Detroit

Frank Anthony Polito: Dragged to Death

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Domestic Partners in Crime #4

I’ve enjoyed the first three books in this series, which features writer Peter Penwell and actor JP Broadway adding sleuthing to their busy lives. Somehow, bodies keep turning up, no matter what they do.  They also are hosts of a house reno show on “HDTV” – a show that sounds like HGTV’s sadly departed Bargain Block.  In this outing, however, the home reno is taking backstage to a drag show, which they’ve agreed to participate in for charity.

The strongest part of this novel is the explication and definition of the drag community, and the reasons why people are a part of it.  As Peter and JP join the group they are introduced as drag “sisters” who will learn techniques from the older queens.  In loving detail, Polito provides rich descriptions of the makeup and fashion that go into a drag presentation.  I loved that this was a universe where these men felt safe and accepted.  Like every other bubble in the world, though, bad things sometimes happen. read more

Stephen Mack Jones: Deus X

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August Snow #4

Stephen Mack Jones, creator of August Snow – Detroit’s Mexican-African American knight in shining armor – wants to ponder, in his fourth novel, the cost of doing what’s morally right, no matter what.  As the book opens, August is visiting his girlfriend’s family in Sweden but while there, he seems to have tracked down and caught a serial killer.  That’s just the first chapter.  He gets an urgent call from his sometime housemate, Lucy Three Rivers, that her adoptive mothers are in crisis.  One of them is in the hospital with a heart problem. read more

Stephen Mack Jones: Dead of Winter

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I’m not sure what it is about Michigan that creates great private eye novelists, but whatever the reason, Stephen Mack Jones has joined the likes of Loren Estleman and Steve Hamilton in creating his Detroit based private eye, August Snow.  August is a reluctant millionaire – an ex cop who sued the police department – and he now (mostly) spends his time renovating his neighborhood, Detroit’s Mexicantown, one house at a time.  When his godmother, Elena, calls, however, he agrees to meet with a dying man about his Mexicantown business. read more

Stephen Mack Jones: Lives Laid Away

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This book came out around the time we closed the store and I didn’t read it at the time, being deep into comfort re-reading of Agatha Christie and Patricia Wentworth.  However I thought the first book, August Snow, was wonderful and a great and much needed injection of diversity and vitality to the private eye genre.  This second book is even better, more intense and focused.  I recently interviewed Stephen who mentioned Robert B. Parker as an influence, and I can sure see it in this tight, funny, fast moving story. read more