Desert Winter: A Claire Gray Mystery [Hardcover]

Michael Craft (Author)

Book Description

Series: Claire Gray Series | Publication Date: February 11, 2003

After 30 some odd years of success as a director on Broadway, Claire Gray has accepted her first academic position - that of a theatrical director at the richly funded Desert Arts College in Palm Springs. Having lived a largely peaceful life in Manhattan, she is stunned to find herself in the midst of the second murder - and murder investigation - in a matter of months in Palm Springs. This time it's a local aged and ailing collector - who frequently lends pieces to local charity events or dramatic productions - found dead shortly after Claire's friend and neighbor Grant Knoll was there. With Grant a suspect in his murder, along with several others with equally good motives for wanting him dead, Claire decides to look into the circumstances of his unfortunate death.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Mark Manning, the star of Craft's long-running gay sleuth series (Hot Spot, etc.), and his nephew, Thad, who's performing in one of Claire's plays at Desert Arts College in Palm Springs, Calif., lend a hand in the second whodunit to feature the illustrious theater director (after 2002's Desert Autumn). The author metes out just enough hints to give the astute reader an idea of who killed wealthy collector Stewart Chaffee, a lecherous octogenarian with any number of enemies, including his estranged niece and insolent, euthanasia-supporting nurse. As usual, gay characters and assorted odd couples, such as the 50ish Claire and her 20-something boyfriend, behave just as humanly as more conventional people. In the end, Craft shows that proving one's innocence can be as important as finding the guilty.
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From the Author

While "Desert Winter," like any mystery novel, deals with some heavy goings-on -- namely, murder and its detection -- the tone of this book remains fairly lighthearted throughout. It's difficult not to keep one's tongue in one's cheek while spinning a tale that features a doddering interior decorator, a petulant majordomo, and a caregiver who resembles the notorious Nurse Ratched. Claire Gray, our heroine, finds herself knee-deep in an investigation that verges on preposterous but is ultimately plausible and, I hope, engaging. I can predict with confidence that you'll enjoy a bout of obsessive page-turning throughout the last hundred pages of the story.

While the "surface plot," the whodunit, is told with a distinct sense of humor, the threads of the various subplots -- dealing with Claire's emotional and romantic developments -- are more serious and introspective. Narrated by Claire herself, these are the very passages that help us truly come to know the woman. A theme that developed during drafting is the story's frequent examination of the dynamics between couples who are of disparate ages ("the May-December thing," as Claire glibly refers to it). At least four such relationships find their way into this novel, and Claire uses each to reflect upon her own relationship with the hunky young Tanner Griffin.

"Desert Winter" is easily, to date, the book I've most enjoyed writing. I hope you'll take equal pleasure in reading it.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 288 pages
• Publisher: Minotaur Books; 1st edition (February 11, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 031230501X
• ISBN-13: 978-0312305017
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.8 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15.7 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,417,905 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars It's DESERT WINTER and time for murder in Palm Springs!, March 4, 2003

By 

Robert Edler "Master Of Mystery" (Saint Louis, Missouri USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Desert Winter: A Claire Gray Mystery (Hardcover)

Reading a Michael Craft mystery is like visiting old friends. You know and appreciate the characters, you usually know what to expect, but you still often receive a few surprises.

Desert Winter is the second in the Claire Gray mystery series, and in it Craft has begun the process of polishing and refining his cast of characters. Secondary characters like Claire's neighbor Grant have been given more personality, and as a result have become more natural and believable. Only best friend Kiki remains to be fully brought to life.

In addition, the new characters created for this specific adventure are, to say the least, quite unique. First there's Stewart Chaffee, an eccentric gay art collector and decorator who you know is going to become the prime victim and not just because he's addicted to Pink Fluff. Rounding out the Chaffee household, there's Pea, his height-challenged long-time major domo, and Bonnie Bahr, his nurse and care-giver who is just as adept with giving him a return insult as she is to giving him care.

Oh, and in case you missed DESERT AUTUMN the first book in the series, Claire Gray is a renowned, fifty-something Broadway director who has been enticed by wealthy businessman, D. Glenn Yeats to move across the country to Palm Springs and head the theater department in his new Desert Arts College. As the scene opens, she is in the final stages of opening the initial production of the Desert Arts Theater. By the way, she also has a much younger hunk protégé in the person of Tanner Griffin, fledgling actor. (Amo, amas, amat.)

Anyway, the DESERT WINTER plot is much like a play with new clues and red herrings being revealed with each scene change. And in a grand theatrical manner murderer is revealed in the final scene with all the characters (and suspects) in attendance.

As usual I really enjoyed the book, however I have two nits to pick with the plot. First, there's the issue of Claire and Glenn buying into a clue Glenn discovers that does not fit into the time line of the plot. Claire is swift enough to have picked up on the time discrepancy right away. The other is Kane, Grant's boyfriend, describing a mysterious professor as just an older gentleman. Okay, Kane is very young and everyone he meets is older, but how could he miss a very distinctive feature of the professor which other characters had noted throughout the book.

Mark Manning, the publisher/journalist hero of Craft's other successful series makes a cameo appearance in this story since his nephew Thad has become a student in the theater school. I wonder how long it will be before Mark buys the Desert Sun, Palm Springs' daily newspaper, and divides his time between Wisconsin and Palm Springs like author Craft.

DESERT WINTER is a real page-turner, and I recommend it to anyone who is looking for a refreshing and enjoyable reading experience. It really earned my ***** rating.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Winter's Tale for Any Season, June 8, 2003

By 

Samuel Chell (Kenosha,, WI United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Desert Winter: A Claire Gray Mystery (Hardcover)

Graham Greene, C. S. Lewis, and Tolkien are writers who divide their work between "serious" and "entertaining" literature. My time constraints are such that I normally limit my focus to the former category, which has already expanded beyond the reading capabilities of any mortal in the course of a single lifetime (thank goodness, the amount of guilt does not grow in proportion to the books remaining to be read). Books from the latter category, I've always consoled myself, are primarily escapist narratives that can be enjoyed equally, and certainly more efficiently, in the medium of film.

In spite of my principles, I found myself alone in a room with Michael Craft's "Desert Winter" and enough time to read the first page. Bad mistake--especially for addictive personalities such as mine. The theme of murder hits you in the first sentence with cinematic forcefulness, then quickly yields to a POV that would be impossible to capture in a movie: a Christmas ornament in the form of a meticulously described, watchful cherub blowing a trumpet. On whom? I immediately ask myself. The narrator plays with this motif through the end of the chapter, employing it in comical and suggestive ways that could never be translated to film. And the narrative, moreover, practically makes a case for its own integrity when, still in the first chapter, an allusion to "Laura," both the film classic and its literary antecedents, calls attention to the more realistic but also more obvious and less playful status of the film version.

By this point I'm hooked. Normally, reading for me is a form of "work," with chapter endings representing welcome respites. Not so this backstage mystery story. With its colorful cast of characters, sharply observed descriptions, and playful plotting, I found it hard not to get ahead of the author's game. My advice: Don't try to match wits with Claire Gray unless you're absolutely assured you have the self-discipline not to peek ahead.

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Desert "whodunit" a fun read..., February 3, 2003

By 

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

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This review is from: Desert Winter: A Claire Gray Mystery (Hardcover)

When we last left Claire Gray (at the end of Craft's "Desert Autumm" mystery), the transplanted NYC Broadway producer was settled in her new home near Palm Springs CA, heading the Drama department at the new Desert Arts College built by multimillionaire D. Glenn Yeats. Along the way, she had helped Larry, the straight police detective brother of her gay neighbor/friend Grant Kane, solve a murder, and picked up a boyfriend who was less than half of her (54) age.

In the new book, Claire accompanies Grant to the home of wealthy retired designer/recluse Stewart Chaffee, a feisty senior who lives with his former lover, Makepeace (call him "Pea" for short ... which he is) and has daily visits from his private duty nurse, the feisty Bonnie, and his banker Meridith, who - since Stewart hates attorneys - is helping him document how his substantial estate is to be administered. Claire returns a few days later to pick up an antique clock (a prop for a play being staged at the college) and finds Stewart dead, crushed under the kitchen refrigerator, which he likely visited to get to a favorite sweet treat. Having discovered the body, Claire is quick to get involved in the "whodunit" aspect of the murder, and Larry Kane knows better than to try to dissuade her from helping him.

This is very much an upbeat, fun read, which the author skillfully maintains by keeping potentially hillarious (except for the fact they involve a murder) situations in good taste. As an aside, the book also seems to realistically but favorably comment on the prognosis of "May-December" romances (one partner considerably older than the other), which describes not just Claire and the hunky Tanner, but also Grant and his young partner Kane. Last but not least, the book features a welcome cameo by Mark Manning, the author's Wisconsin newspaperman/amateur sleuth, who is visiting his nephew Thad, one of Claire's students. Mark indeed provides a valuable insight that helps the investigation avoid a serious problem.

OK, I'll admit it ... I'm addicted to both the Mark Manning and - now - Claire Gray series of mysteries. The relatively light tone, perfect pacing of developments, attention to detail, colorful yet believeable characterizations and intelligent writing styles are among the best I have seen. My only concern, in seeing the progression in the titles of the new series (Desert Autum, now Desert Winter) is that the desert will run out of seasons before I run out of interest in the series! :)