Home Work by Kaje Harper

Narrated by J.F. Harding

Home Work is the third book in Kaje Harper’s fabulous mystery/romance Life Lessons series, and as it’s a continuation of Tony and Mac’s story, is not a standalone. This is a series that should be listened to in order and there are spoilers for the story so far in this review.

In Breaking Cover, Tony and Mac were faced with a number of difficult choices after Tony became the legal guardian of six-year-old Ben, the boy to whom he’d been a father in all but name since his birth. With Tony, a single, gay man, under intense scrutiny due to the ensuing custody case and not wanting to lie about their relationship, Mac faced some incredibly difficult decisions, which culminated in his coming out at work, then moving in with Tony and Ben and bringing his five-year-old daughter, Anna, to live with them.

Now, the four of them are a family, although life is far from plain sailing. Anna is struggling to adjust from living with her (ultra-conservative) aunt, Ben is doing better but clearly holding back about something that’s bothering him, Mac is still letting his job run his life – and Tony is stuck in the middle, working full-time, running their home and doing the bulk of the childcare, and he’s frazzled. He’s never been one to hold back when something is important to him and he wishes Mac was around more often do his share of all those mundane tasks that go along with making a home and family – but Mac is having a tough time at work, dealing with the fall out of coming out and colleagues who, once friendly, are now openly hostile, and Tony doesn’t want to add to the stress Mac is already under by pressuring him to be home (or home on time) more. But Tony knows things can’t go on this way forever – the problem is finding the right time to address it. If, given how much of Mac’s identity and sense of self is tied up with his being a cop, there is ever going to be a right time.

Quite a large chunk of Home Work focuses on the murder case Mac and his partner Oliver are working, the murder of a young homeless man, seemingly on the bridge over the Mississippi. There being no identification on the body means the investigation gets off to a slow start, but once an ID is possible, things pick up and take some unexpected – and dark – twists and turns. It’s gripping and really well written, but unlike the investigations in books one and two, doesn’t involve Tony very much (although he is able to help in a very significant way early on), and he and Mac are apart a fair bit for the first half of the book. Given Tony doesn’t work in law enforcement, this makes sense, and I was glad the author didn’t feel the need to try to ‘shoe-horn’ him into the plot (which would have felt forced and contrived).

What she does do incredibly well, however, is have the workings of the plot proceed in what feels like a realistic way (there’s a lot of ‘hurry up and wait’, a real sense of how long some processes can take and how much grunt work there is to put in) while at the same time allowing the characters to continue to grow and work through the trauma they’ve experienced in a subtle, but equally authentic manner. It’s not always at the centre of events – for instance, Ben’s sleep issues and therapy visits are referenced throughout but not gone into in great detail (apart from one time), and Anna being unsettled is very clear in her pushing of boundaries, but we’re not hammered over the head with it. Tony is still dealing with the physical and psychological effects of the things that happened to him in the previous books (he still can’t handle being restrained, especially not by the wrists) and with his grief over the death of his best friend (Life Lessons), and on top of the crap Mac’s getting from some of his colleagues, he’s still fighting the fear and shame that kept him in the closet for so long, still having to stop himself and backtrack when he finds himself thinking that he doesn’t deserve happiness. It’s all very subtle and superbly and sensitively portrayed, and although I can’t deny I would have liked a bit more Tony-and-Mac time on the page (and I don’t mean sex scenes – despite being parents to two young kids, they do still manage to have a pretty active sex life!), the balance is right; anything else would have been too much of a stretch of credulity.

I really enjoy series like this one, that follow the same couple beyond their HEA/HFN as they build a life together and work on their relationship, and Life Lessons is one of the best of its kind. Alongside the major beats – breakthroughs in the investigation, moments of intimacy and personal reflection – the author peppers the story with moments of relatable ordinariness that serve to ground it in reality. Tony and Mac have faced some serious challenges (and there are more to come) but there is humour, there are moments of true happiness and fun and togetherness that, when pulled together so skilfully, paint a wonderful picture of life and love. Tony and Mac take a trip to Iowa** to get married, and I loved meeting Tony’s sister and his parents, and seeing Oliver at last realise he needs to do better when it comes to having Mac’s back.

The last third of the story revolves around an important development it’s difficult to not to at least mention, so I’m putting details under a spoiler tag.

J.F. Harding’s work on this series so far has been outstanding, and his performance here continues that trend. His choices when it comes to the characterisation of the leads is perfect, with Tony’s warmth and up-beat, open manner providing an excellent foil to Mac’s lower-pitched gruffness, and he imbues their thoughts and dialogue with such authenticity and real emotion that the listener lives all their ups and downs right alongside them. As before, their deep and now-unbreakable connection is really well conveyed; their love for each other comes through strongly, even when they’re at odds or exasperated with each other. What happens near the end (see spoiler) means a difference in Mac’s manner of speech, and Mr. Harding handles it brilliantly; it’s heartbreaking to hear but all Mac’s emotions are expertly rendered and the changes marked subtly but definitely. The pacing is spot on, and although there’s a fairly large supporting cast, all the secondary characters are appropriately voiced and clearly differentiated – and Ben and Anna are as cute and ‘kid-like’ as ever.

Home Work is another fantastic instalment in the Life Lessons series, a fascinating mystery combined with a compelling, funny, tender and heartbreaking romance between two incredibly well-developed characters who are easy to love and root for. All that, plus another amazing performance from J.F. Harding, adds up to an un-missable listening experience, and I can’t wait to listen to the final book in the series, Learning Curve, which is due out very soon.

** Home Work was first published in 2012, when same-sex marriage was not possible in Minnesota.

Caz