Rating: 
Summary: Definitely not Chaucer.... thank goddess!!
Review: David Stukas is such a charming man. I met him in passing awhile back. I lavished compliments and accolades upon him and I swear that he blushed. "Someone Killed His Boyfriend", "Going Down For The Count" and "Wearing Black To The White Party" are bestsellers in my bookshop, and they have every right to be. Witty, clever, hilarious and sometimes potty-inducing, it was a cover to cover read for me. Few books capture my interest and I have to say this one never lost it. The dialogue flows so easily that one can almost see a movie version playing out (hint hint). There hasn't been a better trio of detectives since Nancy, George and Bess (well, I guess the name "Nancy" is kind of appropo for thess books :-) Make sure to start from book 1 and go in order. You really don't have to, but Stukas makes quite a few references back in the latter books. I am currently reading the uncorrected proof of the fourth book in the series, "Biceps of Death" (due out September 2004) and I must say, it is just as good as the rest. Keep the series going, David! You're fans want more of Robert, Michael and Monette! Hugs everyone ;-)-Geo in Cleveland
Rating:
Summary: Definitely not Chaucer.... thank goddess!!
Review: David Stukas is such a charming man. I met him in passing awhile back. I lavished compliments and accolades upon him and I swear that he blushed. "Someone Killed His Boyfriend", "Going Down For The Count" and "Wearing Black To The White Party" are bestsellers in my bookshop, and they have every right to be. Witty, clever, hilarious and sometimes potty-inducing, it was a cover to cover read for me. Few books capture my interest and I have to say this one never lost it. The dialogue flows so easily that one can almost see a movie version playing out (hint hint). There hasn't been a better trio of detectives since Nancy, George and Bess (well, I guess the name "Nancy" is kind of appropo for thess books :-) Make sure to start from book 1 and go in order. You really don't have to, but Stukas makes quite a few references back in the latter books. I am currently reading the uncorrected proof of the fourth book in the series, "Biceps of Death" (due out September 2004) and I must say, it is just as good as the rest. Keep the series going, David! You're fans want more of Robert, Michael and Monette! Hugs everyone ;-) -Geo in Cleveland
Rating:
Summary: Ptowny
Review: I loved the characters and had great fun reading this mystery. I'm really looking forward to the next adventure in this series .
Rating: 
Summary: Hardly the Hardies, and one heck of a Nancy
Review: I really, really, really, really hated the character Michael in this book. He's selfish, gorgeous, dumb, rich, and lives a successfully oversexed life with total inability to commit to more than a few-nights-stands and perverse threesomes.
The thing is, you love to hate Michael. You adore hating Michael. You secretly want to be Michael. Even better, the narrative voice of this story, Michael's friend Robert, is caught in the same twisted hate/envy of Michael as the rest - and his wise-cracking (and mystery-novel devouring) lesbian friend Monette is right beside him in the "Love/Hate Michael" fan-club.
So, when Michael finally decides to settle down, and - of course - scores a perfect southern hunka hunka burning love named Max, you can't help but burst out laughing when Robert imagines himself poisioning Michael (his Martini, of course) and then "helping" Max through the grieving period - and ending up with him, of course. Alas, Michael and Max are marrying in a big gay wedding, and Robert, illusions of murder aside, helps out the best he can as he always does...
...except Max leaves Michael at the altar, and skips town with Max's priceless Matisse, and suddenly, Love'em'and'leave'em Michael is the jilted one, and things take a turn for the fun.
Michael decides to go hunt down Max, and [do away with] him, and Robert goes with him to try and calm him down. Alas, when someone else [does away with] Max first, and everything points towards Michael and Robert, things get even crazier, and funny, and wild, and wacky. It's a blast. It's a campy thrill. And when Monette joins our hardly Hardy Boys as a sort of butch Nancy Drew, it just gets better. Bette Davis drag divas abound, cryptic notes, baffling red herrings, and all night perverse [love]-a-thons make this the campiest of mysteries I've read in a very long time.
Grab it. You'll hate Michael too.
'Nathan
Rating: 
Summary: Ugh.
Review: Irritating is the only word to describe this sophomoric, underdeveloped, witless piece of junk. Not only is the narrator character completely unlikeable, he's the worst kind of unlikeable - the kind that thinks he's being witty and charming while he's coming off whiny and full of himself. If you wouldn't spend time with him in real life, why read about him? The rest of the characters fare no better, with one dimensional stereotypes on every page. The mystery, if you can call it that, is so thin you could almost put it on a plate and call it beef carpaccio - except that it's far less substantial. Finally, there are so many editing errors in the text that it's distracting, which seems to be a common problem with this publisher (Kensington, I think). Either hire an editor who knows the language or stop printing these books, please. Readers of gay mysteries deserve far better than this tripe. Don't waste your money.
Rating:
Summary: What A Hoot!
Review: This is a must read. Mr. Stukas has created characters in Robert, Michael, and Monette who are so endearing and amusing that even Mrs. Stark, Michael's Radical Republican Mother, could not refuse to love them. (she does refuse to love Robert in the book however - her loss). A WHODUNIT with style, wit, and creativity, Stukas weaves a murder mystery around P-town during the summer, and peppers it with humor that will leave the reader laughing out loud. Without Monette, I don't think even Hitchcock could solve the mystery. Have fun with this book. I'm sure once you have read it, you will read the rest of Mr. Stukas's books.
Rating:
Summary: What A Hoot!
Review: This is a must read. Mr. Stukas has created characters in Robert, Michael, and Monette who are so endearing and amusing that even Mrs. Stark, Michael's Radical Republican Mother, could not refuse to love them. (she does refuse to love Robert in the book however - her loss). A WHODUNIT with style, wit, and creativity, Stukas weaves a murder mystery around P-town during the summer, and peppers it with humor that will leave the reader laughing out loud. Without Monette, I don't think even Hitchcock could solve the mystery. Have fun with this book. I'm sure once you have read it, you will read the rest of Mr. Stukas's books.
Rating:
Summary: This is Definitely Not a Drag!
Review: This is an extremely funny, smart first mystery--published in 2001-- by Mr. Stukas. There are three main characters here, the rich and spoiled, handsome and very promiscuous Michael-- the towels in his fashionable bathroom are labeled "His" and "Next"-- there there is Robert, his ordinary best friend, an underpaid copywriter, who describes himself as a recovering Catholic, and their lesbian friend Monette. These three set out to find the killer of Michael's "boyfriend" although he doesn't get done in until the novel is well over half over.
There are lots of laughs here, nothing to get upset about, a great way to spend an evening in bed reading, or you can take this one to the beach as well. But amid all these buffed, perfect bodies and endless parties, Mr. Stukas does remind us of one important truth: drag queens-- not the gym bunnies or the leather crowd-- stood up to the police riots at Stonewall. A lesson we should not forget is that these brave "ladies" made it possible for groups like, say, the Log Cabin Republicans to do whatever it is that they do.
Rating:
Summary: Robert is Lucy Ricardo and Michael is Ethel Mertz
Review: This is an I LOVE LUCY whodunit, with humor, twists of plot, and some surprises. Mrs. Stark, Michael's mother, must be related to Joan Crawford or Eva Braun. The story is quick, witty, and charming. Don't miss this one.
Rating:
Summary: This is a Fun Mystery!
Review: This is not a book for the serious mystery fan, but it's a mystery book that is a lot of fun to read, with many comical situations, that will keep you laughing out loud on a lazy afternoon or evening when you need to relax. Sometimes you find a good book like this to take you away, and this author has certainly worked hard to make that possible for those of us who enjoy a good gay sleuth story.
Michael Stark has it all; looks, lots of money, and a handsome new boyfriend named Max Crawford. Michael even surprises his best friend Robert, when he makes the declaration he is going to settle down with Max, and give up his wild lifestyle. Next, before you can count to ten, Michael is planning a big wedding. Oh, how all of New York will envy him. To Michael's surprise he finds himself left standing on the altar alone. Where is Max? How could he do this to him? Max enlists Robert's help in getting even no matter the cost. Michael is in for a lot of surprises in his investigation that he could never have dreamed would happen in all of his meant to be perfect gay life. Thus the mystery begins, as this novel goes in directions you would never expect and locations you would expect. It's a lot of fun, and would make a delightful movie. Take some time out and enjoy this one! Joe Hanssen
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