Wine of Violence by Priscilla Royal

I love medieval whodunits, especially those of Ellis Peters, Margaret Frazer and Peter Tremayne, all of whom have cloister residents as sleuths. Priscilla Royal’s young but shrewd prioress Eleanor of Wynethorpe ranks among formidable company as Brother Cadfael, Dame Frevisse and Sister Fidelma.

In her first novel with the uncanny Eleanor, Royal takes us back to the year 1270 during the waning years of Henry III’s reign, who favors Eleanor’s well-connected family by assigning her as prioress of the remote Tyndal priory. Her youth and inexperience does not set well among many of the members. Namely, Sister Ruth, who was elected prioress by the sisters only to be stricken of the title when Eleanor is appointed; and Brother Simeon, an arrogant and self-absorbed monk who ran Tyndal, taking advantage of the elderly Prioress Felicia and the equally-aged Prior Theobold.

Eleanor knows she has to overcome the nun’s negativity and the monks disdain for her, but the new priest, the young Brother Thomas, ignites fires of lust in her that confound her logic. She is confused by her reaction to the monk.

Thomas arrived at Tyndal just after Eleanor to replace Brother Rupert, who was murdered the day after her arrival. Thomas has been sent for reasons other than to care for the sick in the infirmary and hear the nuns’ confessions. His investigative skills are needed to determine why the priory is not as profitable as in recent years, an accusation that came from an anonymous letter written to the mother house.

Although he initiates strong feelings in Eleanor, Thomas has no interest in women. I find it interesting that Royal chose a gay man as a sleuth in this situation and environment. He’s dumped into a thirteenth century priory where the perpetrator of the crimes turns out to be a homosexual, also. And they’re not the only ones connected to the priory.

It’s her main character, Eleanor of Wynethorpe that is the most vivid and complex. She rules Tyndal with wit, intelligence and a common sense well beyond her twenty years. Wine of Violence is a great read which is why I’ve read it twice now. Beautifully written and rich in details, it’s one of a few books that is very hard to put down. I look forward to more from Priscilla Royal.

Face Down in the Marrow Bone Pie by Kathy Lynn Emerson

The Elizabethan era is one of the most intriguing and fascinating times of England’s colorful history. This may be the reason why so many authors, such as Fiona Buckley, Karen Harper, Edward Marston and Kathy Lynn Emerson, choose that time period as the backdrop for their mysteries. The glamour of court life, wars against Spain and France, and the strife at home give the authors plenty of events as a basis of their stories.

Emerson’s first mystery with Lady Susanna Appleton is set in the first year of Elizabeth’s reign. The Lady’s husband Sir Robert is sent to France by good Queen Bess on a reconnaissance mission loosely disguised as a gift giving gesture to the new French king.

During his absence, Susanna travels to her husband’s ancestral home Appleton Manor where the steward died under circumstances she finds odd. Although she and her retinue arrive several weeks after the death and there is no evidence that the man’s passing was anything other than natural, Susanna continues to probe, snoop and ask questions surrounding the deaths of the steward and her father-in-law’s two years prior.

Her investigation is thwarted by the local villagers’ mistrust of the newcomers to the manor, the strange family of the neighboring manor and the general opinion that Sir Robert’s boyhood home is haunted by a vengeful ghost.

Slowly but persevering, Lady Appleton finds out more about her husband’s family and their history than he ever told her.

Emerson’s Susanna is a very strong-will and stubborn woman who doesn’t exactly bully her husband but forces her wishes and does what she wants. Sir Robert appears almost cuckolded. His trip to France in intermingled in the novel but adds nothing to the mystery and becomes more a distraction rather than a sub-plot. It was as if Emerson only used it to show her knowledge of the French monarchy during Elizabeth’s early reign and get Sir Robert out of the way to allow Susanna her freedom to investigate the steward’s death without interruption. The only cross-connect between the two stories is a brief but very important event at the climax of the mystery.

It seems that Susanna is based loosely on Queen Elizabeth I, whose intelligence, wit and eccentricities are portrayed accurately although the monarch makes a very brief appearance. But Lady Appleton becomes almost too over-bearing for the reader because she is always right with few flaws.

Even with all that, Face Down in the Marrow-Bone Pie is a fun read and does whet the readers’ appetite for more. I definitely plan to continue reading Emerson’s Face Down series.

First You Fall by Scott Sherman

For someone who writes about detectives with arcane powers such as telekinesis and telepathy, I had a difficult time (at first) wrapping my mind around the concept of a male prostitute as a sleuth. Kevin Connor is a hustler who sucks off, jerks off and otherwise gets off half the population of NYC. The male half that is. There’s not a straight male to be found anywhere in First You Fall. Once you get past the narcissism, Kevin and his best friend Freddy are a likeable pair.

When a friend of his takes a multi-story dive out of his posh, high-rise apartment, Kevin is convinced that it was not an open-and-shut case of suicide as the police are too quick to conclude. He begins his own investigation into Allen Harrington’s death, which becomes complicated when an old boyfriend from seven years ago reappears as the detective on the case. Although Tony is married, it is clear that he still has the hots for Kevin, who uses the sexual tension to his advantage. Occasionally, the mystery took a back seat to the off-and-on, up-and-down relationship between them and, in a sense, turning the reader into a voyeur.

Where Miss Marple uses gossip and Dr. Elizabeth Chase uses her psychic powers to solve mysteries, Kevin Connor uses his body. In nearly every situation, he employs his looks, his dress and his physique to get answers to the questions he’s asking. In other words, just as Robert Rodi’s Kept Boy, only young, fit and pretty get sex, unless Kevin wants something from you. If you don’t fit at least one of these criteria, you must pay. But everyone wants to have sex with Kevin Connor. Guess what? The murderer is someone who doesn't want to have sex with him!

There is a lot of humor in First You Fall in the form of Kevin’s best friend Freddy, who is a loveable if not over-the-top queen; and Kevin’s mother who has little idea how to be a mother. These two give the reader good laughs.

First You Fall is an enjoyable read once you overlook the main character’s constant preening, primping and arrogance. Then it is an engrossing story that’s difficult to put down. Sherman leaves us with a cliff hanger so we look forward to Kevin Connor’s next adventure.

Men - The Anthology is now available on Amazon.com!

This is my short story and six other stories also sizzling hot by Carol McKenzie, Anastasia Rabiyah, Max Griffin, Patricia Oshier Bruening, Jon Michaelsen and ME (Alex Morgan)

http://www.amazon.com/Men-Various/dp/1600542409/ref=sr_11_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1217645807&sr=11-1

(including my story, Safe Word)

ISBN 978-1-60054-240-4

Genre: Gay Lit

www. loveyoudivine.com

http://www.amazon.com/

Press Release! Men - available from Amazon.com!

From loveyoudivine Alterotica
www.loveyoudivine.com

To be released 1 August 2008, MEN, the hottest anthology of the summer from loveyoudivine Alterotica. lyd's first His and His Kisses print anthology is all MEN cover to cover. If you enjoy gay fiction, these stories will scorch your senses!

In Voyeur, Jon Michaelsen invites the reader into the obsessive depths of voyeurism. While Kevin enjoys gardening on the balcony of his high-rise condo, he notices a chiseled Adonis staring out the window of the penthouse across the street. What begins as innocent glances soon spirals into an obsession that changes his life forever.

Dive into passion and explore all five senses with Anastasia Rabiyah in Blindfold. Blindfolded in the basement at the mercy of a coworker, Leo's senses are put to the test, as well as his broken heart.

Max Griffin offers a wild ride into another time dimension with The Other Side of the Window, and a look at David who spends his life pursuing Truth through physics, sex, and gin. One morning, after hot sex with an anonymous stranger, the three beacons in his life conjoin when a hole in space and time appears in his room. In Dream a Little Dream of Me, Max plunges into an exploration of the dark side of perfect love. Sean and Gil, polar opposites, seek in one another the perfect lover. In a forbidden dungeon in Gil's apartment, Sean finds secrets coiled within mysteries. Soon enough, he learns the horrifying truth about Gil, and himself.

Carol McKenzie explores a man's first experience in Pure Artistry. Cameron Bracy is just out of a relationship...or so he thinks. Needing to ease his stress, he enrolls in a drawing class. However, the tension increases when he becomes acquainted with the gorgeous hunk, Eli Thompson.

Take a walk on the wilder side of things with Alex Morgan in Safe Word. The body of a man is found as Provincetown prepares for Mates Weekend, a popular leather gathering. Corey thinks a BDSM scene went past it's extreme limit. He tours the town's dark dungeons, looking for a murderer preying on young men. Can Corey find him before becoming a victim to the ultimate BDSM fantasy of execution?

With Graphic Intentions, Patricia Oshier Bruening takes you into the tortured memories of two men who meet in a coffee shop, neither thinking the other is gay. Scarred by past events, Scott and Derek find each other when neither is looking for a partner. It takes a confrontation from a loud-mouthed bigot before each realizes the other is interested in more than artwork. Can they discover a way to battle their demons together, rather than alone?



ISBN 978-1-60054-240-4
$20.00

Published by loveyoudivine Alterotica
http://www.loveyoudivine.com/

Available 1 August 2008 Publisher Direct
www.amazon.com

Ghost Ships: True Stories of Nautical Nightmares, Hauntings and Disasters by Richard Winer

The cover of Winer’s Ghost Ships trumpets him as the New York Times best-selling author of The Devil’s Triangle, released in the early seventies. A quick search on Amazon.com shows not many works since then until Ghost Ships, copyrighted in 2000.

Although Winer cites one ‘ghost ship’ incident in 1998, the remainder of paranormal episodes in his 33-chapter, 265-page chronology occur prior to 1978. The lion’s share of the spooky events takes place between the beginning of the twentieth century and the completion of World War II. The one post-1978 story is about a ship that disappeared without a trace in 1998 during Hurricane Mitch, one of the most powerful and deadliest hurricanes recorded in the Atlantic basin. Gasp.

It seems as though Winer conducted his research into the ghost ships immediately after the success of The Devil’s Triangle, but never carried through on the project. Until now. I got the feeling that Winer needed to publish again after a long dry spell, so he pulled his notes from long ago, threw in a couple of recent incidents and released Ghost Ships.

The book focuses on vessels found with no one on board or that vanished without a trace. Only a handful of the stories actually chronicle paranormal phenomenon.

Winer’s work has few surprises and no scares but is rich in history. Although the book doesn’t deliver on ghosts, it does have a number of interesting chapters in maritime history, including a number of WWII tales that weren’t mentioned in the history books.
If you’re looking for ghosts or horror, search elsewhere. Unsolved mysteries? This can be the place.

The Alehouse Murders by Maureen Ash

In her first of a new mystery series, Maureen Ash introduces the reader to Templar Knight Bascot de Marins, who has returned to England after years of captivity in the Holy Land at the hands of the Saracen. Injured in his escape to freedom, de Marins is on sojourn from the Order at the castle of Lincoln, to allow his leg to heal. The leave from the Templar Knights also gives him a chance to question and renew his fading faith.

Nicolaa de la Haye, the lady in charge of the castle and wife to the sheriff, charges Bascot to find the murderer of four people found dead in the alehouse. The deaths come on the eve of Lincoln’s huge midsummer faire and she is concerned that the person responsible could disappear into the crowds.

As the temperature rises, so does the body count and Bascot finds himself dealing with a ruthless and very determined killer.

Ash creates a vivid picture of medieval life and culture against the backdrop of King John I’s reign. Although the monarch does not appear in the story, his pressure is felt by all and his influence is palpable. It is interesting to read Ash’s portrayal of John as king which is in contrast to the depiction of him as prince to his brother, Richard I. Sharon K. Penman’s excellent Justin de Quincy series lays John’s perfidy and malice (some of which seems genuinely justified) unapologetically open and exposed.

The most engaging of Ash’s characters besides Bascot are his young ward Gianni, and the aging matriarch Hilde, who also recognizes the intelligence of the wounded Templar and becomes instrumental in helping him solve the mystery. Gianni, the mute Italian orphan rescued from the streets and starvation by Bascot, communicates with the Templar through a series of hand signals and captures the readers’ hearts as well as attention. Gianni is devoted to Bascot as a son is to a father and the sentiment is returned. Bascot lost an eye during his captivity (reminding the reader of Candace Robb’s one-eyed hero Owen Archer) and relies on the boy’s visual acuity for finding clues.

Bascot de Marins is a complex character like another Templar sleuth, Michael Jecks’s Sir Baldwin Furnshill.

Ash received kudos from Penman and another medieval mystery legend, Margaret Frazer, along with other accolades printed everywhere on the paperback edition. The glowing reports are deserved as this book is worthy enough to be put along side the other medieval whodunits from Frazer and Penman. Ash’s writing style tends to be heavy on the passive voice, but this does not distract from the reading pleasure. I look forward to reading the next one.