The murder and the mystery was inventive and kept me interested. However, the romance was not it! Gabriel is intrusive and domineering. I’ve been trying to keep in mind that this was written in 2004 so it’s reflecting the romance of that time and perhaps also the generational differences of what was considered romance. I could not stand him or any of the romance scenes it felt forced and not genuine. Towards the end I just skipped over the romance scenes. I thought I knew who the murderer was but was taken by surprise. Enjoyed the linguistic aspect of the story and would definitely read a story with Erin and Gabriel but without the romance.