Stan Leventhal in Key West
Reviewer: Parisdude
Rating: 4.5 stars out of 5
What a refreshing read! I like holiday murder mysteries, and this is certainly one of them. Light and funny, with some kinky twists (not too kinky, mind you), closeted police officers, opaque possible murderers, a falsely gay murder victim, sun, palm-trees, almost romantic dinners, mistaken come-ons, dancing in nightclubs… The MC does everything a single gay man would like to do in any given summer resort all over the world (well, we learn that he’s not single at all, but hey, his lover Paul is far away in New York, and a thirty-something young man who doesn’t believe in monogamy has those urges, see?). And the death of Burgess as well as the police’s inaction puzzle him enough to make him pursue his own, private investigation, which turns out more dangerous than he would have bargained…
Nice and fun, perfect for your holidays, while you’re lounging on a nice beach
What is almost funny is how clueless the MC seems to be. Of course, he asks the appropriate questions, comes to well-thought-out conclusions, follows the right clues, and has the right reactions. Most of the time, that is. There’s a moment he spends in paranoid panic, closed off in his room in the B&B. But other scenes are rather hilarious (for instance when he searches a room together with the closeted local police officer, and the occupant of the room comes back with a hook-up, forcing the two to hide in a wardrobe and wait until the two unknowing guys have finished shagging).
Reviewer: Ulysses Dietz
Rating: 4 stars out of 5
For writers my age, this book has special resonance. The time is the end of the 1980s. The author and the narrator – who is never named – as well as this reviewer, are all the same age. The place is Key West, one of the three legendary gay vacation meccas of the 1970s and 80s (Fire Island and Provincetown being the other two); and the eponymous pool of the title is in the garden of the most elegant gay bed & breakfast on the island.
Everyone born after 1980 should read this. What seems to be a straightforward, fairly casual murder mystery is in fact a metaphor for a generation.
… the narrator feels very real – an odd mixture of arrogance and insecurity. The author was himself an editor of several gay magazines, and his writing was part of the burgeoning world of popular gay literature in the 1970s and 80s. Like me, Stan Leventhal lived the life of the 1970s and 80s gay man; unlike me, he didn’t survive it.
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/2935546592
Reviewer: Kristen
Rating: 4.5 stars out of 5
Set in Key West, the plot revolves around Walter Burgess, found dead in an empty pool and the question of who did the nefarious deed. The murder/mystery settles firmly into “cozy” category. The execution of the murder itself, implausible (thus “cozy” sub-genre) – it’s the writing that makes this story rather brilliant.
Cast of characters is reminiscent of an Agatha Christie novel
I really don’t want to inadvertently drop any spoilers. There are aspects that didn’t dawn on me until I sat down to draft my review. The brilliance in this book lies in the details, the subtlety and execution, in its humanity.
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