A Body In A Bathhouse – A Mitch O’Reilly Mystery, Book 1
Themes and genres: Mystery, Contemporary, LGBT, detective, PI
Blurb:
Nearly bankrupt, wise-cracking private investigator, Mitch O’Reilly, divides his time accepting any investigation gig that comes his way, while half-heartedly running his Eye Spy Supply shop in a forgotten Los Angeles strip mall.
Two tours in Afghanistan have left Mitch a broken man whose social life amounts to enduring his fun-loving sister, Josie, and hooking up with anonymous men he meets online. That may change when he gets his big break. A beloved comedy scriptwriter is murdered at a bathhouse, and Mitch is hired to prove the innocence of the club custodian. In addition, the flirtatious club manager, Trent Nakos, has Mitch reexamining his belief that there should be no emotional entanglements associated with sex.
While Mitch investigates the bathhouse murder, he learns there’s more to investigate than just a dead body. He must choose between continuing a case that could finally put him on the map or drop the case to protect the one he loves.
What I think of the book:
Following a character around while they ask questions should not be this enjoyable.
If you ask me exactly what attracts me to this book, I wouldn’t be able to pinpoint it. It’s just one of those reads that are altogether entertaining.
We have a sarcastic lead, nice details that sometimes sound as if listed off, but since we see the story unfold from the POV of a PI, it makes sense, and there’s also a mystery and I love me a good mystery.
By the way, this is like the old-fashioned detective stories, not like the modern, action-pack ones so until we get to the climax, expect a more chill pace.
But back to the mystery and detective work.
We are given as much info as Mitch – obviously, since it’s his POV – so if you like to think alongside the detective in your crime novels, you’ll be able to do that here. However… We were not given sufficient information to figure out who did it until the very end.
On one hand, that’s good, because we wouldn’t know for sure by the time we are fifty percent into the book and spend the rest of our reading time screaming at Mitch “It’s obvious that so-and-so did it!”
On the other, we didn’t get that satisfying “I figured who and why!” moment that makes us so proud of ourselves… Or at least makes me proud of myself when I solve the crime before the end of a novel.
Even so, I very much enjoyed this book and it’s got me hyped up for future Mitch O’Reilly Mysteries.
If I have to point out a particular scene that I thought was weak, I’d go for the sex one (read the book and you’ll know which I mean). It didn’t really titillate me and it’s not something I’d remember from this book.
Who would I recommend this book to? I’d recommend A Body in a Bathhouse to people who enjoy a more realistic approach to PI work.
My rating: 
(5/5 blood drops)
Would I re-read this book? Yes.
Am I interested in other books by this author? Yes. I want the rest of the books in this series when they come out.
Where can you buy the book?
- Amazon US (link takes you straight to the book)
Add A Body In A Bathhouse to your Goodreads shelf
Want to win a $10 Amazon gift card? Enter the giveaway!
Other books by Brad that I’ve reviewed:
- A Body on the Hill – Mitch O’Reilly Mysteries, Book 2 (LGBT Contemporary Mystery, detective, PI)
(March 2021 Edit: You can read my thoughts on the audio version of A Body in a Bathhouse here.)
About Brad:
After growing up in Michigan and North Carolina, Brad Shreve criss-crossed the country while working in the hotel industry. In addition to working in hotels as a bellman, front desk clerk, and reservation call center director, he’s managed coffee houses, waited tables, sold potato chips off a truck and even hocked pre-burial funeral plans.
He credits Where the Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak for developing his interest in art and storytelling. He’d spend hours on the floor sketching and painting and writing stories. My Side of the Mountain by Jean Craighead George gave him his first inklings that he’d like to be a novelist someday.
In addition to perpetually thinking of how to kill people, he’s a proud dad, a beach bum, and coffee house squatter.
He currently lives in the Los Angeles South Bay with his husband, Maurice.
Find him here:
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