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Stan Kraychik Mystery #5
Time to Check Out: A Stan Kraychik Mystery
It's October in Key West, as quiet as the tropical island will ever be. Or so thinks Boston salon star Stan "The Widow" Kraychik, who has recently lost his lover. Stan is grief-stricken, but he's also grotesquely wealthy, thanks to a landmark cash settlement to a domestic partner, as well as his dead lover's life insurance.
But instead of sanctuary in an off-season resort town, Stan finds himself in a fizzy, dizzy world that few tourists experience. The trouble starts when Stan is forced to change his guest-house. When he goes to settle his bill, the manager is on the floor of her office - dead by violence.
Never one to mind his own business, Stan discovers that the victim was embroiled in a legal battle over the estate of a Key West millionaire. As he meddles further into the investigation, he encounters an exotic lineup of suspects reminiscent of a circus sideshow. They may be worthy foils for Stan's melancholy, but he must also identify the killer before he becomes the next victim.
But instead of sanctuary in an off-season resort town, Stan finds himself in a fizzy, dizzy world that few tourists experience. The trouble starts when Stan is forced to change his guest-house. When he goes to settle his bill, the manager is on the floor of her office - dead by violence.
Never one to mind his own business, Stan discovers that the victim was embroiled in a legal battle over the estate of a Key West millionaire. As he meddles further into the investigation, he encounters an exotic lineup of suspects reminiscent of a circus sideshow. They may be worthy foils for Stan's melancholy, but he must also identify the killer before he becomes the next victim.
242 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1996
5 people are currently reading
44 people want to read
About the author
Grant Michaels
17 books15 followersGrant Michaels is the pen name of Michael Mesrobian (born 1947, died 2009), an American writer of mystery novels. He published six novels with St. Martin's Press in the 1990s centering on Stan Kraychik, a gay hairdresser turned amateur detective.
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
November 5, 2021
3.5 stars
August 23, 2021
I usually have fun sleuthing with Stani but this was a tedious read. Relocated to Key West FL ... Stani is removed from the leveling influence of his boss and bestie Nicole, there's no heady 'allure' of Vito Branco ... and all the suspects were of the shady, unlikable type. Over the course of several days post the discovery of the murder of his hotelier landlady ... Stan drifts endlessly between local businesses and watering holes, nightclubs and dives ... interviewing sundry secondary characters who never give a straight answer to any of his questions. Despite people accusing him of being a nosy-busybody ... Stan's impervious drive to 'uncover the truth' does little to shake out any clues; the 'final reveal' comes precipitously and all in a sudden rush at the end which did nothing to alleviate the exhaustive slog it took to reach that result. IMO - this was the least enjoyable book of the series - 2.5 stars.
March 13, 2022
An interesting, complex mystery with a lot of shady suspects and lots of unsavoury characters, some of whom get killed soon enough :P
The story itself was good, but I have some issues with Stan. The first of these issues is Stan's grief, because, IMHO, it's more guilt than anything else. His relationship with Rafik never struck me as a deep one, and his cheating kind of prove my point. So I think that his main reason to be at Key West to get to terms with the fact that now he's a rich man thanks to the death of a man he never really loved *shrugs*
The lack of Nicole and Branco in this book is another issue. They both are a balancing influence in his life and keep him more or less on a sane path. Their absence here was very evident in Stan's dangerous behaviour.
And him stopping being a hairdresser to be... aimless is troubling.
We'll see how the next book deals with a rich, jobless Stan :P
The story itself was good, but I have some issues with Stan. The first of these issues is Stan's grief, because, IMHO, it's more guilt than anything else. His relationship with Rafik never struck me as a deep one, and his cheating kind of prove my point. So I think that his main reason to be at Key West to get to terms with the fact that now he's a rich man thanks to the death of a man he never really loved *shrugs*
The lack of Nicole and Branco in this book is another issue. They both are a balancing influence in his life and keep him more or less on a sane path. Their absence here was very evident in Stan's dangerous behaviour.
And him stopping being a hairdresser to be... aimless is troubling.
We'll see how the next book deals with a rich, jobless Stan :P
October 24, 2020
NOTE: This book was provided by ReQueered Tales for the purpose of a review on Rainbow Book Reviews.
My favorite gay Bostonian hairdresser, Stan Kraychik, is now “The Widow” Kraychik. For his darker alter ego and lover, the handsome dancer Rafik, has been killed in a stupid car accident in Paris, France. Stunned by grief but a very rich man thanks to Rafik’s generous planning, Stan decides he needs a time-out and heads down to Key West, Florida. A good idea in theory, but a bit less if your skin doesn’t do well in the tropical sun and you’re not so keen on hot, muggy weather. Of course, Stan wouldn’t be Stan (and Grant Michaels wouldn’t be Grant Michaels, mystery writer extraordinaire) if he didn’t stumble over a corpse within a couple of pages. Augusta Willits, owner of the Crow’s Nest, the place where Stan has been staying for less than twenty-four hours before she threw him out without a reason, is dead. And by the looks of it, she didn’t die a natural death—unless she choked herself voluntarily with her own alarm clock, that is.
Now guess what Stan, nosy amateur sleuth if there ever was one, decides to do? Once again poke said nose in where it’s not necessarily wanted. He soon finds out that there are plenty of reasons to kill Mrs. Willits… and logically plenty of possible suspects as well. Augusta Willits was a meddlesome, quarrelsome, odious old woman, after all, whose late son, before dying of AIDS, had bequeathed his countless properties on the reef to several of his best friends. But Mrs. Willits had contested his will, threatening all those would-be heirs to be left high and dry. Amongst the quirky suspects there is the German real estate developer Adolf Dobermann; the ill-matched couple who owns the local travel agency, Joshua Aytem and Laura Hope; Jeri Tike, the local painter; the best-selling writer Edsel Shamb; the hot and handsome bartender cum hooker Ross; the raucous singer Cozy Dinette; wannabe actor Kenneth Kimble; and the Countess Anastasia Rulalenska, of ancient European nobility the origins of which she keeps as vague as she keeps the cigarettes in her cigarette holder unlit. They are all hiding things that only seem to have waited for snooping Stan to be uncovered… But his ferreting about turns out to be quite risky.
This is another brilliant whodunnit by the late Grant Michaels—I’ve grown very fond of this series ever since opening book number one. Truth be told, I was very cross at the beginning when I realized that the author had killed off Rafik, and this shocking news almost spoiled the pleasure of reading a Kraychik mystery. But little by little, as the different characters were introduced, I was drawn in once again and could finally enjoy the read. Michaels is a master of atmosphere, a writer who manages to create intriguing characters with just a couple of paint strokes and make them three-dimensional. Moreover, the grief adds some depth to the main character, Stan, who apart from some serious moping and questioning the sense of life remains the same old sharp-tongued, witty observer of his fellows and the same remorseless troublemaker for all those who have something to hide. He pokes, he prods, he asks blunt questions without stopping. There’s also a sweet holiday dilly-dallying hidden in the plot—to call it romance would be too much, I think—which gave it a nice twist.
Writing, pace, and cast of characters were as to be expected pitch-perfect. I was quite surprised, however, that even an accomplished writer such as the late Mr. Michaels could make one of those mistakes many English authors seem to make: when Stan borrows a bike, he starts “peddling” all over the reef when he should have been “pedalling”. Apart from that, the book is thoroughly proofread and edited and therefore a real pleasure to read. I can’t wait to discover the next—and as I understand last—installment in this awesome and entertaining series, which I recommend to all mystery lovers.
My favorite gay Bostonian hairdresser, Stan Kraychik, is now “The Widow” Kraychik. For his darker alter ego and lover, the handsome dancer Rafik, has been killed in a stupid car accident in Paris, France. Stunned by grief but a very rich man thanks to Rafik’s generous planning, Stan decides he needs a time-out and heads down to Key West, Florida. A good idea in theory, but a bit less if your skin doesn’t do well in the tropical sun and you’re not so keen on hot, muggy weather. Of course, Stan wouldn’t be Stan (and Grant Michaels wouldn’t be Grant Michaels, mystery writer extraordinaire) if he didn’t stumble over a corpse within a couple of pages. Augusta Willits, owner of the Crow’s Nest, the place where Stan has been staying for less than twenty-four hours before she threw him out without a reason, is dead. And by the looks of it, she didn’t die a natural death—unless she choked herself voluntarily with her own alarm clock, that is.
Now guess what Stan, nosy amateur sleuth if there ever was one, decides to do? Once again poke said nose in where it’s not necessarily wanted. He soon finds out that there are plenty of reasons to kill Mrs. Willits… and logically plenty of possible suspects as well. Augusta Willits was a meddlesome, quarrelsome, odious old woman, after all, whose late son, before dying of AIDS, had bequeathed his countless properties on the reef to several of his best friends. But Mrs. Willits had contested his will, threatening all those would-be heirs to be left high and dry. Amongst the quirky suspects there is the German real estate developer Adolf Dobermann; the ill-matched couple who owns the local travel agency, Joshua Aytem and Laura Hope; Jeri Tike, the local painter; the best-selling writer Edsel Shamb; the hot and handsome bartender cum hooker Ross; the raucous singer Cozy Dinette; wannabe actor Kenneth Kimble; and the Countess Anastasia Rulalenska, of ancient European nobility the origins of which she keeps as vague as she keeps the cigarettes in her cigarette holder unlit. They are all hiding things that only seem to have waited for snooping Stan to be uncovered… But his ferreting about turns out to be quite risky.
This is another brilliant whodunnit by the late Grant Michaels—I’ve grown very fond of this series ever since opening book number one. Truth be told, I was very cross at the beginning when I realized that the author had killed off Rafik, and this shocking news almost spoiled the pleasure of reading a Kraychik mystery. But little by little, as the different characters were introduced, I was drawn in once again and could finally enjoy the read. Michaels is a master of atmosphere, a writer who manages to create intriguing characters with just a couple of paint strokes and make them three-dimensional. Moreover, the grief adds some depth to the main character, Stan, who apart from some serious moping and questioning the sense of life remains the same old sharp-tongued, witty observer of his fellows and the same remorseless troublemaker for all those who have something to hide. He pokes, he prods, he asks blunt questions without stopping. There’s also a sweet holiday dilly-dallying hidden in the plot—to call it romance would be too much, I think—which gave it a nice twist.
Writing, pace, and cast of characters were as to be expected pitch-perfect. I was quite surprised, however, that even an accomplished writer such as the late Mr. Michaels could make one of those mistakes many English authors seem to make: when Stan borrows a bike, he starts “peddling” all over the reef when he should have been “pedalling”. Apart from that, the book is thoroughly proofread and edited and therefore a real pleasure to read. I can’t wait to discover the next—and as I understand last—installment in this awesome and entertaining series, which I recommend to all mystery lovers.
June 5, 2022
Better than the prior volumes but that's not saying much. This book, as well as the others, are filled with negative stereotypes of gay behavior. The main character is not someone you would let into your life. He is pushy and irritating to be around. It seems that the good vibes for these books revolve around the fact that they are older gay-themed novels. I am not sure that's any reason to sing their praises. I don't find Grant Michaels a very good writer at all. I do find him a melodrama queen, though. I have two more books in this series and I will finish it. I've read worse. But, rest assured, I've read a heck of a lot that's better!
April 8, 2014
Memory is a funny thing--I read this book a long time ago, and remembered the final scenes as taking place in a restaurant/bar on the second floor of a building, during a violent hurricane. Well, the hurricane was there--but the setting was totally different. Stan Kraychik is heartbroken after the accidental death of his lover, but he's also rich (insurance and all that). He goes to Key West to fight his depression, and falls in with an eccentric crew of locals after he discovers a murdered woman. Being Stan, he insists on trying to investigate, with nearly fatal consequences.
July 2, 2024
Some witty lines. Felt very long. Stan spent a lot of time flitting between places pissing people off to get a dribble of info.
His reaction to Rafik's death is predictably cold and strange.
His reaction to Rafik's death is predictably cold and strange.
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews