buy Link for “Murder on theMountain”

Jesse Morales is finishing up a week long volunteering stint on the Summit when he stumbles upon a gruesome site. The good looking young man he saw coming of the lift with several friends just a few hours ago, is now lying dead at the bottom of a bank of rocks, head smashed in. Jesse is intrigued and very inquisitive when the Detectives show up, but he’s quickly dismissed by the lead Detective as just a ‘kid’.

Kyle Dubois is taken aback at Jesse’s beauty from the start, but the obviously younger man bothers him a little with his questions and curiosity about the case. When Jesse finds a way to insinuate himself into the investigation Kyle teeters back and forth between his anger at Jesse for putting himself in harm’s way, and his overwhelming attraction to him. As the two grow closer and Kyle opens up to the possibility of a relationship with Jesse, his protective instincts kick in, as well as his libido. It’s a dangerous game Jesse is playing, one that could cost him his life.

I do love a good, cozy murder mystery and that is exactly what Fessenden has offered up here. There is mystery, suspense and intrigue from the start. Literally every one that Stuart knew shows just cause to have killed him. While the Detective and would be mystery writer are trying to solve the case, they are fighting off an obvious mutual attraction. But the sexual tension only adds to the intrigue of the story. At times you are left to wonder if Kyle is really growing that attached to Jesse, or is it just his cop instincts kicking in and telling him to be so protective. Jesse is smart and fearless, but just a little bit reckless in exacting his means. It was interesting as well to see how romantically Jesse was the aggressor and the expert of sorts, while Kyle was more inexperienced in that area. But as far as overall maturity and common sense, Kyle took the lead, and it made for a well defined balance between them.

There were a couple times that words used were more liken to a YA novel, when subject matter and content were clearly adult. And I wanted just a little bit more at the end, perhaps it’s because the story was so engaging the ending snuck up on me. But overall this was a perfectly suspenseful novel with lots of passion and a little bit of murder to keep me entertained. If you like murder mysteries, suspense novels or just overall well thought out stories then I think you’ll love this one. 

Jamie Fessenden set out to be a writer in junior high school. He published a couple short pieces in his high school's literary magazine and had another story place in the top 100 in a national contest, but it wasn't until he met his partner, Erich, almost twenty years later, that he began writing again in earnest. With Erich alternately inspiring and goading him, Jamie wrote several screenplays and directed a few of them as micro-budget independent films. He then began writing novels and published his first novella in 2010.

After nine years together, Jamie and Erich have married and purchased a house together in the wilds of Raymond, New Hampshire, where there are no street lights, turkeys and deer wander through their yard, and coyotes serenade them on a nightly basis. Jamie recently left his “day job” as a tech support analyst to be a full-time writer.

Visit Jamie: http://jamiefessenden.wordpress.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Jamie-Fessenden-Author/102004836534286
Twitter: https://twitter.com/JamieFessenden1

Welcome to TTC Jamie, why don’t you start by telling us about yourself. Where are you from? Where do you call home?

I’ve lived in New Hampshire for most of my life—almost always out in the country or very near it.  This is why most of my novels take place in the country.  I avoid cities like the plague.  When my husband and I went house-hunting, we chose one on a road with no street lights, surrounded by forest.  Neighbors are fine… as long as I can’t see them from my front porch.

What brought you to the M/M genre?

As I recall, I wrote a MM romance before I knew there was a genre.  My idea was to write a Christmas Regency like the short MF romances Avon puts out every year, but with gay characters.  I thought I was being innovative!  When I got it into my head to try publishing it, I searched online and discovered there were publishers like Dreamspinner Press who published stuff like that all the time.  So much for being a groundbreaker.  But it did give me an outlet for my stories. 

What inspires you to write?

I’m what I like to think of as a post-modern writer.  I enjoy taking a certain type of book—high fantasy or murder mystery or Christmas stores—and trying to distill what I think are the quintessential elements of the story, what I look for whenever I pick up one of those novels.  Each novel I write is an attempt to write the Perfect Mystery, or the Perfect Cyberpunk story, and so on.  I’ll never achieve that, and I don’t claim to be better at it than any other writer, but it’s what motivates me to keep creating.

Whom in your life would you say has influenced you the most?

My husband, Erich.  Absolutely.  When we met thirteen years ago, I was wrapped up in the corporate life, always thinking about my next promotion, my next raise.  I was doing pretty well financially, but it had been years since I’d done anything creative.  I was miserable.  I honestly felt as if my soul was dying.  Erich saw far more value in my music and writing than he did in my salary, and he pushed me to start creating again.  Now that we’re married, I’ve quit Tech Support, and now I devote myself to writing full-time.

What is something you can tell us about yourself that might surprise your fans?

I majored in music in college.  I enjoyed writing, but I’d never been able to finish anything I started.  It wasn’t until just a few years ago that I learned how to push myself and finish my stories.  I never did anything professional with my music degree, but I still compose orchestral music.  Recently, I scored the book trailer for the “Gothika: Stitch” anthology I was involved in.

What are you working on currently?

A deadline is approaching for Gothika #3, so I have a werewolf story to finish for that.  I’m also working on a ghost story called “Borderland” with F.E. Feeley, Jr.  I’m also working on a novel about a man dealing with the consequences of a rape – “Violated” – and a YA novel about colonists on Mars trying to save a dying colony despite political tensions on Earth.  That one is called “Martian Born.”

First off, a huge thank you to Jamie Fessenden for stopping by today and taking his time to answer my questions! He even offered up an ebook copy of Murder on The Mountain for one lucky commenter as a giveaway. So, you have a week to leave a comment below. On October 10th I'll have Jamie come over and choose one to get the ebook.

Good luck everyone, and thanks again Jamie, until next time....