Playing With Fire

**4 Quirky Character Stars!**
When we meet Jim, he’s approaching a crime scene that has his town scared to go outside. A killer is on the loose and there doesn’t seem to be any way to find him or stop him. After exhausting all of his department’s resources, and hesitant to call in the FBI, Jim reaches out to a friend to see if she could point him in the direction of some much needed help. In walks Dr. Barty Halloran – a super quirky smart professor, who is well versed in the ins and outs of the serial killer Jim is hunting down.

At first, you’re left a bit… cold by Barty. But that’s part of his charm – and Greyson did an amazing job at capturing Barty’s unique personality throughout the book. Jim doesn’t seem to feel the cold front that everyone else does, and relies on Barty to help him solve the important case. Throughout the investigation, we learn a lot about Jim and Barty – why they are who they are, and how well they fit each other.

I don’t want to give away the fun twists and turns – but the mystery was a lot of fun and filled with some DRAMA. It wasn’t clearly obvious who the killer is, and the backstory was pretty dang interesting!

This is a good read for anyone who loves a quirky character who finds his happy ending, a super hot cop and a murder/mystery with some legs and action.

Review Copy of Playing with Fire provided by Dreamspinner Press for an honest review. Reviewed by Mel at Alpha Book Club.

Great crime drama! It was fun trying to figure out the serial killer along with Jim and Barty. The developing relationship was pretty good. I would have liked it better if Barty wasn't constantly talking about himself, his past and his poor social skills.

Jim Crawford is a detective with the New Cynood Police Department, he’s been pursuing a serial killer for several weeks and he’s no closer to catching the killer now than at the beginning. Jim decides it’s time to bring in a psychology professor to help him understand exactly what it is that the killer wants. This is when Jim meets Dr. Bartholomew “Barty” Halloran.
Barty has absolutely no experience in dealing with people. Barty finds himself constantly recalling what his nana taught him about appropriate emotional responses to other people when he comes across situations requiring an emotional response of some description. Because Barty was found to be a genius when he was incredibly young his parents didn’t know how to deal with him. They put him in every class they could find, every music lesson everything except with other children so he never learnt how to interact with other people. When he meets Jim, Barty is confused by the things he starts feeling and thinking but he’s so excited to be working with him he starts to relax and let down his guard. Barty has known he’s gay since he was a teenager but there has never been an opportunity to do anything about it so, he is still a virgin who hasn’t even been kissed.
The interaction between Jim and Barty is wonderful to read, Jim knows Barty is uncomfortable around people so he nudges him gently in the right direction with every interaction. He never makes fun of Barty for which Barty is very thankful and the more Jim displays genuine affection towards him the more Barty comes out of his shell. Jim is Barty’s first kiss, his first hand holding partner, his first lover, pretty much his first everything! The only complaint I have about this is the fact that we don’t read about Barty’s first time bottoming 
It’s fascinating to read about Barty and Jim’s relationship and the way Jim is so gentle with him. Jim has of course had relationships in the past but the last one hurt him so bad he vowed to stay away from nerdy professor types who wore glasses, this lasted until he met Barty! You can feel Barty’s innocence jumping off the page at you but what is impressive is the way he puts Jim’s parents in their place when they start to attack him over his job. Because he comes from money no-one in his family has any comprehension of why Jim wants to be a police officer instead of going into something more befitting someone of his standing.
I’m going to leave it there. I know I’ll let out too many spoilers if I go any farther! You’ll have to get you’re copy of Playing With Fire to find out who the killer is and how Jim with Barty’s help find and catch him!

Reviewed by Meredith for Diverse Reader

Without a question Dirk Greyson writes some of the best mysteries I’ve read in a long time. Playing with Fire is truly fabulous. Jim is a detective trying to unravel the mystery of a rooftop serial killer who shoots people with one shot and disappears.



When they keep hitting dead ends Jim calls his sister who sets him up with a Psychologist who just might be what he needs to figure out this murderer.



Barty is a geeky, socially awkward, genius. Love isn’t something he’s ever had and he’s utterly lonely. Jim is recovering from a broken heart, his family isn’t the most accepting, and now he has this killer to find. All the while Barty and Jim get closer and give each other neither has ever had… unconditional love.



Building a love story within a riveting mystery takes great balance and creativity. The author engages you at all angles. There’s a lot of layers to this story and almost no issues at all. I had only two but I can’t at all mention them without giving away the story so I’m going to let it go. When writing something this detailed a minor thing is not a huge deal. It didn’t affect the story, plot, or outcome.



I adored both MCs thoroughly. Literally the entire time. Neither of them angered or annoyed me and I couldn’t pick which I liked more.



Dirk Greyson is a terrific mystery writer and this is an amazing book if you’re a mystery lover like me!

*Copy provided to Bayou Book Junkie by DreamSpinner Press for my reading pleasure in hopes of an unbiased opinion, a review was not a requirement.*

Playing With Fire is a mystery/crime novel and this the first time I've read anything from Dirk Greyson.

Police Detective Jim Crawford left the big city for a quieter, safer town but now he's faced with solving the mystery of a serial killer shooting from rooftops. As Jim struggles to discover the killer's identity, he's given permission to seek assistance from a criminologist. He meets Dr. Barty Halloran, a gifted psychologist that struggles to identify with people but is able to get into the mindset of a serial killer. Jim and Barty make progress on the case, which draws the attention of the killer to Barty. To protect Barty, Jim moves him into his house. Jim doesn't expect to have feelings for Barty, and Barty certainly doesn't ever expect to have feelings about anyone.

I love stories like this that engage the reader. The mystery and crime drama was really well done, though I was pretty confident in who the killer was as soon as he's introduced in the story, but the author did a great job of making me question myself. I would absolutely change nothing about this portion of the story, and honestly, I'd love to read more about Jim and Barty working together to catch killers, though that's unlikely since they live in such a small town. Where I did struggle was with Jim and Barty. For some reason, I just felt no connection to them. I liked both characters and they both had really interesting backstories. Jim is the all-around nice guy who comes from a wealthy family and is still a nice guy. He's a police officer because he wants to help. Barty is the child prodigy that had his brilliance encouraged but no thought given to all the other areas of development that are important in social development. He's awkward around people and is completely clueless about attraction. He understands sex only as a scientist from research methods but has no idea how to relate that to another person.

If you like crime dramas and mysteries, you absolutely must read this book! The case is dissected and allows the reader to work alongside Jim and Barty to try to figure out who is committing these crimes.

Rating: 4 stars