Swipe Right for Stab Wounds

Detective Sam Mysteries, Book 2

By: Elle Kleos

Narrated by: TJ Clark

Detective Sam is undercover, on the case, and ready to catch a killer...but at what cost?

Nonbinary Detective Sam is back on the mainland and looking forward to working a normal case. But one dangerous dating app, plus one annoying new rookie, multiplied by an extremely determined young man who won't stop texting them means this case is shaping up to be anything but normal.

When someone begins using the Paths dating app to target innocent women, it's up to Detective Sam to put a stop to this serial stabbers murderous mission. But first, they must ask themself: How far will they go to close the case? And how much are they willing to sacrifice along the way?

©2023 Leah Kleynhans (P)2023 Leah Kleynhans

Extremely Entertaining Sexy Fun Queer Det Mystery

*4.5 Stars On My Instagram Account*

"For the longest time they only known love by the shape of its absence."

Detective Sam is back! Once again, our non binary smartest person in the room, Detective Sam has a murder mystery to solve in Swipe Right For Stab Wounds by clever author Elle Kleos.

Women are being stabbed to death and the thing they have in common is they all used the new Paths dating app. Unfortunately for Sam, they didn't expect to be forced undercover as a dater on the app. Dating is not their forte, especially now that they are still seeing the ultra sexy bisexual Teddy they met in the first book, Like and Subscribe For Murder. To make matters worse, their ex girlfriend is the creator of the dating app!

Happily, voice actor T.J. Clark
is back as Sam and that familiarity with their personality makes for an extremely entertaining listen. The comedic timing is on point with comments like, "That's a coincidence trying to look like a clue."

But what really stood out to me was this writer giving us a more introspective Sam. As they struggle with Teddy wanting more in their relationship, the insensitive jokes from colleagues when they have to wear make up and dress sexy, and digging deep to comfort a victim's family, we hear Sam lament, "Sometimes being human felt much harder than being a detective."

The author's growth in storytelling is evident with Sam's emotional awakening . There's still plenty of laughter with a blundering rookie partner and a twisty red herring filled mystery but if I'm honest, it's the suave Teddy that has me swiping right for more Detective Sam.

I received a copy of this audiobook from the author for a fair and honest review. All opinions are my own.

So much fun!

This was so much fun to listen to! The plot was great and the characters are amazing! I loved every second. And the little sound effects added into the audiobook just made it that much better!!

Sequel or Standalone, Great Book!

I really loved this second installment in the Detective Sam series. It works well as a standalone, so I think readers will still enjoy it even if they haven't read book one.

This book tells us so much more about Sam - their coworkers, their history, their fears and experiences as a nonbinary detective! And of course, Sam and Teddy are sooo cute together!

The narrator did an amazing job, and the sound effects really enhanced all the interview scenes. Highly recommend!

Detective Sam’s Back and Better than Ever!

A sketchy priest, a foul-mouthed rookie, a sexy artist, and a dating app mogul walk into a police station, and you know that Detective Sam is back for one hell of a case!

The second novel in Elle Kleos’ fabulous Detective Sam series picks up right where the delightful Like and Subscribe for Murder left off with Detective Sam back on the mainland doing the whole detective thing. With the social media influencer hellscape that was Paradiso in their rear-view mirror they are ready to get back to their old life but unfortunately things are never that simple for Sam. When a string of women are attacked and the only link between them is the Paths dating app they were on (think Tinder – same douchebag guys, but less horny) Sam is forced to endure the hell that is modern dating when they are tasked with going undercover on the app. And if that isn’t bad enough (and for all of you folks that aren’t single out there, trust me this is a fate that will make you wish you were the murder victim!) it just so happens that the woman in charge of Paths is Sam’s old flame from college. Let’s just say their relationship did not end on good terms!

What follows is one hell of a twisty plot that keeps you guessing about whodunnit right up until the very end. For my Like and Subscribe fans out there the narrative and mystery are more complex in this book, but in the best way possible. In fact I’d say that Swipe Right improves on the previous novel in every way from providing more detailed and rich descriptions of characters and the world, to developing fully formed characters who will make you laugh, cry and occasionally want to strangle them, to making Teddy actually likeable instead of annoying (yes book 1 fans I was a Teddy hater, deal with it). That’s right the love interest from the first book is back, and even if you wished he wasn’t trust me you’ll want to give it a chance this time around because what unfolds is such a cute, romantic and occasionally profound look into queer relationships in the modern world.

And for all you folks who listened to the first audiobook the delectable TJ Clark is back in the saddle handling narration duties. Let me say he absolutely brought it this time around! While the narration in the first book was good, TJ expertly identified the best parts of his performance and smartly doubled down on those creative choices while also pushing his performance to bring a whole host of new characters to life. Bravo good sir!

To summarize if you’re looking for a book that will reel you in from the first page, has a mystery as deliciously twisty as a Twizzler, and characters that you can’t help but fall in love with than Swipe Right for Stab Wounds is a can’t miss novel that frankly if it isn’t already on your reading list by the end of this sentence I will be seriously judging you!

Better than the first

Trigger warning for constant misgendering of a character in the book. Kind of a main plot point.

However, despite that, it fleshed out Detective Sam a lot, the story was good, the mysteries solvable without being obvious, and Teddy...well, he's still every bit Teddy.

Can’t wait for the third

The second one did not disappoint!!! It was SO GOOD. Kleos writes amazing characters and mysteries that have me bumping up my listening speed (or whatever the audible equivalent of “page-turner” is). Also, TJ Klark did such a good job! I can’t wait to see what Detective Sam does next.