Hello. My name is Matt and I read mysteries.
I never thought I’d be a mystery reader. It started off with the occasional Agatha Christie title to mix things up. A few years later, I found myself reading a too cozy for comfort title involving a doughnut shop and recipes. Things had gone too far. What kind of mystery reader was I? Was I one book away from entering the soft boiled world of J.B. Fletcher?
Luckily, the answer was right in front of me: gay detective novels. In a literary world with limited LGBTQ characters, it’s exciting to find a likeable protagonist to identify with. Exploring the cast of gay detectives, I was surprised to find a collection of gentlemen larger than expected.
Russell Quant is an everyman living in Saskatchewan. As a handsome rookie private detective in a small city, business can be slow. However, when it gets busy things quickly get out of hand. His cases take him to exotic locales and always lead back to his Canadian home for a thrilling finale. His love life is, uh, complicated and has it’s ups and downs. A quirky cast of friends and family round out the series to keep things interesting. Start with Amuse Bouche.
What do Scott, a famous baseball pitcher and Tom, a dedicated school teacher have in common? For starters, a penchant for getting in over their heads when mystery comes a calling. The heart of these books is dark, gritty, and reflective of the era in which each of them is written. The series spans twenty years of great change within the LGBTQ community and doesn’t hold back. Are there schmaltzty moments? Sure, but reluctant detectives need love too. Start with “A Simple Suburban Murder” via Interlibrary loan or “Rust on the Razor” available at Multnomah County Library.
These are my favorites of the bunch, but check any of them out. Each of these mystery series have their own feel. It’s what makes the genre so much fun to read. Plus you never know if the perfect pie recipe is on the next page...
[Scene: In front of the mirror, above the sink of a bathroom somewhere in Briarcliff Manor, NY]
Some writing just speaks to you. You relate to a situation, you long to experience a setting, you thrill at an exciting plot twist, or maybe you smile at a fanciful phrase and turn it over in your mind a bit before speaking it out loud. I LOVE it when that happens! I had some of this good fortune recently when I heard about the short story collection 
If you’re a grown woman who craves a frock with a peacock on the shoulder and a gazelle peeking around the side waist, you’re probably just going to have to go ahead and sew it yourself.
When the world gets to be too much how do you seek comfort? When I need to duck for cover I go to my comfort reads. I look for a pleasant book with just a little bit of drama or mystery about a small town. Small town stories typically have people who care for each other. Communities that help families when they are brought low. The slow pace slows my stress level and the world seems more pleasant, or at least alright. Need some small town comfort? Check out my new list called 
What images come to mind when you think about the Vietnam War? Napalm explosions? Monks setting themselves on fire? Jungle camouflage and booby traps? Vietnam Vets waving protest signs and shouting?
It’s been a cold, wet, icy winter so far; the perfect time to curl up under the covers with a big, riveting book.
comedians, and poets talking about Adam and Eve to divorce to everything in between. And always remember the African proverb: "Never marry a woman with bigger feet than your own."
Neo-nazism and punk rock share ugly and now pretty well-tracked genealogies. Less well-documented is the once-occulted presence and resilience of gay desire amidst UK white power subcultures and splinter groups like the National Front and the British National Party. 
The Pura Belpre Award, established in 1996, is presented to a Latino/Latina writer and illustrator whose work best portrays, affirms, and celebrates the Latino cultural experience in an outstanding work of literature for children and youth.
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