Exclusive Sneak-Peek: Murder and Mayhem: An Annotated Bibliography of Gay and Queer Males in Mystery, 1909-2018 by Matthew Lubbers-Moore

From the introduction:

This bibliography can follow the acceptance of
gay and queer men in mysteries from when they first appeared to the present day
and not all authors wrote about gay or queer men in a positive light. Therefore
some of the comments below the titles explain how the author may have been
homophobic or written their main character to be homophobic/transphobic.



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Mystery Genre Definitions:

Amateur Sleuth: The amateur sleuth tries to
solve the murder of someone close. Either the police have tried and failed or
misread the murder as an accident/suicide. Both the loss and need for a
solution is personal. -Definition provided by Stephen D. Rogers. Bibliomystery: Mystery stories set in the world
of books; libraries, bookstores, or those who deal with books; authors, book
collectors, book sellers, editors, or publishers.BDSM: Sexual activity involving such practices
as the use of physical restraints, the granting and relinquishing of control,
and the infliction of pain –Definition provided by Merriam Webster. BDSM is not
a genre of mysteries but I include it as a warning to those who may not want to
read sexually explicit and sexually 13 violent titles (MLM). Caper: A caper is a comic crime story. Instead
of suave and calculating, the caper chronicles the efforts of the lovable
bungler who either thinks big or ridiculously small. -Definition provided by
Stephen D. Rogers. Classics: Classics are often written by authors
in the late 19th and early 20th century, i.e. Agatha Christie, Rex Stout,
Raymond Chandler, Daphne du Maurier, Dashiell Hammett, Wilkie Collins, Edgar
Allan Poe, and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. These are the authors that all mystery
is built on.Coming of Age: when a person reaches an
important stage of development, growing into adulthood, becoming a mature adult.
–Definition provided by Collins Dictionary. Courtroom Drama/Legal Thriller: Lawyers make
effective protagonists since they seem to exist on a plane far above the rest
of us. Although popular, these tales are usually penned by actual lawyers due
to the demands of the information presented. – Definition provided by Stephen
D. Rogers. Cozies: The cozy, typified by Agatha Christie,
contains a bloodless crime and a victim who won’t be missed. The solution can
be determined using emotional or logical reasoning. There is no sex or
swearing, and the detective is traditionally heterosexual or asexual.
-Definition provided by Stephen D. Rogers.

Modern Cozies: Unlike classic cozies, modern cozies include some
swearing, discussions of sex, and can have a homosexual detective.

Crime Drama: Suspense in the crime story comes
from wondering whether the plan will work. We’re rooting for the bad guys
because they are smart, organized, and daring. -Definition provided by Stephen
D. Rogers.

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The
book contains the complete story The Man with the Watches by Arthur Conan
Doyle.  From the history:

The
debate over whether or not Sherlock Holmes was gay and had an attachment to
Watson can be and probably will be argued over for as long as the characters
are popular enough to be debated over. However, the two characters in this
story obviously have feelings for each other …

THE MAN WITH THE WATCHES

by Arthur Conan Doyle

THERE ARE MANY WHO WILL still bear in mind the singular
circumstances which, under the heading of the Rugby Mystery, filled many
columns of the daily Press in the spring of the year 1892. Coming as it did at
a period of exceptional dullness, it attracted perhaps rather more attention
than it deserved, but it offered to the public that mixture of the whimsical
and the tragic which is most stimulating to the popular imagination. Interest
dropped, however, when, after weeks of fruitless investigation, it was found
that no final explanation of the facts was forthcoming, and the tragedy seemed
from that time to the present to have finally taken its place in the dark
catalogue of inexplicable and unexpiated crimes.

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Sample entries:

624. Colton, James, Known Homosexual, Brandon
House, 1968. (Pulp) Scorned by his family, defeated by society, Steve was at a
major crossroads in his life. His marriage had gone sour, his hopes as a
playwright dashed. Confused and friendless, Steve turned to pretty boy Coy
Randol for love and support. But then Coy was found brutally murdered and there
was only one person the police suspected: Steve. –republished as Stranger to
Himself in 1977 by Major Books under [Joseph] Hansen’s own name, the only
Colton book to be reclaimed. It was heavily edited as it removed much of the
sex scenes. It was then republished as Pretty Boy Dead in 1984 by Gay Sunshine
Press. The book is edited to reintroduce some of the items Hansen cut out in
Stranger to Himself but still left out much of the sex scenes. Steve is an
early version of Cecil from Hansen’s later Brandstetter books (MLM). 3/3

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1981. Michaelsen, Jon, Pretty Boy Dead, Wilde
City Press, 2013. Kendall Parker #1 of 2. (Police Procedural) A murdered male
stripper. A missing go-go dancer. A city councilman on the hook. Can Atlanta
homicide detective Sergeant Kendall Parker solve the vicious crime while
remaining safely hidden behind the closet door? –book two in the Kendall Parker
series, Deadwood Murders, is set to be published late in 2019 (MLM). 3/3

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2145. Paretsky, Sara, Burn Marks, Delacorte,
1990. V. I. Warshawski #6 of 21. (Hardboiled) Someone knocking on the door at 3
A.M. is never good news. For V.I. Warshawski, the bad news arrives in the form
of her wacky, unwelcome aunt Elena. The fire that has just burned down a sleazy
SRO hotel has brought Elena to V.I.’s doorstep. Uncovering an arsonist – and
the secrets hidden behind Elena’s boozy smile – will send V.I. into the seedy
world of Chicago’s homeless… into the Windy City’s backroom deals and bedroom
politics, where new 628 schemers and old cronies team up to get V.I. off the
case – by hook, by crook, or by homicide. –the gay yuppie neighbor and his
laid-back boyfriend appear slightly (MLM). 1/3

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2478.
Sanders, J. B., Glen and Tyler’s Honeymoon Adventures, Lulu,
2011. Glen and Tyler #1 of 5. (Caper) Tyler can’t inherit unless he gets
married … and when Glen proposes, hijinks ensue. Follow the guys on their
world-spanning adventure as they defeat mobsters, an evil step-mother, a rakish
brother-inlaw and pirates. No, really – pirates! Plus, there’s an underground
super-base. And hockey. Come for the romance, stay for the hockey. –two
bisexual guys take the plunge after decades of friendship (MM). 3/3

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2991.
Woody, Michelle, The Scarecrow’s Kiss, iUniverse, 2004. (Fantasy)
In 1980, serial killer Joseph Parrish was killed in a raid by local authorities
and his bizarre world uncovered. Now, Russell Kenyon has come to do a segment
on Parrish for his show, Spooky History, hoping the report will be his show’s
saving grace. With a new victim missing, talk of Parrish’s curse has spread
through town. 3/3

Blurb:

Librarian and scholar Matt Lubbers-Moore collects and examines every mystery novel to include a gay or queer male in the English language starting with the 1909 Arthur Conan Doyle short story “The Man with the Watches,” which is included in its entirety. Authors, titles, dates published, publishers, book series, short blurbs, and a description of how involved the gay or queer male character is with the mystery are all included for a full bibliographic background.

Murder and Mayhem will prove invaluable for mystery collectors, researchers, libraries, general readers, aficionados, bookstores, and devotees of LGBTQ studies. The bibliography is laid out in alphabetical order by author for the ease of the reader to find what they are looking for and be able to read the blurb and author notes to determine if the book is what they are looking for whether a hard boiled private eye, an amateur cozy, a suspenseful romance, or a police procedural. All subgenres within the mystery field are included within including fantasy, science fiction, espionage, political intrigue, crime dramas, courtroom thrillers, and more with a definition guide of the subgenres for a better understanding of the genre as a whole.

A ReQueered Tales Original publication, this 2020 edition contains a bonus story by Arthur Conan Doyle.

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About Matthew Lubbers-Moore

“One of the founders of ReQueered Tales, Matt served as a judge for the Lambda Literary Awards for Best Gay Mystery in 2017 and 2018. Matt is over educated with 3 associate degrees, a bachelor’s degree in history with a minor in Human Rights, as well as working on his second master’s degree in history after finishing his master’s in library and information science in 2019. He lives in a converted creamery in Grand Rapids, Michigan with his farmer and truck driving husband, Doug. Other than ReQueered Tales, Matt works at a bookstore, a comic book store, and an academic library. His traveling bookstore appears at comic cons, gay pride events, book fairs, and flea markets. He is also kept busy as one of the administrators of the Gay Mystery-Suspense-Thriller FB page. He has four hobbies; collecting gay mysteries, collecting Dr. Doom comic book appearances, going to used bookstores and pizza restaurants, usually right after the other, and traveling the country via train.”