Vermilion

Valentine & Lovelace Mystery #1

by Nathan Aldyne

A dead young hustler is found on the lawn of a queer-baiting legislator. Boston's political and queer communities are up in arms about the matter, and police are bent on finding the killer -- fast. Best friends Daniel Valentine and Clarisse Lovelace team up and hit the streets of Boston. Through a sinister underworld of bars and baths, bondage and blackmail, they're out to solve a very bizarre murder.

Genres: Mystery, LGBT, Gay, Fiction, Mystery Thriller, Queer, Gay Fiction

240 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1980

About the author

Nathan Aldyne is a joint pseudonym for Michael McDowell and Dennis Schuetz [1947-1988] aka Axel Young. They wrote four gay-themed mysteries together.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Micha...

Reviews

[Richard Derus · Rating 4 out of 5]

Real Rating: 3.5* of five, rounded up because I'm all dewy-eyed with sentiment

I RECEIVED A DRC FROM THE PUBLISHER VIA EDELWEISS+. THANK YOU.

My Review: Four w-bombs. It was 1981 and there was no need to torment me from beyond the grave! It was a tough enough year as it was.

Anyway. First, read this:

"I tell you, Lieutenant: twenty-five years ago, it was straight men that got me into trouble, and ten years ago, it was straight men that got me put in jail. It was a fag that got me out of jail and it was a fag that made sure I got a decent job. I got nothing against 'em. I'm not a fag, but I know what they know"—he gestured just as {the Lieutenant} had, with a cocked head—"that straight men are just trouble."
–and–
"...Wednesday night is dollar night and every queen in town with four quarters to her name shows up...that lobby emptied out like they were showing Dark Victory across the street...I'm not afraid of {the Lieutenant} for that, because I can take care of myself, and the time is past somebody like him can come in and push me around just because I'm gay. No judge in town would listen to him for more than five minutes. But like I say, it's the hassle. I don't like having to carry around {his lawyer's} card in my wallet all the time, and I certainly don't like the man coming around flashing his badge."

That, mes vieux, is the way we talked in 1979 when this story is set. It was pre-AIDS and the second quotes are from a bath-house attendant, though it's not like the institution of anonymous semi-public sex has vanished from the landscape (see: Bath Haus) it is a lot less prominent. A lot of things I thought were in the past, like homophobic politicians trying to keep QUILTBAG people down, aren't. But we have fought and fought and fought since the mid-nineteenth century to keep straight people out of our business and away from our basic rights to exist, to speak, to love and marry...so we just need to keep a-doin' it.

What this book does, by coming out again in the Twenties, is to educate the Millennials on the fact that the Boomers were just horny guys, too. The pop-culture references...Mamie Van Doren, Veronica Lake the afghan hound, handkerchief codes, smoking!! boozing!!, calling men who dress up as ladies "drags" and "a drag," the über-fey hairdresser whose professional name, nay entire beauty shop!, takes its names and inspiration from Marcel Proust's Remembrance of Things Past (which is what we called it then)...are going to be challenging for anyone under 50. My Young Gentleman Caller was...confused...a lot, and kept asking "But WHY is it funny?" So, well, audience defined.

But if it's in your frames of reference, if you're just a weentsy tidge nostalgic one reading day, pick this up and try it.

"Honey, I just got a pistol fired at my face!" She shoved the leather envelope under her arm. "In the immortal words of Mildred Pierce, 'Let's get stinko!'"

Let's!

It's $1.99 at the Kindle store: Follow the non-affiliate link!

[Anthony McGill · Rating 3 out of 5]

"The murderer had a weakness for boys ... and dirty politics. In Boston's steaming neon jungle, The Combat Zone, thrills are cheap, fast, and anyway-you-want-them. But when it comes to murder, nobody goes back for more ..."

Dug this curious little first edition Avon paperback out from one of my storage boxes - thought after nearly 40 years it had been sadly neglected and needed to be read.

Pretty basic murder mystery with the added bonus of a gay theme (still fairly rare at the time) which provides an interesting depiction of gay life in Boston circa late 1970s, especially potent as the novel was first published in 1980.

The authors who make up the Nathan Aldyne by-line have taken a rather whimsical approach, making for a not very convincing plot and the characters, apart from odd couple Valentine and Lovelace, are not particularly well drawn. A pity because this could have been a terrific little thriller with more imagination. But still an entertaining and witty read which captures the period really well.

My favorite line: "How could a woman with a repertoire of seven hundred show tunes be guilty of murder?"

Points to the original publisher for the enticing cover design - even if the promo lines are wildly exaggerated and more than a little misleading! But that's how they sold a mass market paperback and probably the reason I bought it for a staggering $2.25 all those years ago!!

[Trin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fun! The mystery is whatever, but you don't read this for the mystery: you read it for the snappy dialogue and wonderfully vivid depiction of the late-'70s Boston gay scene. The atmosphere is top notch. Unsurprising: one of the co-authors ("Aldyne" is a pseudonym) is Michael McDowell, who wrote the gothic horror series Blackwater, which has had a bit of a comeback lately, as well as the movie Beetlejuice (classic always). I definitely want to read the rest of these.

[Daniel Myatt · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very witty mystery story!

San Francisco had Mouse and Mary Ann, and New York has Valentine and Clarisse.

Valentine just wants to get on with his life! Drink a few drinks, and have some fun! but he's drawn into the mysterious death of a hustler, and he doesn't get the chance to look back.

It is a story filled with wonderful 80s tropes and memorabilia that had me thinking about the Tales of The City series (Alot) but with added sex.

I also loved the humour in this story, very much screwball one-liners like in The Thin Man by Dashiell Hammett.

My favourite line... "Well, that lobby emptied out like they were showing Dark Victory across the street."

As a gay man, I know the appeal of a good Bette Davis film...

[David · Rating 5 out of 5]

More entertaining and with more worth as a murder mystery than the reviews here would have you believe. I was very pleasantly surprised during the comedy - and gripped during the specifics of the crime. Far from being throwaway, '80s fluff, this first-in-a-series-of-four novels very much achieves what it sets out to accomplish. It reinvents Dashiell Hammett's Nick and Nora Charles in a post-gay-lib setting. 

~ the only difference being that our stars - Daniel Valentine and his gal pal Clarisse Lovelace - are not in the murder biz as detectives. They're just regular folk; slightly madcap but regular. 

Teaming up with Dennis Schuetz (with the duo taking the pen name of 'Nathan Aldyne'), Michael McDowell launched this series at a particularly prolific point in his career. On his own, McDowell had just published 'The Amulet' and was in prep-stages for both the chilling 'Cold Moon Over Babylon' and the ambitious period piece 'Gilded Needles'. 

He was b-u-s-y - but apparently not too busy to take an opportunity to create something unabashedly and unapologetically gay. (You sort of need a microscope to detect whatever gay content resides in McDowell's horror novels.) Not only is MM clearly having a let-my-hair-down time of it in standard mystery territory, but the overall tone is bubbly (something also understandably absent in the horror stuff). 

A number of sequences are comic highlights, offering up tried-and-true standbys endemic to the gay community:

"... and then he waves a badge and ID in front of the window, and says, 'This is the police.' Well, that lobby emptied out like they were showing 'Dark Victory' across the street."

Clarisse gets to be predictably jaded:

"Have you ever been in here before?" asked Searcy.

Clarisse tilted her head. An expression of boredom crept across her mouth. "I've heard better lines on the six A.M. farm report."

Daniel gets to be self-deprecating:

"Bartenders make lousy husbands."

'Nathan' gets to outdo himself:

"How could a woman with a repertoire of seven hundred show tunes be guilty of murder?"

Overall, the humor may not quite reach the sophisticated level of, say, Joe Keenan (for which I'll point you to the Philip / Gilbert / Claire series that begins with 'Blue Heaven'). Nevertheless, it's never less than charming or without a certain panache. 

Along those lines, one of my favorite scenes has Clarisse setting up a conclusive confrontation at her favorite hair salon, juggling a suspect along with her faux-French hairdresser Marcel (while the latter comes unglued). It's an unsettling scene... as well as funny.

~ which is not to say the seriousness of the murder aspect gets short shrift. It's pretty potent, at times particularly so. And, at times, things get scary. 'Nathan' hasn't just devised an homage to this type of whodunit. He's also somewhat in the service of social change. And he has some robust observations and 'statements' up his sleeve.

[Alannah Davis · Rating 4 out of 5]

Published and taking place in the early 1980s, this book is a bit of culture shock when it comes to representing the gay scene. Very un-PC. But that is also a big part of what I love about these vintage books: they represent the times as they were.

Hustler/gay male prostitute Billy was freezing on the streets of Boston, trying to earn his living. When his body is later found on the lawn of a viciously homophobic Boston politician, the gay community is buzzing.

Dan Valentine, bartender at the Bonaparte, a place for financially comfortable gay men, and his ex-turned-faghag Clarisse Lovelace, can't help but investigate when straight (and very nasty) police lieutenant Searcy comes gunning for Billy's killer. The pursuit of the mystery is very classic, with witty dialogue and clever repartees. Also a very satisfying and unexpected (if not entirely believable, IMO) solution to the mystery.

A quick, enjoyable read. I spent this past Sunday lying lazily on the couch with it, and didn't regret a single lazy moment!

[Matthew · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was so much fun! Familiar yet original. Funny, but still a bit dark. Just a great quick read with some characters I can’t wait to revisit. ‘Murder She Wrote’ meets ‘Boys in the Band’ meets the ‘Thin Man’ film series.

[Klaus Mattes · Rating 2 out of 5]

Au weia, wie wurde er jahrelang verkannt und für einen wirklich gut unterhaltenden, gewitzten Autor von schwulen Krimis gehalten! Dabei haben wir es bei der Vier-Farben-Reihe mit schlechten Büchern zu tun, die schreiend unpassend konstruiert wurden!

Okay, Aldyne schrieb unter mehreren Pseudonymen, hieß in Wahrheit Michael McDowell, wurde wegen AIDS nur 49 Jahre alt, verfasste in dieser Zeit noch eine erfolgreiche Horror-Serie und das Drehbuch zu „Beetlejuice“ und dem niedlichen Musical „Nightmare Before Christmas“, aber an dieser Stelle spielt all dieses nicht wirklich eine Rolle! Und ich bin zwar schwul, aber einen Whodunit-Krimi pflege ich mir nicht als Tuntenkabarett anzusehen, sondern als Kriminalroman. Als solcher ist das ein grottenschlechtes Buch.

Die hier versammelten Lobredner, allesamt Amerikaner, die von ihrer Lebensgeschichte her Verbindungen zur schwulen Kneipenszene Bostons vor der AIDS-Krise hatten, lasen es nostalgisch. Gelobt wird die das Buch prägende, immer ein wenig quietschende Frau-Mann-Paarung von zwei ausgeschlafenen Hedonisten, die man dem Vorbild von Hammetts (bzw. der Filme) Nick und Nora nachgebildet empfindet. Was wohl zutrifft. Aber wenn gleich zwei der Kollegen als Beispiel für scharfzüngige Oneliner, von denen das Buch angeblich überfließt, das hier zitieren: „Der Bulle kam in die schwule Bar und wedelte mit seiner Dienstmarke, sofort herrschte gähnende Leere, als würde gegenüber ein Bette-Davis-Film gezeigt“, dann sag ich kurz „Ha, ha“ und, dass man als deutscher Schwuler diese Art von Pointe schwerlich nachvollzieht. Zumal es so eine Art schwuler Tribe-Kultur, in der man höchst manieriert die (angeblich) allseits vorhandene feinsinnig gebildete Weiblichkeit und Witzischkeit aller Tucken jeder Schattierung herausstreicht, in Mitteleuropa nie gegeben hat, immer noch nicht gibt. Es braucht dafür so was wie die Vorstellung von Schwulen als „Nation“, wie Iren, Chicanos, Afrikaner, Polen im, natürlich, sehr großen und großartigen Amerika. Und das gibt es in Deutschland oder Österreich einfach nicht und gab es noch nie.

„Vermilion“, „Cobalt“, „Slate“, „Canary“ heißen die Bücher mit dem Helden Daniel Valentine, was in Boston ein mit seinem Rassehund zusammenlebender, bärtiger, blonder, durchtrainierter, gut aussehender, schwuler Barmann ist. Und diese Bar ist kein Schuppen für Stricher, hat keinen Darkroom, sondern ist ein höchst geschmackvoller Clubraum für ältere Herrschaften, die ihre Geldscheine nicht abzählen müssen. Bei den vier Ein-Wort-Titeln handelt es sich, dem deutschen Schulenglisch-Vertrauten nicht sofort ersichtlich, um Farben, etwa: Dunkelrot, Stahlblau, Grau, Gelb. Ich las bisher die ersten zwei Bücher. Hier im auch in Deutschland so genannten „Karmesin“ geht es (nebenbei) um die Farbe eines Lippenstiftabdrucks auf einem Taschentuch. Auch im zweiten Fall wird noch mal ein Stricher ermordet, dann allerdings kein hilfloser, pickliger 19-Jähriger mehr, der auf den Straßen Rentner aufreißt, damit sie mit ihm in Kabinen schwuler Saunas gehen, wo er nach ihnen bleiben, eine Nacht wohnen und paar von den Jungen kriegen kann, die ihm an sich ja lieber wären. Aus der Augenfarbe „Kobalt“ ist für die deutsche Fassung „Tod in Provincetown“ geworden. Dort ist der tote Jüngling dann etwas älter und war weiter oben in der Pyramide, weil er die sich im Badeort aalenden schwulen Künstler und Millionäre außer mit Schönheit auch noch mit Drogen versorgt hatte. (Die weiteren Übersetzungen hießen „Boston Connection“ und „Boston Strangler“ und ich kenne sie nicht.)

Weil mich bei „Cobalt“ die komplette Austauschbarkeit und Verwechselbarkeit der zu Unrecht und auch der zu Recht Verdächtigten befremdete, vor allem aber der manische Zwang dieses Autors (und seiner Protagonisten Dan und Clarisse) zu flapsigen Sprüchen, alkoholischen Getränken, Anspielungen auf schlechte Fernsehserien und klassisches Hollywood-Kino beinahe an den Rand des Wahnsinns getrieben hat, wollte ich beim Lesen des allerersten Bands zuerst eigentlich loben: „Hier konnte er es noch!“

Die Nick-and-Nora-und-Hundchen-Scherze halten sich in Grenzen. Alkohol und das ständige Gerede, wer einen wohl für die Nacht aufreißen will, sind nicht so prominent. Stattdessen lernt man ein paar von Valentines Kollegen in nicht ganz so guten Läden und einer Sauna kennen, die ihn alle mögen, bewundern, jetzt gerade unter den Ermittlungen des homophoben Polizisten Bill Searcy leiden, der, wirklich tapsig, mit seinem Machogehabe auch Clarisse verprellt hat, die ihn eigentlich geil fand. (Man muss dazu sagen, dass Clarisse eine recht nachlässige Immobilienmaklerin ist, dass sie und der schöne Schwule sich einst in der Karibik kennen gelernt haben, sie ihn gleich heiraten wollte, aber mit dem Hotelmanager betrogen wurde. Seither hofft Clarisse immer ein bisschen, Valentine könnte den Hetero in sich doch noch finden. Weil er halt der Supermann schlechthin ist. Sie befleißigen sich so etwas wie eines augenzwinkernden Wettbewerbs, wer den nächsten geilen Mann anhakt.)

Nun hat der Barmann den Stricher zwar in der Mordnacht schon mal kurz auf der Straße gesehen, einer verschneiten Silvesternacht, Gassigehen bei minus 20 Grad. Nur hat er im Grunde mit der Geschichte so wenig zu tun wie seine Freundin Clarisse. Doch wir Leser bekommen als Erstes ein Kapitel aus der Billy-Perspektive gezeigt. Was sich später als Betrug herausstellen wird, wenn wir dann doch noch erfahren, dass sich zwischen Billy und allerlei weiteren Leuten in der fraglichen Nacht noch manches abgespielt hat, was Aldyne eben nicht erzählt hat.

Jedenfalls wird der Erschlagene im Vorgarten eines konservativen Politikers gefunden, der für seine Instrumentierung der Frage von „Perversen und Verkommenen“ für eigene Machtzwecke berühmt-berüchtigt ist. Ab da wird im Roman immer wieder mal behauptet, also von Dritten berichtet, in den Medien verkünde er mittlerweile, dies und das würden gemeine Homosexuelle ihm antun. Da wundert man sich, wieso treffen Dan und Clarisse kein einziges Mal mit diesem Schwulenfresser zusammen. Man zeigt Valentine sogar mal die Villa im Schnee liegen und er kommt nicht heraus. Und wieso gibt’s denn im Buch auch keine einzige Begegnung von dem schlimmen Politiker mit dem schlimmen Bullen?

Searcy, der auch sehr gut aussieht, aber immer zu viel Whisky trinkt und deswegen stinkt, ist die eine Person, die so oft auftritt und irgendwas von sich gibt, wie vielleicht noch Clarisse und Dan. Die es nicht gewesen sein können. Was soll das, fragt man sich. Zumal Searcy über den Fall Billy Golacynski auch nichts herausfindet. Dafür hätten wir zwar unsere Amateure, Daniel und Clarisse, die, seltsam, seltsam, dem Mord aber nicht nachspüren, sondern offenbar zuerst noch den Tagesablauf des ekligen Searcy recherchieren müssen. Und dann, Tusch, kommt über den auch was raus. Searcy trifft sich heimlich mit einem gemischtgeschlechtlichen SM-Prostituierten-Paar.

Sodass wir am Ende außer dem schönen Valentine, der schusseligen Clarisse, dem Rassehund, der es aber nicht gewesen sein kann, noch den Politiker hätten, welcher nur nie auftritt, dann noch die Kollegen aus den Szenelokalen, die alle nur nett sind und alle unter den Zudringlichkeiten von Searcy leiden, der überall kostenlos Whiskey trinkt. Searcy, mit dem wir uns doch hoffentlich nicht umsonst ein halbes Buch lang beschäftigt haben! Und jetzt noch dieses benachbarte Paar von Edel-Escorts, zu deren Atelier die Immobilienmaklerin in ihrer Kampftasche den Nachschlüssel herumträgt. Frank Hougan, schwuler Schönling, und seine auffallend kleine, vierschrötige, kurzhaarige Freundin, Mitbewohnerin, Kollegin Boots Slater. Ach und dann gibt es noch Trudy. Das ist ein über 60-jähriger, früher mal verheirateter Transvestit, Barsänger, Pianist in Valentines Abendlokal, der/die es nicht gewesen sein kann, weil er/sie 700 Lieder aus dem „American Songbook“ auswendig beherrscht. Allerdings verwendet sie dunkelroten Lippenstift.

So. Denken Sie sich nun zu den bisher erhaltenen Informationen noch irgendeine Mordgeschichte aus und Sie können sich das langwierige Lesen des Krempels sparen.

[Jack Bell · Rating 3 out of 5]

Queer mysteries are some of my favourite things ever, but even I'll say I'm more often than not kind of disappointed by them since they usually veer more to one side more than the other. Vermilion has a lot of great queerness, but a pretty flimsy, dull mystery. The world around the characters is very full and colourful, but the entire plot kind of just spins its wheels until the big reveal at the end, which was kind of a letdown.

It was really nice though reading about such a full queer world in the era just before HIV -- I think people usually forget that the 1960s and 70s actually had a pretty full roster of great queer crime novels and queer fiction in general that didn't just depict decadent underground worlds but actually thriving queer communities right out in the sunlight co-existing with the straight world. And I always really appreciate a book like this that acts as that sort of time capsule.

[Adam · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a great book. Quick beach read on my Swiss ski trip and I felt like I was watching a campy gay movie

Fun and to think it took place when I was a 5 month old fetus. The one-liners are as fresh as if I were reading a book written today. Many other literary references which is what makes Nathan a great writer. Looking forward to the others in his queue

P.S. not great for book groups... great for beaches, ski slopes, road trips, Appalachian hikes, cruises, delayed airline flights, ... otherwise meaningless alone time, ok?

[Adam Dunn · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good. I think it's better with age. I liked the eighties setting and the characters. I felt like Valentine was well developed but about halfway through I was like "Who is the other chick?" and apparently then the author remembered Lovelace and brought her in for the second half. It was a little confusing when she was called by her first name and he by his last.
Added a star for the pulp format and the period, and the locations are strong. The characters, particularly the secondary characters, are a little underdeveloped. Will probably read the next in the series but not rushing.

[Paul · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting, very early 80's - looking forward to reading the other three in the series.

[Jameson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Would it interest you to know how I came across this book? I’m a huge fan of the movie Clue. A long time ago I found out 1) there existed a novelization, 2) it had been written by an author with a very good reputation, and 3) long out-of-print, it fetched about a hundred bucks online. I forget what I ended up paying but I did secure a copy and I loved it. Yadda yadda yadda, I recently finally got around to reading more of Michael McDowell—one of his horror novels (The Elementals.) I liked it. Something about it pinged though and reading about McD online confirmed my gaydar was fully operational: he’s family. (Or was, anyway. He died from AIDS. Anyone else have a feeling that the best and brightest, risk-taking wits of a generation also died of AIDS, and the betas who did not went on to completely ruin gay culture? I do.) Naturally, I wondered if any of his books featured gay characters or storylines. Maybe they do, maybe they don’t, je ne sais pas, because I paused the search when I found out that in the early eighties he wrote a few crime novels, under the name Nathan Aldyne. Voila.

I enjoyed Vermilion a lot. A blurb on the cover, from The Boston Phoenix (RIP), promises it’s swift, clever, witty, “a ‘40s-style movie mystery.” And fair enough. Think “Thin Man meets Will and Grace.” I don’t think the whodunit aspect of it is up to an Agatha Christie or John Dickson Carr level, but it was decent. The charm of the particular time and place Vermilion brings to life is definitely its greatest strength. I’ve already ordered the other three Valentine & Lovelace books. I’m sure I’ll revisit them over the years, if only for all the details about gay Boston circa 1980. Before my time, to say the least. So much has changed there in so many ways since 1980 it’s not even funny and I was often running to DuckDuckGo for miscellaneous facts and for ‘member-berry picking, but that was part of the fun. Was FAO Schwarz originally on Newbury St? Where was Strawberries again? Is he confusing Ramrod or Machine with the Eagle on purpose or am I wrong? Etc, etc. I awarded it five stars because I thought it was fun and because I don’t think it deserves its obscurity.

One interesting thing: apparently McD, a Hub resident by way of The ‘Bama, was part of a writing group called The Cadavers. I can’t find any other information online except that the group also included one Dennis Schuetz. Or maybe multiple Dennis Schuetzes? That’s how little I could find, so who knows. Also, BBC interviewed them in 1988. It would be a hoot to hear this. If anyone has a copy, or if anyone has any information on The Cadavers, Michael McDowell, or Dennis Schuetz, please leave a comment and maybe we can communicate somehow. I’d love to know more. My first question would be: who is Nathan Aldyne? Was it just Michael McDowell or did he collaborate with Dennis? The facts are sketchy.

Here is the listing for the BBC radio show:

Cadavers at Our House
Listen in on a group of New England crime-writers who meet every so often at each other's houses to talk about their work.
Readers Kerry Shale and Jana Shelden With LINDA BARNES
JEREMIAH HEALY. ROSEMARY HERBERT
SUSAN KELLY. JANE LANGTON
KATE MATTES. JOHN MCALEER
DENNIS SCHUETZ and DAVID SMITH

For the bibliophiles: my copy of Vermilion is the 4th printing of the Ballantine Books edition. It’s covered in Atlanta library stickers, bound in leather, and the original cover is taped to the front. (The cover model has wha the kids call a very “punchable” face.)

[Sue F · Rating 5 out of 5]

A wonderful mystery that I never knew existed…

I wasn’t aware of the short Daniel Valentine/Clarisse Lovelace series back when the four books first came out in “real paper” editions, back in the 1980s. At that time, I couldn’t buy many books (graduate students tend to have limited funds) and I never saw any of them at my local library. Now I’m happy that Felony & Mayhem Press has re-issued all four as e-books, and granted me a review copy of the first one, Vermilion. And authors Michael McDowell and Dennis Schuetz, collaborating as Nathan Aldyne, have simply written a great murder mystery.

Billy Golacinsky is a 19-year-old male hustler who somehow ends up dead on the lawn of a right-wing politician, Mario Scarpetti. Scarpetti has just been instrumental in defeating a bill that would have made discrimination against homosexuals unlawful in the areas of public housing and employment. Are the two possibly connected? Or is this just another semi-random killing of a lost youth on the street – whether straight or gay? Or is something else entirely going on? While Scarpetti tries to milk the event for political benefit, Daniel Valentine, a bartender at the upscale club, Bonaparte’s, realizes that he actually saw and spoke with Billy on the evening that he died, while walking his friend Clarisse’s dog. But the cop investigating the murder, Lieutenant Searcy, manages rub Daniel and Clarisse the wrong way - although Clarisse does think he’s “cute for a cop”. And so they sort of seem to slide into investigating on their own.

The rest of the book is a wonderful tour through the early days of the gay community in Boston in the 1980s as Daniel and Clarisse talk to people and slowly figure out what happened. In some ways, as a long-time Robert B Parker/Spenser reader, this Boston already felt familiar to me. And although sometimes books that are promoted as diverse can overdo the diverseness, and miss out on the need to also tell a good story, McDowell and Schuetz don’t fall into that trap. I enjoyed the plot, the characters, and the atmosphere – in fact, I enjoyed pretty much everything about Vermilion.

Although originally published in 1980, sadly, much of this book could still have been written yesterday. The plight of runaways trying to make a living on the streets, the intolerant rhetoric of right-wing politicians, the suspicions attached to people who are different in some way – all are still present in today’s society. I try not to give too many five-star reviews, but Vermilion gets five from me, both for its chops as a murder mystery and its portrayal of time and place. Now I’m very much looking forward to reading the remaining three books in the series. And my thanks to Felony & Mayhem Press and to Edelweiss for the review copy.

[Cristiana · Rating 1 out of 5]

This novel is a complete waste of time. The characters are artificial and so are the supposedly humorous dialogues. Not to mention the protagonist's attraction for the co-protagonist's big tits, her long fur coat and the Afghan hound called Veronica Lake (ah ah ah, soooo funny) who only appears at "key moments" to make the readers smile, but is never there in the flat with the protagonists when she should be (pretty much what happens in most films, whether comedies or horrors, in which pets are just there in a few scenes only to serve a specific purpose and then they mysteriously disappear from all the other scenes, something I find extremely irritating). In fairness, one shouldn't expect a masterpiece as the blurb says it all: "You are reading a book in the Felony & Mayhem “Traditional” category. We think of these books as classy cozies, with little gunplay or gore but often a fair amount of humor and, usually, an intrepid amateur sleuth". McDowell and Schuetz just followed the guidelines. But, knowing McDowell's work, I believe that this novel wasn't written by him, he must have edited the final draft written by Schuetz who, judging from his teleplays, wasn't exactly what I'd call a gifted writer.

[Bruce Retallack · Rating 2 out of 5]

I found this in the back of my saved books shelves. After 3 decades, I remembered nothing about it and, since I've been working through a collection of gay murder mysteries, figured it was time to read it again. All in all, my reaction is *meh*. The setting (Boston) is well evoked, the plot interesting enough, the 'villain reveal' semi-unexpected. So why only 2 stars? The protagonists. They both come across as superficial, with no real stake in the game, and their incessant 'gay banter' takes up way too much of the story. It was likely refreshing and cool in the early 1980s when the book first came out, but in 2020 I find it tiresome and distracting, and often rather forced. So it was an OK read but not one I'll pick up again.

[Jess · Rating 4 out of 5]

General Thoughts:
I hadn't read an LGBTQ mystery before. This was fun! Had the same plucky, surreal energy as Brian De Palma's Sisters or Dressed to Kill. I'll be reading the rest of the books in this series.






Spoilers:
Boy howdy, McDowell and Schuetz had to work double-time so that the ending wasn't a gay-on-gay crime. I don't think that their resolution is a hundred percent solid, but I'm interested in how they got there.

[Ward · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fun! One of my first forays into pre-2000s gay genre fiction, I found Vermilion to be sooooo charming.

Valentine, bartender by necessity and bachelor by choice, and Lovelace, a film-obsessed realtor whose unconventional nature makes her (and her business) popular with Boston's gay crowd, attempt to solve a murder before it gets pinned on any of their friends by an increasingly violent cop seeking to appease an anti-gay politician.

Breezy and light! A great snack.

[Peter · Rating 3 out of 5]

A quick and enjoyable read, mostly interesting for its depiction of late 70s/early 80s gay life in Boston. The characters weren't terribly distinctive (with the possible exception of the rather cliched Clarisse) and the mystery wasn't very interesting, but again it was a fun read and an interesting time capsule.

[Sharon · Rating 3 out of 5]

I guess this is considered a cozy mystery. A gay man, Valentine, and his friend Clarisse seem to inadvertently solve a murder mystery. What is slightly strange is Clarisse wants Valentine and at some point they tried but Valentine goes to bed each night with a different man. They have become best friends and are together a lot.

[Brian Donnelly · Rating 5 out of 5]

Really enjoyed this book. While the backdrop is a crime, the book really is more like a romantic comedy of sorts. Very funny. I'm shocked this isn't a Netflix or Prime show yet. I plan to read the entire series because of how well developed Valentine & Lovelace are as characters.

[Jerry · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a fun easy read! Dan Valentine and his BFF Clarisse are a real hoot as main characters. Set the in the preAIDS 80’s of Boston the book is a fun mystery. Definitely a book to read on a grey rainy day to lift your spirits as you try to figure out who killed the 19 year old gay hustler.

[Elizabeth · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed the story but I felt it got off track in the middle pages.

[Pyro S-C · Rating 4 out of 5]

the story line between characters

[Luke · Rating 5 out of 5]

Uninspired and trope laden late 70’s homosexual mystery detective novel. Enamored and Tritely charmed.

[Nick Melloan-ruiz · Rating 5 out of 5]

Iconic used bookstore find

[PAUL · Rating 4 out of 5]

Vermilion is a trashy gay murder mystery, fun to read and easy to forget. The chief joy for me reading it now, in 2023, is that it was written in 1980, when I was a young gay, and it gives a vivid and accurate representation of gay life in that period. Fun but insubstantial.

[Jeffrey Powanda · Rating 3 out of 5]

An OK gay-themed murder mystery about the killing of a teenage hustler whose body was dumped on the lawn of a homophobic politician in Boston. It was originally published in 1980, before the AIDS crisis. Aldyne captures the wintry Boston setting, and provides an intriguing tour of gay bars, nightclubs, and baths. The breezy banter between the two amateur sleuths, gay bartender Daniel Valentine and his straight friend, realtor Clarisse Lovelace, is entertaining. But there are two problems with this novel: the mystery was too simple, and the Valentine and Lovelace characters lack depth. Perhaps Aldyne fleshed out the characters more in the three other books in the Valentine/Lovelace series.

Aldyne is the pseudonym of Michael McDowell and Dennis Schuetz. McDowell achieved success in the 80s as a paperback horror novelist (The Elementals) and screenwriter (Beetlejuice).

[Claudia · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a surprisingly good read. Set in the early '80s, so beware of an almost unbearable homophobia!

I really liked the pulp format and the portrait of the queer scene at that time. I also enjoyed Valentine and Lovelace friendship, and the fun Lovelace brings to an otherwise dark story.

Valentine is a gay bartender who spent time in prison and now is set in helping other ex-cons. Lovelace is a straight woman, who works in real state and has a refreshing view of what's really important in life :P

Both characters are interesting, and leave you wanting to know more about them.

The mystery is truly well done. I spent most of the book truly convinced that I knew the killer, and was nicely surprised when I was proved wrong :P

I'm looking forward to reading the rest of the series :)

[The Rat King · Rating 4 out of 5]

I found this book at a local community book swap with very little expectations and was very pleasantly surprised. I’m not a big mystery, crime solving reader but I loved this story so much!

The characters in this story were so engaging and well written with great chemistry. Every time a new character was introduced, even if they only stuck around for a scene or two they had such a well fleshed out personality.

The way the clues get unearthed is so engaging, it felt as if there was really good progress being made the whole book yet when you think you’d put two and two together a spanner was thrown in the works and you were lead a different direction.

I enjoyed every word and was thrilled when I found out there were other books in this series! I can’t wait to read the rest!