by Jack Dickson
The scar blazed red against an ashen cheek. It matched her eyes. She looked away, then strode towards the door.
Questions blistered on his lips ...
... he let them fester and scab there. Shout from the hall:
“Come oan!” Urgent. “Ah’m fuckin’ starvin’ – an’ whit the fuck huv ye done tae yer hair?”
Struggling into Levi sleeves, he followed.
The restaurant was expensive.
And busy. Mhairi seemed to know everyone. And those she didn’t were soon made aware of her presence.
He ate silently, watching her watch the clock.
When the brandies and eight-oh-five arrived, she seemed to relax. “Neil Johnstone sent a single red rose tae Paul’s memorial service ...”
He lit her cigarette, then his own.
“... an’ somewan sent me ten thousand fur the prosecution fund.”
“Did ye take it?”
Laugh. “Course ah fuckin’ took it!”
Behind, the sound of diners dining underpinned her lack of further explanation.
Mine enemy’s enemy? Jas exhaled and changed the subject. “Ah didney see ye oan the news, fae the court – thought ye’d be in the front row.”
She blew cigarette smoke over his head. “Things tae dae.” Scowl.
He frowned, brandy glass clutched tightly.
“Oi, son?” Hand waved extravagantly at a young waiter. “... ’nother coupla brandies over here!”
He tried to read her mood like he’d tried to enjoy the trout in butter. And failed.
The brandies arrived. Mhairi slipped a five-pound note into the astonished waiter’s hand: she’d already tipped more than any sane or sober person did.
He watched her down the second brandy, pushed his own across the table. “Okay – whit’s this aw’ aboot?”
Hand into pocket. Large bundle of notes produced. Ten counted off, extended. “Yer fee, Big Man. Go on ...” Notes brandished. “... it’s ma money, no’ the Johnstones’ ...” Snort. “... an’ ah can afford it!”
Flashing it about wasn’t her style. He wondered how much the private prosecution had cost, and not just in monetary terms. “Thanks.” Jas took a wad of hundred-pound notes from slim fingers, folded and shoved the cash in his wallet.
She’d kept her part of the bargain, securing a suspended sentence and more probation for herself: further payment was an unexpected gesture. He glanced around.
People were staring. Mhairi was a curiosity, an overnight celebrity. Maybe she was enjoying her fifteen minutes.
He swirled the brandy around his glass, then downed it. “Ye’re no’ gonny tell me whit’s really goin’ oan here, ur ye?”
Head lowered. “Ye’re right – ah’m no’.”
He peered through the veil of hair and thought he saw a smile. Or maybe it was just the scar twitching.
Three brandies later, she paid by Access and staggered off into the night.
The taxi driver had the radio tuned to Clyde FM.
The nine o’clock news bulletin reported the death of a man in a hit-and-run incident. Outside a pub in the west end of Glasgow, frequented by ex-police officers. Unconfirmed reports identified the victim as former Hadrian employee Ian Dalgleish.
Jas watched the taxi’s meter flick up another ten pence.
Someone had opted for an out of court settlement.
As they cut up onto Cumbernauld Road, he rubbed his face and wondered how much of the ten thousand it had taken.
The bedside clock read 2.03 a.m.
Jas closed his eyes and tried to sleep. Then gave up. He pulled back the duvet, slipped out of bed and fell to a crouch.
After the tenth press-up, his mind was racing faster than ever.
After the twentieth, he’d mentally planned out his case-load for the next few months. Publicity never did any business harm, and he was already turning clients away.
After the fortieth, his mind drifted off.
A knowing blond wraith told him what he was doing and why he was doing it.
Leigh ...
... Jas gritted his teeth, pumped his arms more slowly. With time, the bad dreams would fade. He frowned: another dead, betraying man to haunt him, another man who’d escaped justice.
With time – and luck – the feel and smell of a very much alive man would merge completely with the nightmare that had been ten days in the Bar-L.
Necessity. A marriage of convenience.
Sex ...
... nothing more.
An outlet ...
... nothing more.
After the sixtieth, his body was glowing, ears buzzing with blood. He lost count ...
... more buzzing. Not in his ears. Arms trembling, Jas grabbed jeans and hauled them over quivering thighs.
Finger held against buzzer.
Jas walked into the hall, brain crackling.
He knew who had probably organised it.
He knew who had no doubt paid for it.
The identity of the driver was the only variable.
Mhairi’s closing statement to the man who had killed her brother spun around his head.
They both had motives.
They both had alibis. Mhairi was clever enough to cover any other tracks. But motivation was everything ...
... he slid back bolts, braced for the all-too familiar uniforms of Strathclyde police, then opened the door. And stared. Early morning air stiffened his chest hair.
Amber eyes stared back. “Ye forgot yer jacket, Jas-man.”
A chill more than coldness rippled over his body. He narrowed his eyes, took in the tall, tangle-haired figure wearing biker’s leather and holding a Farmfoods carrier-bag.
“Er ...” Uncertain. “... sorry tae turn up withoot phonin’ – ah tried tae call ye, but ah couldney ...”
Jas stepped back. “S’okay, Stevie – ah wiz already up.”
A hand behind his head. Grin. “Hey, check the haircut!” Fingers nibbing scalp-bristles.
Warmth from the press-ups flooded his body. The sound of the man’s voice numbed his brain. Seizing Stevie’s waist, he pulled him into the hallway. Arms grabbed him in a bear-hug. Words against his neck:
“Ah got the bastard, Jas-man.”
About ReQueered Tales
In the heady days of the late 1960s, when young people in many western countries were in the streets protesting for a new, more inclusive world, some of us were in libraries, coffee shops, communes, retreats, bedrooms and dens plotting something even more startling: literature—high brow and pulp—for an explicitly gay audience. Specifically, we were craving to see our gay lives—in the closet, in the open, in bars, in dire straits and in love—reflected in mystery stories, romance, paranormal and more. Hercule Poirot, that engaging effete Belgian creation of Agatha Christie might have been gay … Sherlock Holmes, to all intents and purposes, was one woman shy of gay ... but where were the genuine gay sleuths, where the reader need not read between the lines?
Beginning with Victor J Banis's "Man from C.A.M.P." pulps in the mid-60s—riotous romps spoofing the craze for James Bond spies—readers were suddenly being offered George Baxt's Pharoah Love, a black gay New York City detective, and a real turning point in Joseph Hansen's gay California insurance investigator, Dave Brandstetter, whose world weary Raymond Chandleresque adventures sold strongly and have never been out of print.
Over the next three decades, gay storytelling grew strongly in niche and mainstream publishing ventures. Even with the huge public crisis—as AIDS descended on the gay community beginning in the early 1980s—gay fiction flourished. Stonewall Inn, Alyson Publications, and others nurtured authors and readers … until mainstream success seemed to come to a halt. While Lambda Literary Foundation had started to recognise work in annual awards about 1990, mainstream publishers began to have cold feet. And then, with the rise of ebooks in the new millennium which enabled a new self-publishing industry … there was both an avalanche of new talent coming to market and burying of print auth
ors who did not cross the divide.
The result?
Perhaps forty years of gay fiction—and notably gay and lesbian mystery, detective and suspense fiction—has been teetering on the brink of obscurity. Orphaned works, orphaned authors, many living and some having passed away—with no one to make the case for their creations to be returned to print (and e-print!).
Until now. That is the mission of ReQueered Tales: to bring back to circulation this treasure trove of fantastic fiction which, for one reason or another, has fallen by the wayside. In an era of ebooks, everything of value ought to be accessible. For a new generation of readers, these mystery tales are full of insights into the gay world of the 1960s, ’70s, ’80s and ’90s. And for those of us who lived through the period, they are a delightful reminder of our youth and reflect some of our own struggles in growing up gay in those heady times.
We are honoured, here at ReQueered Tales, to be custodians shepherding back into circulation some of the best gay and lesbian fiction writing and hope to bring many volumes to the public, in modestly priced, accessible editions, worldwide, over the coming months and years.
So please join us on this adventure of discovery and rediscovery of the rich talents of writers of recent years as the PIs, cops and amateur sleuths battle forces of evil with fierceness, humour and sometimes a pinch of love.
The ReQueered Tales Team
Justene Adamec • Alexander Inglis • Matt Lubbers-Moore
More from ReQueered Tales
Steam by Jay B. Laws
San Francisco was once a city of music and laughter, of parties and bathhouses, when days held promise and nights, romance. But now something sinister haunts the streets and alleyways of San Francisco, something that crept in with the fog to seek a cruel revenge...
Flint, owner of a once thriving bathhouse, now ravaged by a disease that has no cure, gives himself over to the evil lurking in the steam. Dying men get tickets that say Admit One, hoping for release, only to be dragged into the maelstrom. David, a writer of gay porn, finds himself writing another kind of story. His friend Eddie disappears from his hospital bed, leaving slime and mold, then returns for David. Meanwhile, Bobby is searching for his lover, lost in the same horror.
This classic gay horror suspense tale by Jay B Laws finally returns to circulation. First published in 1991, at the height of the AIDS crisis, this allegory chronicles the early days of the epidemic. It features the glittery discos of the seventies and an ominous abandoned gay bathhouse, in what is now something of a time capsule. It was nominated for Best First Novel by the Lambda Literary Awards.
In this new edition, Jay's brother Gary D Laws provides context and reminiscence—as well as extensive quote from Jay Laws on what the author had in mind as he created this mini-masterpiece. Notable author Hal Bodner also pays tribute and provides context for the era reflected: a 1980s that suddenly turned dark and dangerous but one in which contemporary readers may know only through movies and urban legends, something Bodner seeks to set aright.
Let's Get Criminal by Lev Raphael
A Nick Hoffman / Academic Mystery, Book 1 — Nick Hoffman has everything he has ever wanted: a good teaching job, a nice house, and a solid relationship with his lover, Stefan Borowski, a brilliant novelist at the State University of Michigan. But when Perry Cross shows up, Nick’s peace of mind is shattered. Not only does he have to share his office with the nefarious Perry, who managed to weasel his way into a tenured position without the right qualifications, he also discovers that Perry played a destructive role in Stefan’s past. When Perry turns up dead, Nick wonders if Stefan might be involved, while the campus police force is wondering the same about Nick.
Originally published in 1996, this first book in the Nick Hoffman Academic Mystery series is now back in print. This edition contains a 2019 foreword by the author.
A Body to Dye For by Grant Michaels
A Stan Kraychik Mystery, Book 1 — Stan “Vannos” Kraychik isn’t your everyday Boston hairdresser. Co-owner of Snips Salon with best bud (and occasional nemesis) Nicole, thought this day was an ordinary one. A delivery van backed into the salon’s rear driveway and accidentally spilled gallons of conditioner, leaving Stan (and hunky Roger) embracing in a gooey mess trying to staunch the flow, with little success as they slid and slipped with Nicole watching on with rolling eyes. Later Roger is found murdered.
Stan’s client, Calvin Redding, who owns the apartment where Roger's body was found, can’t explain why the body is dressed in little more than bowties. Enter Lieutenant Branco, dark, muscular, Italian, (straight) of Boston PD Homicide who immediately suspects everyone, especially Stan. In an attempt to clear his name, Stan travels to California, takes up mountain climbing, eavesdropping, spying, schmoozing, and a little bit of schtupping, all in an attempt to find the truth.
Grant Michaels' zany series of adventures starring Stan Kraychik garnered multiple Lambda Literary Awards including a 1991 nomination for Best Gay Mystery. For this new 2019 edition, Carl Mesrobian reminisces about his brother Grant in an exclusive foreword, and Neil S. Plakcy provides an introduction of appreciation.
FreeForm by Jack Dickson
A Jas Anderson Thriller, Book 1 — A tough gay thriller set in the criminal underworld of Glasgow, Scotland. Set in the derelict inner-city of Glasgow’s Dennistoun, FreeForm introduces a tough new gay cop, Detective-Sergeant Jas Anderson. A violent anti-hero, suspended from duty for assault, Jas is the natural suspect when his lover is found brutally murdered. Now on the run and struggling to clear his name, Jas uncovers Leigh’s involvement in a blackmail ring, and even his lover’s identity becomes confused. Film-noir in inspiration, vividly characterised, and authentically exposing the raw nerves of Thatcherite Britain, FreeForm is set to appeal to a wide readership.
Originally published in 1998, this new 2019 edition includes a foreword by Clive King.
Sunday's Child by Edward O. Phillips
A Geoffry Chadwick Misadventure, Book 1 - Lawyer Geoffry Chadwick is 50, Canadian, single, gay and, after a brief struggle with a hustler who tries to shake him down, a murderer. Herein lies the device for this macabre, funny, first novel. Although Geoffry must dispose of the body—which he does by dropping off sections of it around town at night—the trauma of the murder affords him the opportunity to reminisce and ruminate: on the recent termination of his affair with a history teacher; on the not-so-recent deaths of his wife and daughter; on the alcoholism of his mother; on growing old; on being gay. The visit of a nephew and the New Year’s festivities only serve to intensify his thoughts. Although Chadwick is abrasively disdainful early on, he is fascinating when he loosens up. Phillips keeps the reader hopping with throwaway quotations from Donne and scatalogical references and puns.
First published in 1981, and a Books in Canada First Novel nominee, this 2019 edition contains a new foreword by Alexander Inglis.
The Black Marble Pool by Stan Leventhal
When you first notice it, something seems a bit unusual. Then it occurs to you that most, if not all, of the pools you’ve ever seen before were painted blue or white. The Captain’s House pool is black. Not painted black. But constructed of black marble and black tile. The marble has streaks of white that look like lightning bolts in a black sky. There is a sexiness to this pool; a personality. It looks and feels like a warm, wet blanket, surrounding and protecting you like a dark, quiet womb.
There’s a dead body at the bottom of a pool in the backyard of a guest house in Key West. Who is he? And what caused his untimely demise? Maybe it’s suicide. Or an accident. But more likely—murder! And who’s responsible? One of the guests, the people who run the guest house or one of those mysterious women in town?
A Lambda Literary Awards Finalist in 1991, this edition includes a new 2019 foreword by renowned LGBTQ publicist and friend of Stan Leventhal, Michele Karlsberg.
Onyx by Felice Picano
Ray Henriques has success, love, friendship ... but lately it�
��s not enough. Yet it’s not just Ray who is on a quest for deeper meaning. For Jesse, Ray’s lover of ten years, it is a quest accelerated by his imminent death from AIDS. And for young married father of two Mike Tedesco, it is a search for the heart of masculinity. The sexual exploration which begins when Ray and Mike meet awakens a restlessness in both men, which resoundingly alters their future paths. As Ray’s life begins to draw him increasingly into the future, a future without Jesse, he attempts to tether himself to the here and now with frequent visits to a past where life’s answers seemed simpler and more meaningful. But when Jesse’s fundamentalist Christian mother rolls into town to take charge of her son’s final weeks, he is yanked from his reverie to face an opponent unlike any he has ever known.
Marked by shifting points of view and Picano’s use of humor, descriptive brilliance, and unexpected revelation, Onyx is a multifaceted exploration of inner lives, motivation, love, and the sometimes hollow center beneath a polished surface.
First published to acclaim in 2001, this new 2019 edition features a new foreword by the author.
Love You To Death by Grant Michaels
A Stan Kraychik Mystery, Book 2 — Valentine’s Day is fast approaching and everyone has a sweetheart, except Stan Kraychik, Boston’s sassiest hairdresser. Ever hopeful of meeting Mr. Right, Stan attends a gala reception that culminates in a death by poisoning, and romantic problems take a back seat to murder. Then Boston police arrest Stan’s friend Laurett Cole, who leaves her four-year-old son in Stan’s care. In his quest to free Laurett from suspicion and himself from his ill-mannered ward, Stan finds himself exploring the secrets of a revered Boston institution, the Gladys Gardner Chocolate Company. There, along with the sweet edibles, he finds an assortment of not-so-delectable murder.