Rob Osler

This is a quirky LGBTQ+ mystery filled with entertaining characters. Hayden McCall and his best friend Hollister are drawn into solving another mystery when Sarah Lee, a frenemy of Hayden's, is accused of murdering magician Kennedy Osaka.

The story is centered around Mysterium which is a traveling circus show featuring a variety of acts and including a Michelin-star dinner. Kennedy Osaka is the new star and artistic director for the show. Kennedy is an old college friend of Sarah Lee's. Kennedy had promised to perform at an event Sarah Lee is hosting. She doesn't show up which sends her to Kennedy's hotel in a raging temper. Next thing she knows she arrested standing of the corpse with dressmaker's sheers in her hands and no memory of what happened.

Hayden is a pint-sized, gay middle school teacher who also writes a column about gay dating. He's not much for putting himself out there. Hollister is a lesbian Black furniture designer who's fearless and imposing and Hayden's best friend. She's good at pushing him into situations that take him out of his comfort zone. This happens a lot in this case as they investigate the various acts at Mysterium to figure out who wanted Kennedy dead.

There are lots of suspects from fellow performers Kit, who has a comedy sharpshooting act, and Yazminka Smilova, a trapeze artist whose father owns the show. To Sasha Smilov who is Yazminka's brother and the manager of the show and Zell who does the costumes. Also included as suspects with one being a new crush for Hayden are a troupe of Romanian acrobats.

This was an entertaining mystery told by Hayden. I liked the diverse cast of characters which includes a new friend in transgender lawyer Jess Gemalto who looks enough like Hayden to be his twin. The story was filled with humor and lots of heart and had a nice lashing of danger for our main characters.… (meer)

quozy-mystery, situational-humor, verbal-humor, amateur-sleuth, murder, investigation, friends, friendship, lawyers, law-enforcement, circus, circus-performers, LGBTQIAP, lol-humor, temporary-amnesia*****

There's nothing depressing or explicit in this hilarious cozy mystery filled with characters who are LGBTQIAP. ALL of the characters truly are and none of the humor is mean.
One of the friends who is a circus performer is found dead by another of the friends and the local law have her in their sights. So all of the rest get together to find the right murdered and I got to laugh myself silly. Loved it! Good sleuthing and great fun.
I requested and received an EARC from Crooked Lane Books via NetGalley. Thank you!… (meer)

This is a fun and entertaining read. The story begins with a go-go boy kicking a customer in the face and comes to an exciting conclusion at a luxurious lakefront estate in Seattle. There's plenty of action in between.
The characters tend toward being quirky and just a bit cartoonish. The plot is over-the-top, a parody of cozy mystery stories. Hayden McCall, the narrator, is an attractive and sympathetic protagonist. The supporting cast includes Commander, a temporarily homeless bull terrier and Jerry, a wise old man who dispenses fatherly advice to Hayden. Nurse Pete and Detective Zane (with the tight blue pants) breeze through parts of the story.
This is a debut novel in a planned series of mystery stories, that the author has dubbed "quozy" (a queer cozy). A quozy follows the cozy model: no profanity, no gratuitous violence and no graphic sex. It's a pleasant light entertainment to read in one sitting.
Recommended.… (meer)