Review - A Light in the Darkness by Crystal D. Budy

When Max receives word that his father has had a heart attack, he doesn’t really want to return to the small town he ran away from many years ago, but knows he must. It doesn’t take long before Max runs into Carter, the one boy from his high school class that wasn’t impressed by the power and wealth of Max’s family. Carter now owns the small town’s first and only gay bar. While there, Max also meets Trey, the closeted jock who was the school bully. Trey was Max’s first sexual partner and got him hooked on drugs. When Trey turns up dead on Carter’s farm, Max wants to get to the bottom of it, but it’s a dangerous game.

“A Light in the Darkness” is the start of a mystery-romance series set in a small North Carolina town. It would be fair to classify this first installment as an enemies-to-lovers story. Max was the spoiled rich kid in high school that got away with far too much because of his family’s position in the town. He also hung out with the school bully, which didn’t endear him to anyone. As we get to know him, we find out Max’s behavior covers for some very painful experiences. Be sure to heed the content warnings about violence and domestic abuse.

Much of the story is told from Max’s point of view. At first, he definitely appears a lovable rogue. Someone who just can’t stay out of trouble. That view remains as we get to know him better, but we also get to understand the complex emotional turmoil that has made Max the way he is. He ends up being a very sympathetic, if exasperating, character.

Carter makes a great foil for Max. In contrast to Max’s wild child behavior, Carter has almost always been level-headed and cautious. Yet, he has his own issues that we come to understand as we get to know him. Both of the main characters are very well-defined, fully three-dimensional people.

Be warned that this is one of those “mystery within a mystery” series. Trey’s death, which sets everything in motion, gets resolved before the end of this book, but, in the process, Max and Carter uncover many more crimes they want to get to the bottom of. These questions no doubt form the subject of the other books of the series.

“A Light in the Darkness” is available from Smashwords or Amazon (commissionable link).