How to Have a Killer Time in DC

Oliver Popp’s Travel Guides to Murder, Book 1

By: Sam Lumley

Narrated by: Andre Bellido

For twenty-four-year-old Oliver Popp, autism is just another fact of life. As long as Oliver sticks to a comfortable itinerary planned in advance, he gets by just fine as a staff writer for Offbeat Traveler magazine. But a curveball drops into Oliver's budding career when his first feature assignment takes him to Washington, DC, to chronicle the latest tourism trends.

His freelance project photographer is Ricky Warner, a gregarious and impulsively adorable shot of adrenaline. If the flirty gay photographer isn't enough to unbalance shy Oliver at the get-go, there's also an unsettling chance encounter with old acquaintance, Elise Perkins, and a congressional hearing that's shaking up both the capitol and an entrepreneurial billionaire. The unexpected distractions soon collide—quite literally—when Elise is struck dead by a speeding car. Forget the National Mall and Mt. Vernon Square. Oliver and Ricky are game for something much more interesting: solving a mystery and a murder.

With their focus shifted and a deadline coming, they only have a few days to solve the crime. For Oliver, it's a weeks of firsts: first crush, first time without a schedule, first time playing amateur sleuth, and first time getting wrestled out of his comfort zone. But with a loosey-goosey new partner like Ricky, that might not be such a bad thing at all.

©2025 Sam Lumley and Prudentius (P)2025 Tantor Media

Promising start to a new series!

Gay rom-com books are some of my favorites, but also adding in a mystery and you have me hooked. This debut novel has some great characters, as well as twists and turns in the story that keep it interesting. My only bit of criticism would be that it was hard sometimes to distinguish Oliver and Ricky from each other. I had to re-listen to a few sections to figure things out, but other than that, this is a fantastic start to hopefully a new series. Looking forward to another installment!