The Ultimate Exit Strategy, page 22
A Books in Canada First Novel Finalist, this new edition contains a foreword by Alexander Inglis.
Buried on Sunday by Edward O. Phillips
A Geoffry Chadwick Misadventure, Book 2 – “One of the problems with weekends in the country” says Geoffry Chadwick’s genial host in Buried on Sunday, “is that people feel free to drop in unannounced.” And drop in they do. No sooner has our lovable lawyer hero, a partner in the prestigious law firm of Lyall, Pierce, Chadwick and Dawson – who just happens to be gay – settled in with a spicy Bloody Mary, than hardened criminals on the lam burst in and take Chadwick and his hosts hostage in their own beautiful home.
A tale of mystery and suspense brims with human drama, both poignant and comic: It turns out that one of the other hostages, now married, had once been Chadwick’s lover. As the hours of their forced confinement turn into days, a flood of bittersweet memories engulf Chadwick, of an affair whose painful end he could never forget, of a lover who had changed the course of his life. As the weekend moves toward its powerful denouement, Chadwick comes to terms with the road he has taken – and the quite different path, of marriage and convention, chosen by his early love.
A Crime Writers of Canada Arthur Ellis Best Novel Winner. This edition contains a contemporary interview with Phillips on reception of his work and a reminiscence of his 80th birthday celebration by Toronto author Nancy Wigston.
Sunday Best by Edward O. Phillips
A Geoffry Chadwick Misadventure, Book 3 – Geoffry Chadwick is back and this time the reluctant hero and social observer is going to a wedding - or maybe not. Geoffry’s niece, Jennifer, is about to marry Douglas, son of a prominent – or at the very least notorious – Montreal socialite, Lois Fullerton. Lois is a wealthy widow with an impressive list of discarded lovers and it looks like she’s decided Geoffry will be her next conquest. But after meeting Lois on several occasions, Chadwick discovers he is being followed. Soon a nasty knife wound – on the front tire of his car – and a nasty note thicken the plot. Has Lois masterminded a trap? Who is her suspicious, swarthy, and sexy chauffeur? And why is the bridegroom more interested in his future brother-in-law than his future bride? A lively misadventure of manners – bad manners – with just a hint of crime.
This new edition contains a tribute to Mr Phillips who passed away in May, 2020.
Working on Sunday by Edward O. Phillips
A Geoffry Chadwick Misadventure, Book 4 – Geoffry Chadwick has a stalker. But between avoiding Christmas parties, gift shopping, moving his mother into a senior living facility, handling his recently widowed sister, and dealing with the loss of his long-term boyfriend Patrick, Geoffry Chadwick does not have time for a stalker.
Facing a bleak Christmas, Geoffry Chadwick is cheered to discover a kindred spirit in the recently widowed Elinor Richardson. They met at a party he had wanted to avoid and when he offered to escort her home they found that her apartment was full of smoke from a neighbor’s neglect. After Chadwick offered her the use of his mother’s apartment, Chadwick’s sister Mildred flew into town also deciding to use the apartment for a last Christmas with their mother. Between family tensions, unexpected changes to plans, and a dash of Christmas cheer, no one expected the stalker to get serious …
Phillips’ trademark Wildean wit and deft characterization makes Working on Sunday an unforgettable look at aging, loneliness, and the comfort of companionship. This new edition contains a newspaper article from Phillips musing on his 1987 Crime Writers of Canada Award for Best Novel.
NIKKI BAKER - Virginia Kelly in Chicago
In The Game by Nikki Baker
Paperback: 184 pgs • 978-1-951092-28-3
A Virginia Kelly Mystery, Book 1 – When businesswoman Virginia Kelly meets her old college chum Bev Johnson for drinks late one night, Bev confides that her lover, Kelsey, is seeing another woman. Ginny had picked up that gossip months ago, but she is shocked when the next morning’s papers report that Kelsey was found murdered behind the very bar where Ginny and Bev had met. Worried that her friend could be implicated, Ginny decides to track down Kelsey’s killer and contacts a lawyer, Susan Coogan. Susan takes an immediate, intense liking to Ginny, complicating Ginny’s relationship with her live-in lover. Meanwhile Ginny’s inquiries heat up when she learns the Feds suspected Kelsey of embezzling from her employer.
Nikki Baker is the first African-American author in the lesbian mystery genre and her protagonist, Virginia Kelly is the first African-American lesbian detective in the genre. Interwoven into the narrative are observations on the intersectionality of being a woman, an African-American, and a lesbian in a “man’s” world of finance and life in general.
On first publication, critics hailed this an “auspicious debut”. This new edition features a foreword by the author.
The Lavender House Murder by Nikki Baker
Paperback: 232 pgs • 978-1-951092-29-0
A Virginia Kelly Mystery, Book 2 – By night – the bars, the music, the sexual energy. By day – the beaches, the bay … basking in the sun and the scent of suntan lotion. And everywhere the women of Provincetown. Among these women in the sun is Virginia Kelly, a woman of color, on vacation from the mostly white world of finance. Ginny has come to P-town with friend Naomi, and without lover Emily. They stay at Lavender House, a hotel for lesbians run by Sam, a woman with whom Naomi has had some dramatic history. Other inhabitants include Anya, who works for the inn; Joan, a writer and sometime guest; loud Barb and her quiet partner. And in P-town, Ginny is drawn to another woman. Then … murder shatters the vacation bliss. For among the people brushing up against Ginny and Naomi for these few sensual days is a ruthless killer. And a victim whose death will change the lives of Ginny and Naomi.
A Lambda Literary Winner for Best Lesbian Mystery, this new edition features a foreword by Ann Aptaker (Cantor Gold series).
Long Goodbyes by Nikki Baker
Paperback: 220 pgs • 978-1-951092-38-2
A Virginia Kelly Mystery, Book 3 – Lured to her midwest hometown for Christmas and a family reunion by a former flame, Virginia observes that nothing has changed. Her parents, still hoping a man will reclaim her from her lesbian path, do not see that she is in deep mourning for a man, who had meant a great deal to her and helped her accept her sexuality and identity, gay friend Emery Arkin, dead of AIDs before she even knew he was dying. But at her high school reunion, the painful past of being an outcast nerd is transformed to a much different present where she is now one of the best looking and successful graduates to return. Rosalee, who had called and written Virginia begging her to come, is now indifferent but another former classmate now named Spike determinedly pursues Virginia. The marriage of a friend turns out not to be as idyllic as it first appears. And former English teacher Harry Hobart has lost his wife in a drowning. But she was not the last to die and Virginia has to fight to survive.
First published to acclaim in 1993, this new edition features a foreword by Cheryl A. Head (Charlie Mack Midtown Mysteries).
JACK DICKSON - Jas Anderson in Glasgow
FreeForm by Jack Dickson
A Jas Anderson Thriller, Book 1 – A tough gay thriller set in the criminal underworld of Glasgow, Scotland. In the derelict inner-city of Glasgow’s Dennistoun, FreeForm introduces a tough gay cop, Detective-Sergeant Jas Anderson. A violent anti-hero, suspended from duty for assault, Jas is the natural suspect when his lover is found brutally murdered. Now on the run and struggling to clear his name, Jas uncovers Leigh’s involvement in a blackmail ring, and even his lover’s identity becomes confused. Film-noir in inspiration, vividly characterized, and authentically exposing the raw nerves of Thatcherite Britain, FreeForm is pure suspense to it’s final pulse-pounding closing pages.
An early example of gritty Tartan Noir, this new edition includes a foreword by Clive King.
Banged Up by Jack Dickson
A Jas Anderson Thriller, Book 2 – Detective Sergeant Jas Anderson is imprisoned and fighting for his life. Anderson was the violent anti-hero of FreeForm, and ended up in that story, being expelled from the Glasgow police force. Banged Up starts with Jas being framed by his ex-colleagues. He is remanded to Barlinnie prison, and is forced to share a cell with Steve McStay, sentenced for aggravated assault on two gay men. In this all-male environment, inmates don’t divide into gay and straight, but rather into who dominates … and who doesn’t. Resilient as ever, Jas forms an unlikely partnership with Steve in his fight for survival.
Marking the novel’s 20th anniversary, this new edition includes a foreword by Matt Lubbers-Moore (Murder and Mayhem).
Some Kind of Love by Jack Dickson
A Jas Anderson Thriller, Book 3 – Jas Anderson, now working as a private investigator, is hired by a victim’s mother to get answers from a police force that seems unable to help. He finds a clue that the police may have missed then washes his hands of the case. At home, he shares his apartment with “Stevie” McStay, Anderson’s former cellmate and new boyfriend, as well as Stevie’s often-visiting two young children. Out of the blue, a voice from Jas’ past asks for help with a personal matter and a police investigation. He soon finds himself stirring an explosive cocktail of police corruption, football fanaticism, sectarianism, and murder, while … house hunting. Then the gay bashings begin again and suspicion falls close to home.
The conclusion to this celebrated trilogy, this new edition includes a foreword by the author.
LAUREN WRIGHT DOUGLAS - Caitlin Reece in Victoria, BC
The Always Anonymous Beast by Lauren Wright Douglas
Paperback: 248 pgs • 978-1-951092-50-4
A Caitlin Reece Mystery, Book 1 – Val Frazier, Victoria’s star TV anchorwoman, is Caitlin’s newest client. She is the victim of a viciously homophobic blackmailer who has discovered her relationship with Tonia Konig. Tonia is a lesbian-feminist professor, an outspoken, passionately committed proponent of nonviolence. She is enraged by her own helplessness, she is outraged by Caitlin’s challenge to her most fundamental beliefs, and by Caitlin herself, whom she considers “a thug”.
As Caitlin stalks the blackmailer and his accomplices through the byways of the city of Victoria, she uncovers ever darker layers of danger surrounding Tonia. And she struggles against a new and altogether unwanted complication: she is increasingly attracted to the woman who despises her.
Douglas’s debut novel in 1987 began a six part series for Caitlin Reece. This new edition includes an introduction by the author and a foreword by legendary Katherine V. Forrest.
Ninth Life by Lauren Wright Douglas
A Caitlin Reece Mystery, Book 2 – Tough, resourceful Caitlin Reece, is one of the most unconventional women ever to appear in a mystery novel. A former public attorney, she left law to conduct her own brand of justice. The uncompromising private detective once again prowls her terrain of Victoria, British Columbia, investigating a case as dramatic and immediate as today’s headlines. Caitlin is hired by a woman code-named Shrew, to pick up a package. Caitlin is sickened to the depths of her being by the contents of the package: a blind and maimed cat, and photographs of animal experimentation. And now Shrew is dead.
As a member of the militant animal rights organization Ninth Life, she had infiltrated Living World, a cosmetics company. The other members of Ninth Life suspect she was betrayed by someone within their own ranks and murdered because of what she learned. The director of Living World has made vehement public denials that his company is experimenting on animals for product development. Caitlin sees only one answer: to penetrate the security systems protecting Living World alarms, dogs, guards, and discover the truth for herself.
Originally published in 1990, it won a Lambda Literary Award for Best Lesbian Mystery.
GRANT MICHAELS - Stan Kraychik in Boston
A Body to Dye For by Grant Michaels
A Stan Kraychik Mystery, Book 1 – Stan “Vannos” Kraychik isn’t your everyday Boston hairdresser. Manager of Snips Salon, which is owned by best bud (and occasional nemesis) Nicole, Stan thought this day was an ordinary one. A delivery van backed into the salon’s rear driveway and accidentally spilled gallons of conditioner, leaving Stan and hunky Roger) embracing in a gooey mess trying to staunch the flow, with little success as they slid and slipped with Nicole watching on with rolling eyes. Later Roger is found murdered.
Stan’s client, Calvin Redding, who owns the apartment where Roger’s body was found, can’t explain why the body is dressed in little more than bowties. Enter Lieutenant Branco, dark, muscular, Italian, (straight) of Boston PD Homicide who immediately suspects everyone, especially Stan. In an attempt to clear his name, Stan travels to California, takes up mountain climbing, eavesdropping, spying, schmoozing, and a little bit of schtupping, all in an attempt to find the truth.
Grant Michaels’ zany series of adventures starring Stan Kraychik was a multiple Lambda Literary Awards Finalist for Best Gay Men’s Mystery. For this 2019 edition, Carl Mesrobian reminisces about his brother Grant in an exclusive foreword, and Neil S. Plakcy (Mahu Investigations) provides an introduction of appreciation.
Love You To Death by Grant Michaels
A Stan Kraychik Mystery, Book 2 – Valentine’s Day is fast approaching and everyone has a sweetheart, except Stan Kraychik, Boston’s sassiest hairdresser. Ever hopeful of meeting Mr. Right, Stan attends a gala reception that culminates in a death by poisoning, and romantic problems take a back seat to murder. Then Boston police arrest Stan’s friend Laurett Cole, who leaves her four-year-old son in Stan’s care. In his quest to free Laurett from suspicion and himself from his ill-mannered ward, Stan finds himself exploring the secrets of a revered Boston institution, the Gladys Gardner Chocolate Company. There, along with the sweet edibles, he finds an assortment of not-so-delectable murder.
A Lambda Literary Awards Finalist, this new edition includes a foreword by Frank W. Butterfield (Nick Williams Mysteries).
Dead on Your Feet by Grant Michaels
A Stan Kraychik Mystery, Book 3 – Spring is in the air and Stan has been with his boyfriend, ballet dancer and choreographer, Rafik, for a year. Alas, jealousy rears its ugly head and Stan storms out of a dinner party given by the director of the ballet company. After crying himself to sleep, he is woken in the morning by Rafik’s phone call. Stani, there is great trouble. Max Harkey is dead.
Suspects abound. Two young ballet dancers, dating each other but both in love with a third unattainable person. The mistress of the company, whose niece was about to be the lead in Max’ next production before she fell and broke her hip. The houseboy who sends Stan’s sexual yearnings into a whole new direction. The financial backer who spends too much time at the ballet studio. Jason Sears the pianist, last seen near the original priceless music score. Toni di Natale, conductor who hangs all over Rafik whenever she is near him. And Stan’s lover, Rafik, who found the body.
Even Stan’s nemesis, the gorgeous straight cop, Lieutenant Vito Branco, wants Stan to solve this mystery. Can he do it and stay alive?
A Lambda Literary Awards Finalist, this new edition includes a foreword by Charles Michelson.
Mask for a Diva by Grant Michaels
A Stan Kraychik Mystery, Book 4 – Stan Kraychik, Boston hair-dresser extraordinaire, has been hired as the wig master’s assistant for the upcoming season of a local opera company. The Italian opera diva and aging soprano Marcella Ostinata, whose use of English is determined by her irritation level, will perform the lead. Before Stan heads to Europe to meet his lover’s parents, one of the actresses from the company kills herself by jumping into the path of a train. Befriending the benefactor, Stan moves into a house on the benefactor’s estate, where a very attractive deaf/mute boy takes a fancy to him. As the company heads unsteadily towards opening night, murder threatens the entire festival and Stan finds himself playing a crucial role in a deadly grand opera, performed without music, and with real weapons and killers.
A Lambda Literary Awards Finalist, this new edition includes a foreword by Joe Cosentino (Nicky and Noah Mysteries).
Time to Check Out by Grant Michaels
A Stan Kraychik Mystery, Book 5 – It’s October in Key West, as quiet as the tropical island will ever be. Or so thinks Boston salon star Stan “The Widow” Kraychik, who has recently lost his lover. Stan is grief-stricken, but he’s also grotesquely wealthy, thanks to a landmark cash settlement to a domestic partner, as well as his dead lover’s life insurance. Instead of sanctuary in an off-season resort town, Stan finds himself in a fizzy, dizzy world that few tourists experience. The trouble starts when Stan is forced to change his guest-house. When he goes to settle his bill, the manager is on the floor of her office – dead by violence.
Never one to mind his own business, Stan discovers that the victim was embroiled in a legal battle over the estate of a Key West millionaire. As he meddles further into the investigation, he encounters an exotic lineup of suspects reminiscent of a circus sideshow. They may be worthy foils for Stan’s melancholy, but he must also identify the killer before he becomes the next victim.
