"When Hunny 'You go, girl!' Van Horn, Albany's flaming-est flamer, wins the state lottery's first billion-dollar payout, it's PI Don Strachey who's brought in to deal with the skeletons, some of them violent, that come crashing out of Hunny's non-closet. The eleventh Strachey mystery is fast, funny and rather sweet."
Cockeyed (The Donald Strachey Mystery series)
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
8 of 8 people found the following review helpful
By Joseph Laux
Format:Paperback
As this 'Boy of October' has done so many times, Richard Stevenson has yet again hit a home run with Cockeyed. It was not only amusing, as all the Strachey mysteries are, but, as usual, it had something profound to say; there is prejudice everywhere, even within minority groups.
Here we have a main character, Hunny Van Horn, who is a bit 'different', not fitting into the 'norm' of the gay community. He's a Quentin Crisp, not a Rock Hudson. Once he wins the Instant Warran lottery (named after Warren Buffet, as the prize is $1 billion), he becomes the target of various shady characters from his past, as well as right wing fanatics seeking to cast the LGBT commuinity in a negative light. But Rich Stevenson takes the next step, and shows the darker side of the LGBT community itself, so preoccupied with being 'normal' in the eyes of society that they are willing to sacrifice one of their own, just because he represents an older, more open brand of homosexuality.
Who can save the day? Who else but our hero, Albany's own gay private eye, Don Strachey!
I have to stress that this book is very different from the rest of the Strachey Mystery series, one of the best written series in the genre. Here, Richard Stevenson reminds us that the LGBT community was not always 'out and proud', but was, because of prejudice and intolerance, forced into a dark closet, and it was only through the actions of people like Hunny, Don's client in this book, that we began to win our rights. Does Hunny behave badly? Of course he does, but not all gay men are Don Strachey's (or, for that matter, Chad Allen, who plays Strachey in the Here!tv movies), and that's a good thing.This book is a much more light hearted romp, and it is a refreshing, and fun filled,change.
Here we have a main character, Hunny Van Horn, who is a bit 'different', not fitting into the 'norm' of the gay community. He's a Quentin Crisp, not a Rock Hudson. Once he wins the Instant Warran lottery (named after Warren Buffet, as the prize is $1 billion), he becomes the target of various shady characters from his past, as well as right wing fanatics seeking to cast the LGBT commuinity in a negative light. But Rich Stevenson takes the next step, and shows the darker side of the LGBT community itself, so preoccupied with being 'normal' in the eyes of society that they are willing to sacrifice one of their own, just because he represents an older, more open brand of homosexuality.
Who can save the day? Who else but our hero, Albany's own gay private eye, Don Strachey!
I have to stress that this book is very different from the rest of the Strachey Mystery series, one of the best written series in the genre. Here, Richard Stevenson reminds us that the LGBT community was not always 'out and proud', but was, because of prejudice and intolerance, forced into a dark closet, and it was only through the actions of people like Hunny, Don's client in this book, that we began to win our rights. Does Hunny behave badly? Of course he does, but not all gay men are Don Strachey's (or, for that matter, Chad Allen, who plays Strachey in the Here!tv movies), and that's a good thing.This book is a much more light hearted romp, and it is a refreshing, and fun filled,change.
5 of 5 people found the following review helpful
4.0 out of 5 stars
Light, comic farce is a lesson for those critical of "politically incorrect" behavior
September 21, 2010
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
Albany openly-gay private investigator Donald Strachey is hired by Huntington Van Horn, who won a state "instant billionaire" lottery. "Hunny," as he is known to his lifepartner Art, friends and many tricks, is an unabashedly flamboyant older gay man who throws around sexual puns and double entendre like Rip Taylor (who would seem like a conservative librarian by comparison) throws around confetti. Politically incorrect Hunny becomes a media favorite, with the right-wing fundies out to use him as an example of how gay people are sex-obsessed and should not be allowed basic rights. Some even challenge that the lottery commission should take back his prize and give it to someone else.
At the same time, assorted, sleazy acquaintances of Hunny surface, conning, cajoling and threatening to get a piece of his good fortune, which is why Donald has been hired for protection. Biggest threat is a blackmail threat from a religious husband and wife who claim to have a signed confession from Hunny's mom, now in a local assisted living center, who embezzled money from them while in their employ. When Hunny's mom goes missing from the facility, the police and Donald immediately assume it is a kidnapping, and Hunny is ready to give up his entire fortune, if necessary, to get his mother back safe and sound.
Be aware that, while the author's wit has always come through to some extent, this is more of a comic farce than a mystery (with the lady's disappearance the only unknown, for a time), which was obviously his intention. The point is that, while Hunny and his friends' "out there" behavior may make today's gay activists cringe, they actually owe the beginning of the gay revolution - Stonewall, in which Hunny and Art participated - to people who were more like them than the assimilated, nonthreatening couples leading the movement today. The rather light, screwball story is simply a means to that end, and would usually merit only three stars. But I will add an extra star for a spot-on satire of a conservative "newsman" who distorts Hunny's interviews for his purposes, giving the book four stars out of five.
- Bob Lind, Echo Magazine
At the same time, assorted, sleazy acquaintances of Hunny surface, conning, cajoling and threatening to get a piece of his good fortune, which is why Donald has been hired for protection. Biggest threat is a blackmail threat from a religious husband and wife who claim to have a signed confession from Hunny's mom, now in a local assisted living center, who embezzled money from them while in their employ. When Hunny's mom goes missing from the facility, the police and Donald immediately assume it is a kidnapping, and Hunny is ready to give up his entire fortune, if necessary, to get his mother back safe and sound.
Be aware that, while the author's wit has always come through to some extent, this is more of a comic farce than a mystery (with the lady's disappearance the only unknown, for a time), which was obviously his intention. The point is that, while Hunny and his friends' "out there" behavior may make today's gay activists cringe, they actually owe the beginning of the gay revolution - Stonewall, in which Hunny and Art participated - to people who were more like them than the assimilated, nonthreatening couples leading the movement today. The rather light, screwball story is simply a means to that end, and would usually merit only three stars. But I will add an extra star for a spot-on satire of a conservative "newsman" who distorts Hunny's interviews for his purposes, giving the book four stars out of five.
- Bob Lind, Echo Magazine
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
By Frank Kelly
Format:Kindle Edition
An "old school" gay man's winning a billion dollars is the kickoff for this witty and insightful mystery about the "right" kind of gays and the "wrong" kind of gays, and the community's lack of historical perspective on their hard-won rights. Lots of smiles, lots of laughs, lots of rueful head-shaking. One of my very favorite Strachey mysteries and that's saying something.
Most Recent Customer Reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars
Hilarious. Page turner!
I've only recently got into the Donald Stretchey series, and I ENJOYED this story so much! I love the fact that you can visualize the characters, and Honey is one that just SHINES. Read more
Published 1 month ago by Jordan Mcvey
1.0 out of 5 stars
where it all went wrong
I think that Richard Stevenson lost it on the Strachey's Folly book. Sorry Richard. Loved your books up til then and have bought3 after that, but a plot where the lead kills... Read more
Published on October 16, 2010 by Andrew Rosen
1.0 out of 5 stars
What happened to quality?
I loved all the previous Strachey books, and even the TV show -- but, Lord knows what happened here. This book is definitely a loser. Read more
Published on September 6, 2010 by Robert Schwartz
