Middle-aged gay cop Paul Turner investigates the murder of a Chicago alderman, who was also a leading liberal professor, and discovers a network of jealousy, hatred, and deadly secrets among traditional politicians and envious professors.
Political Poison: A Paul Turner Mystery
and over one million other books are available for Amazon Kindle.
Learn more
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Book Description
Editorial Reviews
From Publishers Weekly
A surfeit of good intentions sinks this latest offering from a brave, if occasionally rash crime novelist. Zubro's mysteries all feature gay characters, and he develops them boldly. In addition, he's bullish on fingering injustice (doubtless his earlier The Only Good Priest made him few friends among the Catholic clergy). Unfortunately, his laudable rhetoric and his intentions exact a heavy penalty on plot here. Paul Turner is a good gay Chicago cop with pals on the force, a loyal and abrasive partner and a hunk of a lover named Ben. Paul's also trying to raise his two boys (one has spina bifida) and find out why Gideon Giles, a college professor and city alderman, choked to death on a concoction of vegetables juiced in his very own juicer. Giles isn't, however, a very compelling victim. Gradually exposed as a chameleon who cynically associated himself with worthwhile causes, he was a wild card in the always volatile Chicago political scene, where he had mysteriously defeated a powerful city politician to become alderman. The author keeps telling us we should question this victory. We do. But we also rapidly lose interest. Zubro offers lots of nerve and political correctness, but little narrative tension.
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc.
From Kirkus Reviews
Gay homicide cop Paul Turner (Sorry Now?, 1991) and his straight partner, Buck Fenwick, are called to the University of Chicago office of professor Gideon Giles, an educator, alderman, and media-star--and newly deceased (nicotine poisoning). Giles's commodities trader wife Laura is upset--but not unduly; his arch political rival McGee, who lost to him in the last election (inexplicably), seems pleased--but not gleeful; his media consultant leaves town in a hurry; and a fired political aide (a much hated female-harasser) can't be found. Is any one of these people guilty? Or is the murderer a jealous university colleague? All the likely suspects are trotted out, interviewed and/or gossiped about, but nothing much comes of it. Meanwhile, a young male campaign worker develops a crush on Paul; and Paul's 91-year- old neighbor arranges for him to meet a reclusive mobster and discuss mob involvement in the case--but nothing much comes of it. Finally, a small lie trips up the murderer--and reveals a motive that readers will find hardly compelling. Bland, predictable, and far less interesting than Zubro's other series featuring a gay schoolteacher baseball-pitcher lover (The Principal Cause of Death, etc.). -- Copyright ©1993, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.
Product Details
Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
|
More About the Author
Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.
Customer Reviews
|
Share your thoughts with other customers:
|
||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
Not his best,
By
This review is from: Political Poison: A Paul Turner Mystery (Paul Turner Mysteries) (Paperback)
This is the second Zubro mystery I have read, and it was not near as good as the first one, "Another Dead Teenager." However, I am not deterred from reading all of his work, and I will continue to purchase the new ones as they are published.What I criticized in "Another Dead Teenager" I found to be much worse in "Political Poison," and that is Zubro's continually interjecting explanations for a character's actions or of police procedure. It was a moderate bother in the other book, but in "Political Poison" it is a major impediment to enjoying the book. The editing was slipshod as well, with many typos and other errors in the text. Zubro apparently has improved at telling his stories by letting the characters reveal what is going on, rather than stepping into and stopping the flow to provide an explanation. Most mystery readers are savvy enough to know how things work, and don't need constant reminders on why police do the things they do. If you haven't read any of Zubro's work before, don't start with this one. He is a much better mystery writer than what this novel exemplifies.
Share your thoughts with other customers: Create your own review
|
|
Suggested Tags from Similar Products(What's this?)Be the first one to add a relevant tag (keyword that's strongly related to this product).
|
Customer Discussions
|
This product's forum
Active discussions in related forums
Search Customer Discussions
|
Related forums
|
