Quick Take
- Narration: Garrett Kiesel returns as narrator for the third Auden and O’Callaghan mystery, maintaining the character voices and propulsive tension that reviewers have praised across the series.
- Themes: Military cover-up and institutional betrayal, trust between partners under pressure, LGBTQ+ relationship building amid danger
- Mood: Tense and conspiratorial, emotionally stakes-high
- Verdict: A tightly plotted third entry in C.S. Poe’s LGBTQ mystery series that rewards series readers while delivering enough context for newcomers willing to accept some narrative complexity from the start.
I picked up A Friend in the Glass with the specific curiosity I tend to bring to third entries in mystery series: at book three, a writer either knows these characters well enough to do something genuinely interesting with them, or the formula has started to show through. C.S. Poe clears that bar. The third Auden and O’Callaghan mystery finds Sam and Rufus in a more settled domestic situation than earlier entries, Sam now living in Rufus’s small studio apartment in New York City, and it is precisely that apparent stability that the book destabilizes with a plot that pulls directly from Sam’s military past.
The Project Stonefish material is the core of this entry. Sam was in the Army before he became the ex-drifter Rufus is now sharing his life with, and Stonefish was a training operation that ended in the death of someone Sam cared about and drove him out of military service. When a woman contacts Sam offering to sell information about Stonefish, and then turns up dead from a suspicious overdose, the investigation that follows forces both Sam and Rufus to navigate an adversary with institutional power and genuine ruthlessness. C.S. Poe is writing conspiracy thriller with LGBTQ protagonists in a tradition that has very few comparable examples, and the specificity of what she builds here is one of the series’ genuine achievements.
Our Take on A Friend in the Glass
Garrett Kiesel’s narration has been a constant across the series, and by book three the character voices feel fully inhabited. Sam and Rufus have distinct rhythms of thought and speech, and Kiesel keeps them differentiated in ways that matter when the plot requires both men to be simultaneously in peril, working different angles of the same problem, with different information and different emotional stakes. One reviewer described the mysteries as nuanced and not transparent, which requires a narrator who can modulate the tension without telegraphing the resolution, and Kiesel manages it.
The plot structure here is more conspiratorial than procedural. This is not a standard investigation where the detectives work through clues in sequence. The adversary has resources and institutional cover, and the investigation consists largely of Sam and Rufus realizing how dangerous their situation is as they pull threads that lead back to the same concealed center. One reviewer found the plot convoluted enough that it took them six weeks to finish during trying times, which is an honest data point: this is not a breezy thriller and it does not resolve its tension in neat intervals.
Why Listen to A Friend in the Glass
The relationship dynamics between Sam and Rufus are one of the more carefully drawn ongoing romantic partnerships in LGBTQ mystery fiction. By book three, the emotional texture of their dynamic has accumulated in ways that matter: Sam still struggling with New York City’s overwhelming noise and congestion, Rufus continuing his confidential informant work, both men navigating what it means to build something lasting under circumstances that neither of them entirely controls. Poe treats the relationship as a character in its own right rather than as a backdrop to the thriller mechanics, and that balance is where the series earns its readership.
The specific detail about Sam’s military past that Stonefish represents is exactly the kind of backstory element that a writer in a third novel can finally deploy properly. By this point, listeners know Sam well enough that the personal stakes of what happened during Stonefish land with real weight. One reviewer noted appreciatively that we find out more about Sam’s past in this entry, which is the reward that series reading makes possible.
What to Watch For in A Friend in the Glass
The convoluted plot is a genuine warning for some listeners. Poe builds a conspiracy that has multiple layers and does not offer regular intervals of resolution. One reviewer loved the ending while finding the journey slow enough that it took considerable time to finish, which is a useful signal about pacing expectations. If you need your mysteries to move briskly from clue to clue, this is a more atmospheric, pressure-building approach.
This is also emphatically a series book. While newcomers can follow the basic plot, the emotional resonance of the Sam and Rufus dynamic, and the weight of what Stonefish means to Sam specifically, are considerably richer with the first two books behind you. Poe provides enough context for new listeners, but the series rewards investment in sequence.
Who Should Listen to A Friend in the Glass
Readers of the first two Auden and O’Callaghan books should continue here without hesitation. LGBTQ thriller readers who want genre fiction that takes its characters seriously as fully realized people rather than as symbols of representation will find Poe’s approach genuinely satisfying. Listeners who encountered Josh Lanyon’s work in the Adrien English Mysteries and want something in a similar register, though with a heavier thriller emphasis and a more urban contemporary setting, will find this series a productive discovery.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is A Friend in the Glass accessible as a standalone, or is it essential to read the first two books first?
Poe provides enough context to follow the basic plot without the earlier books. However, the emotional weight of Sam’s backstory, the Stonefish operation, and the relationship dynamics between Sam and Rufus carry significantly more resonance with the first two entries behind you. New listeners can start here, but series reading is the intended experience.
How does Garrett Kiesel’s narration handle the shift between Rufus and Sam’s perspectives and voices?
Kiesel has narrated the series throughout, and by book three the character voices are fully established. Sam and Rufus have distinct rhythms and tones of thought, and Kiesel keeps them differentiated consistently across the nearly seven-hour runtime. Reviewers who have followed the series praise the continuity of his performance.
Is the Project Stonefish conspiracy plot easy to follow, or does it become genuinely complex?
At least one reviewer described the plot as convoluted and found the book took considerable time to finish because of the sustained tension without regular resolution. This is not a mystery where clues arrive in orderly fashion. The conspiracy has institutional layers and an adversary with real resources, which creates a building pressure-cooker atmosphere rather than a procedural rhythm.
How explicit is the romance content in A Friend in the Glass compared to the thriller elements?
The romance is ongoing but not graphically explicit. Sam and Rufus are in an established relationship by book three, and the emotional intimacy of that relationship is part of what gives the thriller stakes their personal weight. Poe integrates the romantic and thriller dimensions rather than alternating between them, which is one of the series’ strengths.
