Soon to be a major motion picture: A novel

Mitchell Draper Mystery #1

by Warren Dunford

Book by Dunford, Warren

Genres: LGBT, Canada, Gay, Fiction

255 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1998

Reviews

[Kevin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Canadian writer Warren Dunford's delightfully droll, up-tempo first novel is filled with bright and sympathetic 20-somethings trying to make their way in the world. Narrator Mitchell Draper is a Toronto screenwriter who works as an office temp as he re-polishes an old script he hopes will make him famous and allow him to mingle with real celebrities rather than the movie star look-alikes who populate his world. His best friends are Ingrid, an artist managing an understaffed coffee shop, and Ramir, a would-be actor working at a health food store. Mitchell is excited when he's hired by quirky Carmen Denver to bring her dream project to the screenDeven if it is a schlocky Mafia Princess rip-off, which Mitchell is forced to dumb down to Carmen's obsessive specifications. Life kicks into high gear when Mitchell meets the man of his dreams (who promptly starts dating Ramir), Ingrid is discovered by an art patron and Ramir needs help writing his one-man show. Things are complicated further when Mitchell is stalked by an Antonio Banderas clone, and slowly realizes that the script he is writing may be true crime, not fiction. Few characters are what they first seem in this quirky comedy, reminiscent of an intricately plotted Joe Keenan farce. Inventively plotted and stocked with appealing characters, Dunford's debut should win him plenty of readers on the American side of the border.

[Kristine Morris]

Like his first book, "Making a Killing" this novel is about struggling young artists finally achieving some sort of success after a build up of crazy and mysterious happenings. I loved both of these books - they are funny, very creative, and based in Toronto. His characters hang out in all the places I did when I was in my twenties living downtown. Hard to find a Canadian author that does not depress the hell of out you - Warren Duford is one.