#ThrowbackThursday: Home From Nowhere by Jackson Marsh

Today we take a mysterious throwback look at Home From Nowhere by Jackson Marsh..

From the blurb:

 After their wild and dangerous adventures, Archer and his crew are happy to take on a cosy mystery. Two new staff join Clearwater House. One of them, Jasper Blackwood, comes with an enigmatic, limited edition songbook that suggests he is no ordinary lad from the workhouse. When Archer investigates Jasper's past, he soon realises that his origins, if known, will cause a scandal for one of his closest friends. The question is, how to reunite father and son without disrupting their lives? In the space of one week, Jasper's life changes in ways he never expected, and when he meets Billy Barnett, what was once a shameful longing for the companionship of another man, quickly becomes his reason for living.

'Home From Nowhere' begins on the day 'Artful Deception' ends. This is a comfortable, low-heat mystery set against a young man's coming of age in 1889 London. It can be read as a standalone novel, but it's best to have read the previous books in the series first. As with the other Clearwater Mysteries, you will find a mix of fact and fiction, alternating between upstairs and downstairs in a Victorian household."

The Excerpt:

The hand moved a fraction towards Jasper's crotch, but he squeezed Billy's fingers and lifted their hands to rest on his chest.

'Not yet,' he said.

'You sure?' Billy sounded disappointed.

'Sorry. Do you mind?'

'No, Pianino.' Billy sighed and rearranged his grip to hold Jasper firmly. 'I've waited eighteen years. I can wait a bit longer.'

'It's just for now, though,' Jasper said. 'I've only been here a week and so much has gone on. I got a bit down with it all last night, so I need to go one note at a time, you know? Like learning a new piece. Slowly to start, then up to tempo when I know what I'm doing.'

'I get you,' Billy said. 'I'm the same, to be honest.' His body pressed closer, and Jasper pressed back. 'I ain't sung this song before. Always wanted to, mind, but it might take me a while to get to know how it goes.'

'Plenty of time to practise.'

Speaking that way enabled Jasper to express what ordinary words couldn't. Billy understood the musical references, and that was something else to like about him. It came on top of his enthusiasm for Jasper's company, his voice, and the way he made Jasper laugh.

There was also the other, less discernible something. As when Jasper read music and knew how to play it, being with Billy simply made sense. As much sense as being at Clearwater House.

'You know,' he said. 'I feel like I've been nowhere all my life, but now I've come home.'

'Yeah.' Billy rested his head on Jasper's shoulder, before kissing him briefly on the cheek. 'I know what you mean.'"

Ready to keep reading?  Grab your copy of Home From Nowhere today!