Husbands and Lap Dogs Breathe Their Last

by David Steven Rappoport

A Cummings Flynn Wanamaker Mystery: Amateur sleuth Cummings Flynn Wanamaker attends the monthly meeting of a steampunk occult group in Chicago, where a speaker combusts-perhaps spontaneously. Meanwhile, a body is discovered in a boat in rural Maine. To solve the connected crimes in this funny and eccentric mystery, Cummings navigates quirky clues and characters, including an ethereal gay romance novelist, a broken-down recluse who once wrote Cold War thrillers, assorted occultists with assumed names, a museum devoted to ephemera, a pagan reliquary and fetid feta cheese.

252 pages, Paperback

Published April 1, 2016

About the author

David Steven Rappoport is the author of two plays produced Off-Broadway. His comic mystery novel, Husbands and Lap Dogs Breathe Their Last, was published by Mainly Murder Press in 2016. In their review, Mystery Scene magazine said it was “as riotous as mystery novels get” and “a delightful journey into the weird."

His short story, The Anonymous Donor, received Honorable Mention in the 2017 Al Blanchard Award competition for the best mystery short story set in New England, and is included in the anthology, Snowbound: Best New England Crime Stories 2017, published by Level Best Books. Leftovers, a short story, was a winner of the Mystery Times 2015 competition, and is featured in an anthology of winning stories from Buddhapuss Ink.

He is a graduate of the Master of Fine Arts: Creative Writing program at Goddard College. David lives in Chicago. His website is www.davidstevenrappoport.com.

Reviews

[Bkwyrm]

So Much Fun!

I'm a Chicagoan - and not only that, I'm a Chicagoan interested in the occult. This is weirdly marketed as a sort of steampunk mystery, when it's actually a charming whodunit that moves from a Mathers society event where everyone is in steampunk attire to Maine, back again, through lots of the neighborhoods in Chicago - instantly recognizable. The characters are charming, though quite a few if them seem like caricatures rather than people. Even the detective seems a bit too adorably oddball for a human being.
That said, it's a quick, fun read that's enhanced if you know Chicago or are familiar at all with the Western Mystery Tradition, but you don't need to know about either to enjoy the book. My snickers of glee at the descriptions of various orders, occultists, and histories were great fun, but it's a solid mystery. As long as you're able to suspend your disbelief in these wacky characters as people, it's an interesting story. A few parts drag, but nothing is perfect. Great fun.

[Adrian Moran]

Husbands and Lap Dogs Breathe Their Last is an entertaining and witty mystery novel in the "cozy" subgenre. It's packed with funny turns of phrase and delightfully eccentric characters. The locations (Chicago and small-town Maine) are well drawn and the plot has clever twists.

[Elizabeth]

The author's writing is a delight; perfect, uncommon words convey just the right meaning. Oh, it's an interesting mystery as well.