Death Vows by Richard Stevenson
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TITLE: Death Vows
AUTHOR: Richard Stevenson
ISBN: 978-1-934531-33-4
PUBLISHER: MLR Press
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Review by PermaFrost
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BOOK BLURB:
A delightful and winning contemporary Gay P.I. Mystery that hearkens back to shades of Dashiell Hammett and Raymond Chandler, intriguing readers with constantly shifting shadows of suspense and surprise.
BOOK REVIEW:
Gay P.I. Donald Strachey of Albany NY against his better judgment agrees to take a case investigating the younger fiance of a mysterious man the clients claim as a good friend. Quickly Don discovers the clients are not friends of the older man, and they have their own hidden agenda. Soon an assault occurs, then violence escalates, and Don is right at the heart of the expanding maelstrom of mysteries. No one involved seems to be whom they profess to be; everyone has a concealed past and a secret identity. It's Don's job to unravel all the threads and expose the real ball of yarn before another death occurs ~ if he can.
Death Vows is the latest entry in the Donald Strachey P.I. mystery series and I immediately became a convert. This series is a must read and Death Vows is a fine introduction. Death Vows is #9 in the set, and I fully intend to find and read the first 8! Richard Stevenson layers on plot lines in a taut tapestry which unfolds only one thread at a time, while his sassy, cynical detective races to discover the next secret-and the next. In a milieu in which no one is who they seem and everyone wears multiple masks, character development doesn't seem likely, but is still present.
The characters of the protagonist, Donald Strachey, and his life partner Timothy Callahan, administrative assistant to an Albany Assemblyman, are particularly well-evolved, but make no mistake ~ all the characters are finely assembled. Death Vows is a novel not to miss, showcasing an excellent author ~ Richard Stevenson.
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