The Back Passage
2 journalers for this copy...
OK, I should probably be ashamed of having bought this book, but when I spotted the title and cover on the G&L shelf at Borders I simply could not resist the (groaningly - and delightfully - lewd) pun. The book looks to be a pastiche of an Agatha-Christie-style British country house murder mystery, with way more sex than appears in all of Christie's books put together! Will have to see if the execution is as entertaining as the concept...
From the back cover: "A seaside village, an English country house, a family of wealthy eccentrics and their equally peculiar servants, a determined detective — all the ingredients are here for a cozy Agatha Christie-style whodunit. But wait — Edward 'Mitch' Mitchell is no Hercule Poirot, and The Back Passage is no Murder of Roger Ackroyd. Mitch is a handsome, insatiable 22-year-old hunk who never lets a clue stand in the way of a steamy encounter, whether it’s with the local constabulary, the house secretary, or his school chum and fellow athlete Boy Morgan, who becomes his Watson when they’re not busy boffing each other. When Reg Walworth is found dead in a cabinet, Sir James Eagle has his servant Weeks immediately arrested as the killer. But Mitch’s observant eye pegs more plausible possibilities: polysexual chauffeur Hibbert, queenly pervert Leonard Eagle, missing scion Rex, sadistic copper Kennington, even Sir James Eagle himself. Blackmail, police corruption, a dizzying network of spyholes and secret passages, watersports, and a nonstop queer orgy backstairs and everyplace else mark this hilariously hard-core mystery by a major new talent."
Later: Well... OK. I suppose you could say the book delivers; there's plenty of sex, and more standard country-house-murder scenes than you can shake a - er, well, shake something at. And some of it did make me laugh; for example, the "Cavaliers and roundheads" comment, comparing two different styles of - um, appendages. But I found that it all got rather samey, and wasn't nearly as much fun as I'd hoped it would be. Ah, well, can't win 'em all!
From the back cover: "A seaside village, an English country house, a family of wealthy eccentrics and their equally peculiar servants, a determined detective — all the ingredients are here for a cozy Agatha Christie-style whodunit. But wait — Edward 'Mitch' Mitchell is no Hercule Poirot, and The Back Passage is no Murder of Roger Ackroyd. Mitch is a handsome, insatiable 22-year-old hunk who never lets a clue stand in the way of a steamy encounter, whether it’s with the local constabulary, the house secretary, or his school chum and fellow athlete Boy Morgan, who becomes his Watson when they’re not busy boffing each other. When Reg Walworth is found dead in a cabinet, Sir James Eagle has his servant Weeks immediately arrested as the killer. But Mitch’s observant eye pegs more plausible possibilities: polysexual chauffeur Hibbert, queenly pervert Leonard Eagle, missing scion Rex, sadistic copper Kennington, even Sir James Eagle himself. Blackmail, police corruption, a dizzying network of spyholes and secret passages, watersports, and a nonstop queer orgy backstairs and everyplace else mark this hilariously hard-core mystery by a major new talent."
Later: Well... OK. I suppose you could say the book delivers; there's plenty of sex, and more standard country-house-murder scenes than you can shake a - er, well, shake something at. And some of it did make me laugh; for example, the "Cavaliers and roundheads" comment, comparing two different styles of - um, appendages. But I found that it all got rather samey, and wasn't nearly as much fun as I'd hoped it would be. Ah, well, can't win 'em all!
CONTROLLED RELEASE NOTES:
I'm putting this book into Scoobs-buddy's GLBT bookbox. It will be on its way Monday to BCer oldbroad in Washington. Enjoy!
I'm putting this book into Scoobs-buddy's GLBT bookbox. It will be on its way Monday to BCer oldbroad in Washington. Enjoy!
taking from scoobs-buddy's glbt bookbox, thanks for including it!
this was fun little romp of a read. no surprises here, and not but much substance, either, but then i wasn't expecting either of those!
