I read and loved some of the Benjamin Justice books, would like others in a simmilar vein. (Okay they were a little trashy, but it was a good kind of trashy - like those old dime detective novels.)

Anybody have any recs for good mysteries? Detective characters are a plus, they really push my buttons.

If you go to the search, you can select this genre.  Go to the book browser, select Gay and Lesbian, select mysteries and thrillers, select gay.   The Justice books show up along with the Donald Strachey series. 

Thank you for the advice.  I was more wondering if anyone had read any that were really good and could reccomend some that they particularly enjoyed - it's really hard for me to choose from the  hundreds of titles! I guess I probably didn't make that clear enough. :)

Ah.  Now that I won't know.  I do like Christopher Bram.  But then I'm a female who dislikes plenty of mysteries.  Give me a cozy lesbian mystery over a detective anyday.  

But JMW did cowrite two mysteries with Peter Duchin.  Think the books were much more straight though.  About the jazz era.

eta

And there are the Lambda awards.  They have a catagory every year for gay mysteries.  Lots of small press books on the lists, which don't get posted often.  And their website is rather difficult to browse.

http://www.lambdaliterary.org/index.html

Anthony Bidulka has a series featuring gay detective Russell Quant.

Michael Craft's Mark Manning series was pretty good.

Joseph Hansen's Dave Brandstetter series.

Val McDermid's Lindsay Gorden books are very good.

Try this link:

http://stopyourekillingme.com/DiversityCats/gay.html

Ahhh.  That is a good link.  Lesbian cozies AND gay detectives.  Thank you.

Thank you, I will definately check those out. Much appreciated!

Neil Plakcy

Josh Lanyon

P.A. Brown

Richard Stevenson

All from MLR Press: www.mlrpress.com

I, too, look for good mysteries with gay detectives. Alas, not many found yet.

I bought the first two of the Russel Quant books by Anthony Bidulka, but posted the second one here without reading it. The mystery was ok, but I found the detecive pretty dense. Plus the author used a modifier for the word "unique," an unpardonable offense to me in a professional writer. (Like "very unique.")

I also read the first of the James Lear books featuring his horny detective Mitch. The Back Passage was ok, a take off on Christie, set in an English country home in the 1920's. The mystery was a bit confusing, but the main attraction is the non-stop sex. Nothing too gtraphic, just way overdone. I read the second book, The Secret Tunnel, but found it a long haul, so to speak. Again, way too much sex between 99% of the male characters. Mystery was sort of confusing, again. I give up on him.

I read the Dave Brandsetter mysteries years ago. I think they were ok; more literate than some.

I am also reading the Nathan Aldyne series featruing a gay bartender/detective and his straight female real estate agent. Each is named for a color (the first being Vermillion.) So far so good. (Aldyne is a pseudonym for Michael McDowell, whose horror novels are among the best written. Sadly he died without giving us a larger body of work.)

Good luck.

Ron

For trashy good reads I would suggest Greg Herrens books....he has two series. 

Ellen Hart's mystery series featuring Jane Lawless are very well written, and could fall into the "suspense" category IMHO.

I've read a few cozy type mysteries you may want to check out. Dean James has a vampire mystery series but I've only read the first - Posted to Death. It reminded me a bit of Agatha Christie in having a lot of suspects. He writes the Trailer Park cozies as Jimmie Ruth Evans(the main sleuth's son is gay in these)

there's also a gay character though not the sleuth in Monica Ferris's cozy series - he's actually the main reason I read this because I like his personality plus I like reading about the needlepoint and knitting they do(so if you don't like crafts you will probably be skimming big time!)

I just read and LOVED Farthing, by Jo Walton. It's technically an Alternate History novel. . . and you definitely have to keep that in mind or the shift in tone for the final 1/3 will completely throw you. . . but it's a really well written British country-house mystery as well, and it features a gay detective, a couple gay characters, and several bisexuals -- once you work out the euphemisms, because it is 1949 after all. There's no sex shown (remember, British country house mystery *wink*), but it's definitely talked about and serves as a plot point on several occasions. And if you love it as much as I did, there are two sequels (Ha'Penny and Half a Crown), still featuring the gay detective, to look forward to. :)

I enjoyed the Todd Mills mysteries.

The three books by Dave Benbow all feature a mystery but the story focuses more on the male couples.

IM by Rick R. Reed is an excellent thriller.

There's also the Kate Martinelli mysteries by Laurie R. King, which are quite good - the lead character is a lesbian detective in San Francisco.

Joseph Hansen: Dave Brandstetter series (1970 - 1990) for "period pieces."  Hansens's descriptions of and recounting of 1960's -- 1970's California is absolutely perfect.  Excellent series.

Richard Stevenson: Donald Strachey series (1981 - 2008) for the traditional PI story.  The made-for-Here TV! movies have updated several of the plots and characters.  Very good series.

Michael Nava: Henry Rios series (1986 - 2001) for the most deeply satisfying characters and literary qualities.  The last two BURNING PLAIN and RAG AND BONE are superb.  Great series.

R.D. Zimmerman: Todd Mills series (1995 - 1999) for the thrilling action.  His best are CLOSET and HOSTAGE.  Good series.

Lev Raphael: Nick Hoffman series (1996 - 2007) for the satire -- riffing on academia.  Genuine insights into the clash of cultures and classes.  Excellent series.

Anthony Bidulka: Russell Quant series (2003 - present) for the world travel -- simple mysteries in simply amazing places, with Bidulka/Quant's Saskatoon being one of them.  Very good series.

 Mark Gatiss: Lucifer Box series (2004 - 2008) for a little bit of fanciful sci-fi.  His first novel is like a Jules Verne adventure.  Gatiss has been an actor, screenwriter (Dr. Who), and is currently the head writer for SHERLOCK (Masterpiece: Mystery).  Excellent series.

James Lear: Edward "Mitch" Mitchell series (2006 - 2010) for the mid-1920's English setting.  And..... for the sexy storylines.  Funny and very entertaining series.

  Scott Sherman:  Kevin Connor "series to be" (2008).  Connor is not only a hustler with a heart of gold, but he has a new hobby -- solving mysteries with the help of his favorite tricks.  Entertaining so far.

John Morgan Wilson:  Benjamin Justice series (1996 - 2008) for a classic tale of pennance and redemption.  His first three and his most recent novels are superb.  Excellent series.

An interesting discussion of gay mystery writers and their works, pre and post Stonewall is here:   http://www.glbtq.com/literature/myst_fic_gay.html  "Mystery Fiction: Gay".

Very glad to get the other suggestions here.  Will most definitely check them out -- including Troy D.'s book

I'm author Haley Walsh and my new series features Skyler Foxe, high school English teacher as amateur sleuth (Skyler thought teaching high school was murder. Wait till he falls into the real thing.)

The book is called FOXE TAIL and here are a few reviews:

BLACK RAVEN REVIEWS – “Foxe Tail sparkles with witty banter and vibrantly life-like characters. Haley Walsh is an outstanding author who keeps the reader guessing who the killer is and highly anticipating the next Sklyer Foxe mystery.” Rated 5 Ravens by Kathy!

DARK DIVAS  "Ms Walsh has created a wonderfully rich cast of characters for this trilogy…The banter between (Skyler’s) friends is guaranteed to give you a laugh.” Rated 5 Delightful Divas and a Recommended Read by Helen!

Lamda Literary – “The writing is fresh; the high school students, particularly two juniors having real interrelationship issues, are engaging, and Skyler’s friends are entertaining. Even the seemingly obligatory sex scene…not only works in the context of the story but comes across as authentic in being, for once, about sex and not another clichéd lead-in to romance. One has high hopes for the other two novels.” 

You can read an excerpt at http://SkylerFoxeMysteries.com

The Assignment by Evangeline Anderson. Both guys are detectives, how's that? lol Awesome book if you ask me. I finished reading it and started reading it again the next week.... I think I'll read it again right now!