Rust On The Razor : A Tom And Scott Mystery

Rating:
Summary: A exciting visit to the rural South!
Review: Chicago high school teacher Tom Mason and his longtime lover Scott Carpenter already had enough of a crisis to deal with. Scott, a very highly paid baseball player, has just publicly come out. Immediately afterwards, a lucrative endorsement deal is cancelled because of his revelation. However, they must forget about Scott's career problems and rush home to Georgia. Scott's father has suffered a serious heart attack.When they arrive in the rural South, it really is like entering a different world. The pace of life is much slower and the small town alternately feels charming or intolerant of outsiders. Tom quickly learns that gay people are deeply closeted in Scott's hometown. While they are visiting Scott's father in the hospital, Tom is accused of murder. This time, their lawyer back in Chicago can't save them and they are sure no local one will take the case. They have no choice but to investigate the murder in order to clear Tom's name.By this point, author Mark Richard Zubro has again demonstrated his mastery of both murder mysteries and characterization. Tom and Scott are again shown as a warm, caring, interesting couple. Since they consider themselves to be married, their lives do not revolve around sex. I especially loved the scenes where Tom's gentle sense of humor is shown. His playful teasing and affection for Scott are far more interesting to read than a sex scene. Remember, Zubro's gay detectives aren't merely boyfriends, they're married. And the richly detailed, satisfying relationship they enjoy proves it.As it happens, Tom and Scott discover that Scott's hometown is not as simple as it first appeared. Their probing deeper and deeper into the town's secrets reveals intrigues that are just as complicated as anything they would encounter in Chicago. While Tom forges on ahead to clear his name, Scott must come to terms with what this all means to him. In order to find the real killer, he will need to learn to see the people he grew up with in a new light.I found one of the best parts of the story to be when Tom and Scott are in the thick of things. They are starting to put the clues together and the suspects are getting nervous. I really liked how no one character is the obviously guilty party. Zubro always keeps me guessing right up until the very end. I think it's great that you can see that the murder takes days to solve. The solution doesn't occur to Tom in a flash. Instead, he slowly pieces together the clues and realizes who the killer is. By the time he knows, Tom has also discovered why the people involved did what they did; not merely who pulled the trigger. That's far more satisfying to me.Finally, I highly recommend this mystery to anyone who likes suspenseful, exciting mysteries that keep you guessing until the very end. Zubro has repeatedly proved that he is a master at telling a great story with realistic, well rounded characters. This mystery shows that his wonderful detectives, Tom and Scott, can solve cases anywhere they go, not just Chicago.

Rating:
Summary: Bring on the muffins.
Review: The whole series of Tom and Scott mysteries read like a campaign to scare tourists away from the US. This one leaves you amazed that anyone's left alive in Georgia at all. Everyone is either a mass murderer, homophobe or lunatic and most characters fit more than one category. The events escalate rapidly, are dramatic and at times pretty ugly, but remain at a complete mismatch with any emotional response from the main characters. Tom and Scott are great- they're so emotionally incompetant you feel compelled to keep reading just to see what they'll go into denial over next. The narrator keeps telling you how much they love each other but these guys need help from Relate- either that or they're Vulcans. My favourite bit is where one of them nearly drowns and his lover who has taken no part in search or rescue, just pays attention long enough to get him a change of clothes. End of problem. By the end I was rooting for events to escalate just to see what it took to get one of them upset, or shocky or even to show some sort of human concern for each other! Having reached the end of the book, I suspect there is nothing Tom and Scott cannot solve with a work out and a plate of muffins. This is the most passionless Tom and Scott of them all- however, like the others it's addictive. Sooner or later one of those two will have to manage some sort of believable emotional reaction.

Rating:
Summary: Okay - Definitely NOT Good
Review: Tom and his lover, Scott, return to the South when Scott's father has serious heart problems. Scott, who is a pro ball player, has just come out professionally, and the couple is still reeling from the repurcussions. Needless to say, the trip South doesn't make it any easier. After just a short time, Tom finds the local sheriff dead in the back of his car. And he's the main suspect, for the most part because he's gay.

The first half of the book was quite enjoyable actually, if not a little slow. I easily began to sympathize with Tom when he faced hate and disdain at every turn. Zubro often managed to turn these confrontations into a display of quick wit and strength of character by Tom. His strength and resolve during this time really made it easier to place myself on his side throughout the story.

However, at one point I had to put the book down because I became physically ill. Usually, violence (whether it be a western gunfight, aftermath of a war, or a SciFi alien gobbling humans a piece at a time) doesn't affect me. But the sequence describing the torture of one of Tom's friends was just too much. I didn't see any point of that gruesome scene at all. It added nothing, and caused me to drop several stars in this review.

By the end I did manage to repress that aspect and get back to the main point of the story - Tom redeeming himself. And I did enjoy the low-key transformation of Tom's when he realized that he had prejudices as well. The South wasn't all toothless hillbillies in overalls and bigots out to kill him. Whether or not that's true, at least he began to reflect on himself as well - which made me like him even better.

Rating:
Summary: Okay - Definitely NOT Good
Review: Tom and his lover, Scott, return to the South when Scott's father has serious heart problems. Scott, who is a pro ball player, has just come out professionally, and the couple is still reeling from the repurcussions. Needless to say, the trip South doesn't make it any easier. After just a short time, Tom finds the local sheriff dead in the back of his car. And he's the main suspect, for the most part because he's gay.

The first half of the book was quite enjoyable actually, if not a little slow. I easily began to sympathize with Tom when he faced hate and disdain at every turn. Zubro often managed to turn these confrontations into a display of quick wit and strength of character by Tom. His strength and resolve during this time really made it easier to place myself on his side throughout the story.

However, at one point I had to put the book down because I became physically ill. Usually, violence (whether it be a western gunfight, aftermath of a war, or a SciFi alien gobbling humans a piece at a time) doesn't affect me. But the sequence describing the torture of one of Tom's friends was just too much. I didn't see any point of that gruesome scene at all. It added nothing, and caused me to drop several stars in this review.

By the end I did manage to repress that aspect and get back to the main point of the story - Tom redeeming himself. And I did enjoy the low-key transformation of Tom's when he realized that he had prejudices as well. The South wasn't all toothless hillbillies in overalls and bigots out to kill him. Whether or not that's true, at least he began to reflect on himself as well - which made me like him even better.