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About Just out. (Portland, OR) 1983-2013 | View Entire Issue (Jan. 21, 2005)
33 BOOKS .............. ▼............... He Queer sleuthed, she sleuthed mystery writers explore the trail ir Arthur Conan Doyle. Agatha Christie. Ray mond Chandler. Joseph Hansen. You may not recognize the last name on this list of legendary mys tery writers, hut Joseph Hansen created one Hansen was a true of the mystery genre’s first pioneer. The gay protagonists author, who died of heart failure Nov. 24 at the age of 81, creat ed one of the genre’s first gay protagonists. Hansen penned a 12-book series starring a gay Los Angeles detective/insurance claims adjuster named Dave Brandstetter. He pub lished the first installment, Fadeout, in 1970 and completed the series in 1991 with A Com pany of Old Men. Applauded for his sensitive treatment of the AIDS crisis, he was, above all, a crackerjack storyteller. The Los Angeles Times called him “the most exciting and effective writer of the classic private-eye novel working today.” Hansen’s legacy lives orj in queer mystery fiction, as seen in two recent offerings. blazed by the late Joseph Hansen. by S tephen B lair You may know him from Amuse Bouche, the first book in this series. But don’t fret if you haven’t read that installment. Flight of Aquavit gives newcomers plenty of opportunities to catch up with Russell’s antics. Named after a strong Nordic aperitif, Aquavit mostly takes place in the detective’s hometown of Saskatoon, Saskatchewan. It’s Christmastime in Canada, which means it’s really, really cold outside. Our hero packs away lots of Starbucks lattes and his mother’s fatty cooking, making him a bit self- conscious about his usually trim bod. He takes his dog for walks, “hoping to ward off the sev eral pounds 1 could feel attaching themselves to my tummy like barnacles of fat.” Funny, I can’t remember Sam Spade or Her cule Poirot ever fretting about their weight. Leave it to a queer detective to put vanity first. Russell’s mission is to find “Loverboy,” a dangerous and mysterious figure who black mails a successful, closeted businessman. His search takes him to gay chat rooms on the Internet and to New York City, where he’s tempted to suspend his ethics and sleep with a foxy suspect. Flight of Aquavit by Anthony Bidulka; Insomniac Press, 2004; $29.90 softcover eet Russell Quant. He’s cute, he’s queer, and he’s an ex-cop turned private inves tigator. M eaitingout books Witchfire and Death by Prophecy. The action begins on an island in the Bermuda Triangle, where a bunch of baddies murder members of an anthropological team to secure a powerful crystal that can change the course of history. Meanwhile in Palm Springs, Connor and her girlfriend, Laura, learn that an innocent young woman has been killed because a cult wants her inheritance money. The ladies head to York, England—headquarters of the dastard ly cult. With a little help from family and psychic friends, they infiltrate the cult and unleash the murderous wrath of some power- hungry schemers. Following the plot so far? It only gets more outrageous from here on out, as Maddison swaddles ludicrous plot developments in florid, laughable prose. “For a few brief moments, every person in the room felt connected to every particle of creative energy extant in the universe,” the author writes in one of many New Age moments. Suffice it to say that crys tals play a vital role in every stage of the plot. Despite—or maybe because—of its excesses, The Eleventh Hour is a fun, strange read that doubles as a substance-free acid trip. Maddison deserves kudos for pushing her cosmic vision to the limits. She can’t be forgiven, however, for opening each chapter with quotes by the likes of Shake speare and George Eliot. Sorry, honey, but your literary pretensions don’t disguise this hxtk’s hamminess. You might as well play Beethoven at a tractor pull. JH eatingout eatingout eatingout Casual Dming Overall, Aquavit is a quick, entertaining read that’s occasionally brought down by pre dictable plotting and weak character develop ment. It’s not particularly sexy, either, since Russell only ends up in one or two compromis ing positions. But these flaws don’t really detract from the fun when you’re in the saucy company of a pri vate dick who’s not ashamed to say, “Feeling like Superman and Wonder Woman rolled into one, I grabbed the edge of the d<x)r and gave it a mighty tug.” The Eleventh Hour by Lauren Maddison; Alyson Publications, 2004; $28.90 softcover f you can suspend your disbelief for 300 pages, you’re in for quite a wild ride. How can you not like a book that spotlights psychic detectives, magical crystals and characters whose souls date back to the lost city of Atlantis? The Eleventh Hour is a part of Lauren Maddison’s Connor Hawthorne series, which also includes the I eatingout i S tephen B lair is a Portland free-lance writer , whose current guilty pleasure is season four of i Dawson’s Creek on DVD. eatingout eatingout eatingout BRÜMCH Piano Lounge (Sal, d rmL an die merry Game Room lie ground in Old SJown Open 4:00 Daily (. ^oook-la-la. 4936 NF FREMONT AT 50TH B reakfast , L iini h & D inner 208 NW COUCH S t (ABOVf THI I azzi 503/827-511 3 featuring Alianti Bros coffees ORDERS TO GO 503-281-1090 Il I !■! 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