Wearing Black To The White Party [Paperback]

David Stukas (Author)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Mystery buffs of all sexual persuasions will find much to amuse in Stukas's third novel (after 2002's Going Down for the Count) to feature gay straight-arrow Robert Wilsop and his narcissistic sidekick, Michael Stark. The boys are looking forward to Rex Gifford's Red Party, which promises to be even bigger than the White Party on the gay party circuit, but soon after arriving in Palm Springs, they learn that their host has been receiving threatening letters. Could the sponsors of the White Party be jealous? After surviving a falling palm tree aimed at his bedroom and an exploding gas grill, Rex ends up an electrocuted corpse floating in his swimming pool. Fortunately, Robert's best friend, 6'4" lesbian Monette, shows up in time to help solve this and a second murder. The author provides plenty of suspects and a plausible enough crime scenario, which will leave most readers as bewildered as Robert is, until Monette reveals the truth. But the campy antics of the principals, plus the interplay between the long-suffering Robert and the shallow Michael, supply the most interest. Fans will be glad to see Robert hook up with teddy-bear cute Marc Baldwin, who bravely lures the killer to his house at the climax, though they'll have to wait until the next installment to see whether the romance survives Robert's return to New York.
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Details

• Paperback: 272 pages
• Publisher: Kensington (August 1, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0758206062
• ISBN-13: 978-0758206060
• Product Dimensions: 7.8 x 5 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8.8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,029,468 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:

3.0 out of 5 stars Warming to his characters, September 30, 2003

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JACK "bookophile" (HOUSTON, TX, United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Wearing Black to the White Party: Doing This Circuit Can Be a Real Killer... (Hardcover)

David Stukas is at it again in his "Wearing Black to the White Party." He has transplanted his Manhattan trio -- Robert, Monette & Michael -- to Palm Springs, ostensibly to attend a gay circuit party. There are gay quips aplenty and the reader can become mentally exhausted with such strained, rapid-fire attempts at wittiness. The "mystery" is thin, without enough details for the reader to really follow along and draw our own conclusions. Instead, we must trust Monette and Robert (the featured sleuths this go-round; Michael is left out of much of the action of the novel as he satisfies his sexual needs)when they TELL us who and why the murders were committed. It also seems Robert has found love in Palm Springs but as he's leaving for Manhattan, will love survive the geographical distance?

On the whole, though, I found I almost enjoyed this novel. Again, I read it from cover to cover within two days. I don't know if this is because the narrative is so readable or if it is because the story is so slight. In any case, both Stukas and I seem to be warming to the characters of Monette and Robert, making them less pathetic and outrageous and more likeable.

However, I would not, as some reviews on the dust jacket have done, mention Stukas's gay fiction in the same breath with that of Joe Keenan's. To do so is to flatter Stukas's talent undeservedly and perhaps to mislead fans of Keenan's hilarious (and sadly limited) published novels who might pick up a Stukas novel and be sorely disappointed.

3.0 out of 5 stars Another comedic murder mystery, July 14, 2011

By 

Wayne M. Malin "Preppy" (Malden MA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Wearing Black To The White Party (Paperback)

Robert and Michael go to Palm Springs to attend a Red Party. This competes with the long-standing White Party. A rivalry has started up and swiftly becomes murder. Eventually Robert, Michael and Monette find themselves with two dead corpses, plenty of suspects and a killer who seems to have targeted them.

This is a pretty good entry in the series. Michael isn't as annoying as he was in the previous two books (but he's still a slut) and the mystery is well-paced and interesting. It isn't quite as funny as the previous two but I still enjoyed reading it. If u liked the first two you'll like this one also.

5.0 out of 5 stars Best so far!, June 6, 2009

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jmore865 (Tennessee) - See all my reviews

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This review is from: Wearing Black to the White Party: Doing This Circuit Can Be a Real Killer... (Hardcover)

I am falling in love with these characters. With each book I am loving them more and more. This book actually made me laugh out loud and cry at the end. I just love that finally Robert gets the guy. It also goes to show that Michael Stark the gay sterotype does not have to be a major part of the story for it to work. Monette and Robert do just fine on their own. I would recommend this to anyone that has read the first to books. I think it would be good if you did not read the first ones but even better if you did because then would you have the background on the main characters. I can not wait for the next one in hopes that Marc is still around.