Customer Reviews

The Woodstock Murders: (or Happiness is a Naked Policeman)

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There's little enough gay mystery out there, so I don't want to sound too discouraging. The main problem for me with THE WOODSTOCK MURDERS was the humor. I'm beginning to think it is very difficult to combine laughs with suspense--when it works it's fabulous, but unfortunately (Fred Hunter's Alex Reynold's series is a case in point)it's almost impossible to get the right balance of comic with seriousness. But I cut Froscher some slack because it's his first book and because he has a show business background and so most of his characters are going to be a little larger than life (but if one more character burst into song, I was going to have to hurt someone). I liked the character of Buddy (who, despite the book jacket, is really the main character), but I never felt like Tom was real (or very interesting). Again, not surprising (considering Froscher's background). As is typical in most series, the two main characters got together way too fast (anti-climactic--in all the ways that really count). It doesn't allow for the reader to get to know and care about the characters. That kind of thing needs to be milked. Also, I think this was a let-down because there was no threat ever to Tom or Buddy. I don't require car chases or gun battles, but a feeling of jeopardy (even if false) might have helped. That said, I would still buy the next book and give it a try.

Joe Keenan is my gay comedy god, so I'm afraid I end up comparing any gay comedic writing I come across to the books of JK. The author of this book is no Joe Keenan, but having said that, The Woodstock Murders is still an absorbing mystery with fun characters that the reader ends up caring about by the end of the book.