One dead bisexual businessman, one dead male escort, one dead female prostitute, all unknown to one another. What's the link? Gay p.i. Dick Hardesty invites you to join him in finding out.
When gay p.i. Dick Hardesty meets up with an old friend, a former street hustler now working for a very high-class male escort service he opens the door to this latest adventure. When one of his friend's wealthy clients is found dead, Dick is hired by the escort service's owners to try to keep the police at bay. But when one of the service's escorts also turns up dead, things really start to get complicated.
And then there's that dead female prostitute....
Dick and the reader have their hands full sorting through the suspects and the various paths the story takes them down. But the clues are all there, as are the humor, the suspense, and the intricate details of Dick's world.
Excerpt
"I appreciate your calling me, Mr. Anderson," I said, "but I think we should clarify something before we proceed. I assume you know that I'm gay and generally specialize in gay clients?" His only response was a small smile and almost imperceptible nod, but since he said nothing, I continued. "I mention this only because it IS an issue for some people, and I don't want there to be any misunderstandings or awkwrdness between my clients and me."
He never lost the small smile, but I noticed that his right hand unconsciously found his left and his right thumb and index finger went to cover the telltale untanned circle "Not a problem," he said. "My business here has nothing whatever...directly... to do with...anyone's... sexual orientation. I was simply told you were very good at getting information.." His right thumb and forefinger slowly twisted the missing wedding ring. I wondered why in hell he'd bothered to take it off in the first place if he was going to make it so obvious he wore one.
Professional Reviews
The Hired Man by Dorien Grey
I’ve always felt that the mark of a good writer is when each of their novels shows maturity and growth from the one that came before it. Like a fine wine or a sharp cheddar, some things should get better with time and writing is certainly no exception. I’m pleased to say that once again, Lambda Mystery Award Nominee Dorien Grey manages to expand on his already impressive talents with his current release, The Hired Man.
In this outing, Grey’s protagonist Dick Hardesty finds himself up to his keister in trouble, while investigating the death of a bisexual business man who had come to him looking for assistance. In the process of investigating the murder, Hardesty discovers the sometimes-shadowy world of the male escort business.
Although his suspects are other bisexual and gay men in what is considered a very high-class escort service (and one of the first times this reviewer has seen bisexuality play a large role in a mystery), Hardesty soon realizes that money isn’t everything, and even rich people can have a reason to kill. Before too long, Hardesty ends up protecting the escort service from the police, sleeping with a number of his suspects and reuniting with a former "pay date" first seen in Grey’s earlier books.
When a second and third murder occur, Hardesty knows this is no ordinary case, and he might very well be sleeping with the enemy.
One of the things I’ve always found appealing about Grey’s work in the past is the humor level, which was one step above camp and thoroughly endearing. Though sex played a major part in his previous works, it was never the focus of the story. This time around, Grey shows the flexing of new writing muscles and attitudes, by toning down the humor to a very natural, enjoyable level, and the sex scenes are fewer and not nearly as graphic as some might consider in previous novels.
The end result is a well-written mystery story that should appeal to anyone, regardless of sexual orientation.
It still remains a shame that an author with the obvious talents of Dorien Grey has yet to break through into the mainstream. Gay mystery authors have a tendency to have difficulty reaching straight audiences, but The Hired Man is a novel that can and should be enjoyed by all mystery fans.
GLB Publishers has a rare gem in their novel arsenal with Grey, and this reviewer hopes that it won’t be much longer before much wider audiences discover and fall in love with Grey’s writing and his characters.
For now, The Hired Man stands as a testament to what good mystery writing should be about: engaging characters, a well-crafted storyline and sheer unadulterated TALENT. Congratulations to Dorien Grey on another successful book, and I look forward to seeing where he takes his characters, and readers, from here.
J.A.Hartman, Knowbetter.com (www.knowbetter.com)
In The Hired Man Dorien Grey has done it again! Writer Grey continues to grow as an author. The Hired Man has all the memorable well defined characters, plot and sub plots, twists and turns we have come to expect from this writer.
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