Death Vows (A Donald Strachey Mystery) [Paperback]

Richard Stevenson (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 1, 2008

The ninth book in the Donald Strachey Mystery series. Gay marriage in Massachusetts is a fine institution------except when it leads to murder, as it does in this taut, suspenseful Don Strachey private eye novel, the ninth in the classic series. Strachey and his loving foil, Timothy Callahan, are back in perfect form in this witty, ripped-from-the-headlines thriller.

Editorial Reviews

From Booklist

The Donald Strachey series resumes after a five-year hiatus, with a change of publisher, and without having lost any sleuther virtues. Gay PI Strachey is retained by one of a pair of rich retired lovers to investigate Barry Fields, the young spouse-to-be (the setting is in Massachusetts) of their middle-aged friend Bill Moore. Then the client is murdered, Mob-style. Strachey has already established that Barry, his roommate, and his fiancé, Bill, suspiciously lack pasts, probably because they’re all using aliases, but he can’t see any of them having Mob connections. With Barry in custody, Strachey goes to work for Bill, who immediately decamps to Washington, D.C., and becomes incommunicado. Barry’s roomie absconds, and the murdered man’s partner gets pissy. It’s remarkable, however, what Strachey can find out from working his connections and following his hunches, and fortunate that the cops on the case are unbiased. But then, since Massachusetts’ law legalizing gay marriage is crucial to the plot, it’s politic to present the commonwealth’s lawmen as straight shooters. --Ray Olson

Review

Death Vows is engaging and powerful. Richard Stevenson can write. --Robert B. Parker, Spenser private eye series --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 212 pages
• Publisher: mlr press; 1st edition (August 1, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1934531332
• ISBN-13: 978-1934531334
• Product Dimensions: 7.8 x 4.9 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (16 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #138,602 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A riveting mystery with a good dose of satire on today's worlds opinions on homosexuality, August 10, 2008

By 

Midwest Book Review (Oregon, WI USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Death Vows (A Donald Strachey Mystery) (Paperback)

The allowance of legal gay marriage in Massachusetts has caused many a gay couple to travel there for their opportunity to be wed. "Death Vows" is another chapter in the series of Donald Strachey's adventures as the only gay private investigator in Albany, New York. His latest case deals with the fear and hypocrisy surrounding Gay marriage in Massachusetts, where one person pays a price no one should pay for love. "Death Vows" is a riveting mystery with a good dose of satire on today's worlds opinions on homosexuality.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Engaging mystery--excellent writing, September 7, 2008

By 

Blue in Washington "Barry Ballow" (Washington, DC United States) - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Death Vows (Kindle Edition)

This new Donald Strachey murder mystery by Richard Stevenson is set in 2008 Western Massachusetts where a thriving Gay/Lesbian community has embraced the state's legal endorsement of same-sex marriage with gusto. But old mores and prejudices die hard and there are other sectors of the population that are extremely unhappy with these changes in the state's social climate. Some belonging to the old guard are more than willing to take violent action against the newly empowered gay and lesbian citizenry.

With this contemporary backdrop, author Stevenson has consructed a clever and plausible murder story that is laced with sharp wit and compelling characters. The story's ironic conclusion, while close to over the top, is pure and satisfying justice and alone worth the price of the book.

Stevenson is an accomplished mystery writer and in "Death Vows," avoids the cliched characters and scenarios that some gay genre novels embrace. Highly recommended.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars An unexpected but welcome updated addition to the series, but seems a bit rushed., December 29, 2008

By 

Bob Lind "camelwest" (Phoenix, AZ United States) - See all my reviews
(TOP 1000 REVIEWER)   

This review is from: Death Vows (A Donald Strachey Mystery) (Paperback)

The Berkshire Mountain resort area in Massachusetts is the temporary workplace for Albany Private Investigator Donald Strachey, who is hired by the older boyfriend of a young gay man who has been arrested for murdering an older gay man, who previously had hired Strachey to dig up some "dirt" on the young man to discourage their impending wedding. With much of the life of the deceased and the alleged killer, as well as man who hired him, all seeming to be among the many secrets kept in this small town, Donald has to get very creative to try to find another suspect or any motive for the killing. Standing in his way is the tough, local District Attorney, running for re-election, who is relying on a previous altercation between the two men at a grocery store (The young man threw a wheel of cheese) as all he needs for a conviction. The investigation brings out an apparent Mob connection, the past from which the young man has been trying to distance himself, and questions about the possible involvement of a former federal agent.

This is the ninth in the series of Donald Strachey books by the author (I have read them all), and the first in five long years. In the interim, Here!TV had made several of the earlier titles into made-for-gay-cable films, and my guess is that this unexpected addition to the series is to provide a more modern storyline (featuring gay marriages) that is tailor-made for such a screenplay. Unfortunately, it seems more like an embellished outline for such a story, coming in just under 200 pages, lacking the meticulous story and character development I remember in earlier books. Like a welcome, but all too brief, visit from old friends you would have liked to have stayed longer. With hopes that any future installments are written for your readers, not just the screenwriter, I'll still call it four stars out of five.