P'town Murders: A Bradford Fairfax Murder Mystery

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By my counting, this is only the fourth gay mystery to be set in Provincetown. Although none has bested the very first (Cobalt by "Nathan Aldyne"). The P'Town Murders certainly provides a keen sense of local color. Secret agent Brad Fairfax is summoned by a mysterious voice to come to Cape Cod to claim the body of his ex-lover and best friend. On site he discovers that Ross was murdered, the first in a string of four corpses to show up. Victims and suspects have two points in common: they are all connected to a gay guesthouse for wealthy clients where anything is permitted, and most have some connection to Buddhism. Although Brad investigates on his own, his boss at the mysterious agency for which he works feels certain the murderer is implicated in an assassination plot against the Dalai Lama, who is to speak soon in New York's Central Park. Though gussied up with some trendy black ops trappings, the novel at heart remains an old-fashioned cozy. The possibility of romance comes with the appearance of the young, blue-haired Buddhist puppy, Zachary Tyler. But Brad will have to learn the meaning of trust and to overcome his irrational bouts of jealousy before there can be any hope of a real connection. Rootless himself. Brad muses about the nature of gay relationships, coming across as some curious kind of conservative circuit boy. Even if the parts never entirely cohere, the novel provides an entertaining and often thought-provoking read. The author plans it as the first in a series.ReviewA fabulous seaside setting, an attractive detective with a poignant past, a scandalous peek into the lives of real-life closeted celebrities, a blue-haired boy with healing hands, a sexy gay romance, rowdy Buddhists galore plus a brain-teasing series of unsolved murders: What more could you ask for? WHETHER SHAKEN OR STIRRED, THIS EXQUISITE COCKTAIL IS IRRESISTIBLE ENTERTAINMENT. -- Paul Russell, Author of The Gay 100 and War Against The AnimalsSPARKLING, FUNNY, AND ODDLY TOUCHING, The P'town Murders pulls back the sequined curtain to reveal a Provincetown fuelled by greed, disappointment, and murderous desires. If you thought Provincetown was all tea dances, crushed ice cocktails and show tunes, you're in for a shock. Imagine a gay Disneyland run by the queer equivalent of Dick Tracey's Rogues Gallery, and you're halfway home. With Bradford Fairfax, Jeffrey Round has created a gay detective who defies all the stereotypes of the gay detective: charming yet insecure, handsome yet fretful, Fairfax is not a perfectly sculpted, party boy gay superhero, he's human, complicated, and subsequently very seductive. The gay murder mystery genre doesn't need another mannequin, it needs a real man. We root for Fairfax not because we envy him his glamorous life, but because he is one of us. -- RM Vaughan, Author of the novels A Quilted Heart and Spells.