Beach Reading Review

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(More customer reviews)It should be a busy weekend for Tim Snow, a 20-something waiter at a restaurant in the Castro. Not only are gay visitors pouring into San Francisco for a massive party celebrating the birthday of disco legend Sylvester, but the weekend will also see protests and counterprotests as a infamous evangelist holds a "prayer vigil" against gay rights. In a newspaper photo that accompanied an article about the religious rally, Tim was surprised to recognize, among his supporters, a former high school teacher who was also Tim's first male lover. Before the weekend is over, Tim will also learn he was part of a plan to ruin the preacher's rally.
With this book, Abramson kicks off a series of gay titles that aim to combine two genres: mystery and romance novels. This first fluffy piece (no doubt the reason it was named "Beach Reading") is a bit shorter than I would have liked to see (Actually, it's only 183 pages, not counting a preview of his next book.) and perhaps a bit predictable, but otherwise well-written. With a shortage of good gay mystery novels coming out lately, I'm definitely interested in seeing his follow-up books in the series. I give this four mirrored stars out of five.

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Gay tourists are arriving in San Francisco by the planeload for the party of the decade at the Moscone Center, a tribute to a late disco star. On the same night as the dance festival, a infamous evangelist plans to bring his nationwide crusade against gay rights to the Civic Auditorium a few blocks away. Tim Snow finds himself caught in the middle when his activist friends plan a protest. For Tim, the fun and the intrigue are about to begin.
Beach Reading , a San Francisco Chronicle best-seller, is equal parts mystery and romantic comedy set in romantic San Francisco with a taste for adventure, a touch of magic.

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The Little Death Review

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(More customer reviews)The Little Death, originally published in 1986, was the first of seven Henry Rios mysteries. The final episode, published in 2001, is entitled Rag and Bone. This series has earned Michael Nava four Lambda Literary Awards, and comparisons to some of the great writers, such as Dashiell Hammett and Raymond Chandler. Nava says he began writing The Little Death while working at the Palo Alto, California jail when he was studying for his bar exams.
Henry Rios probably earns less than one-half of what he could earn in private industry as a public defender. He is gay, is an excellent lawyer, and is used to dealing with minor offenses until Hugh Paris is picked up as an alleged drunk. The police find two PCP cigarettes on Hugh, and he resists arrest. Henry was sent down from felony trials to arraignments, which means his boss thought he was burned out and needed a rest after his last murder trial. But Henry's life is about to change drastically once again when a nocturnal visit from Hugh Paris exposes Henry to love; loss; and deception:
"The elegant body was as white as marble. I could see a dark blue vein running up the length of his arm, and a jagged red mark just beneath his armpit where the needle went in. There were bruises on his chest. His head rested on a kind of pillow. Death had robbed his face of its seductive animation but I recognized him."
The Little Death is an exquisitely written dark little mystery that will pull at the reader's heartstrings. Henry Rios is smart, determined, and instantly grows on the reader as the kind of hero who is in keeping with today's world. Michael Nava keeps his story subtle and intelligent, and it is a joy to read. He is indeed within the ranks of the characters and plot geniuses who wrote in the first half of the twentieth century. He obviously deserves to be recognized as the great writer he is.
Henry Rios is someone the reader wants to know a lot more about. Michael Nava's craftsmanship is an English major's delight. Justice would be served if Mr. Nava's name appeared on the best seller's list. He has much to teach.
Shelley J. Glodowski, Reviewer

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Henry Rios is introduced as a troubled San Francisco public defender battling alcoholism and burnout. While investigating the murder of an old friend, he traces clues back to the man's own wealthy family. It is here that we first encounter Henry Rios's struggle to maintain his faith in a legal system caught between justice and corruption, a theme that will continue throughout the series.

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Cold Serial Murder (Beach Reading) Review

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(More customer reviews)When Tim Snow's Aunt Ruth comes to visit him in San Francisco, she is expecting to relax and reconnect with her nephew, as well as her favorite City by the Bay. On the first day of her visit, Tim discovers the bloody body of his former lover, Jason, and a co-worker at Art's, a restaurant and bar in the Castro. It turns out to be the first of several stabbings, including another one from Tim's circle of acquaintances, apparently the work of a serial killer on which the police have no leads. One of the murders ironically provides an opportunity for Aunt Ruth to consider relocating to San Francisco permanently, but she is more worried about keeping Tim and his friends safe from harm. Can Tim's untrained psychic abilities provide a lead, or are Aunt Ruth's gut feelings about one of his neighbors the better judge of a likely suspect?
In this second of his "Beach Reading" series of light thrillers, Abramson further develops the likeable and relatable characters he introduced in that enjoyable first book (same name as the series), and again provides a story that perfectly captures the cohesive spirit of the Castro community. While mystery purists may prefer a few more "red herrings" to complicate the solving of the crime, the author obviously intends for the series to entertain rather than challenge, and it succeeds wonderfully on that level. A clang from a streetcar, and five golden stars out of five!


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Tim Snow expected to show his visiting Aunt Ruth the wonders of San Francisco, but never expected one of the sights of the city would be the body of his ex-lover. A killer is on the loose in the Castro district. Meanwhile, Tim's cadre of quirky friends and neighbors makes life all the more interesting with their drama of weddings and lost (and found) loves. Cold Serial Murder continues the story of one of the Castro's most adorable characters. Can Tim and his Aunt uncover who the killer is before it's too late?

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Snowman (Beach Reading) Review

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(More customer reviews)When body parts were found in the sewer pipes at the Castro restaurant where Tim Snow usually works, he was just recovering from injuries suffered in his last adventure with "bad guys." His boyfriend Nick, helping out the gay owners of the restaurant, made the discovery, but it is Tim's Aunt Ruth and Nicki's author grandmother, Amanda Musgrove, who stumble on the possible crime scene, and lead the police to investigate possible leads to drug runners in the area. Meanwhile, Tim is trying his best to deal with his bigoted Texas cousin, Ruth's daughter Dianne, but can't resist goading her into confrontations about his being gay. Ruth is giving Dianne as much space as possible as well, choosing to spend as much time as possible with her fiancé, Sam.
In this fourth of his "Beach Reading" series of mysteries, the author creates one heck of a suspenseful page turner, featuring the characters already endeared to those of us who read the earlier books in the series. (While reading them all in order is not a must, as Abramson provides sufficient detail for "newbies" to catch up on what they need to know, I do indeed recommend reading them all, as this is absolutely the best gay mystery series to come along in at least a decade!) As always, the writing takes you to the Castro instantly, and you can almost smell the sourdough bread! Five perfect stars out of five.
- Bob Lind, Echo Magazine

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Blind Curves (Blind Eye Mysteries) Review

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Blind Curves is the first book in a thrilling new detective series by Diane and Jacob Anderson-Minshall. The story takes place in San Francisco, the authors' home, and the descriptions are rich and lively, thus making the city itself an additional character in the novel.
Velvet Erickson, journalist, is suspected of killing wealthy publisher and former lover, Rosemary Finney. Since she is the only suspect and must prove her innocence within 48 hours or be jailed until her trial, she hires friend Yoshi Yakamoto, owner of Blind Eye Detective Agency. Yoshi and fellow detective Bud Williams set out to find the killer, but along the way they uncover corruption at the highest levels in the wealthy secluded town of Woodside, south of San Francisco. In a race against time, the real murderer is doing everything possible to keep the truth from unfolding, and Velvet is counting on the Blind Eye team to save her skin.
This easy to read, down to earth novel is electrifying from the get-go. The pace moves at a quick clip, and the authors clearly explain the complex relationships as they divulge key clues. Blind Curves is used metaphorically and literally throughout the book tying together the mystery puzzle neatly in the end.
The character development though is what makes this novel stand out and will make the reader craving for more in the series as they complete Blind Curves. In revealing that Yoshi is legally blind and Bud is a paraplegic and wheelchair bound, we get a glimpse of the challenges they face and how they compensate. But the reader does not feel sorry for these two because Blind Curves strips away the labels and gives us gritty, likeable, and appealing characters. The authors add depth to their characterization by enlightening us, and we see Yoshi as clever, intelligent and at times manipulative, but never helpless. This detective knows how to get to the facts, and she uses all of her resources to do it. Anderson-Minshalls add to the book by including wonderfully colorful secondary characters in Tucker, Yoshi's receptionist, and AJ, an East Palo Alto policewoman.
One of the best features of this book is that all of the key characters except Bud are lesbians, and that's the way I like my fiction. While the reader is left hanging as to what the future has in store for these characters, I was fully satisfied with Blind Curves. I am counting the days until Blind Leap's release in October of 2007.


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