Der gespickte Sarg (Damien Drechsler ermittelt)

Damien Drechsler's investigations #1

by Dieter Moitzi

Gewinner des französischen Krimipreises Prix du roman policier - Prix du roman gay 2019! Damien Drechsler hat gerade mit seinem Freund Schluss gemacht und braucht dringend Urlaub. Das griechische Dörfchen Levkos scheint dafür der ideale Ort zu sein – verschlafen, sonnig, ländlich idyllisch, mit einsamen Stränden und kleinen Bars, wo man seine Sorgen ertränken kann. Aber am ersten Abend lernt Damien Nikos kennen, einen flotten, jungen Mann, der sein Herz sofort schneller schlagen lässt. Dann wird er beinahe von einem waghalsigen Autofahrer überfahren. Am nächsten Morgen erfährt er, dass ein alter Mann nur wenige Minuten nach seinem eigenen Missgeschick in einem verdächtigen Autounfall ums Leben gekommen ist. Von da an scheint irgendwie alles schief zu gehen. Ein gut bestückter FKK-Fan versucht, ihn zu verführen; ein fescher Kerl löst ein Missverständnis mit weitreichenden Konsequenzen aus; und last but not least beginnt Damien, sich langsam in Nikos zu verlieben. Es kommt noch schlimmer. Eine Urlauberin wird tot im Schwimmbecken aufgefunden, obwohl sie sich am Vortag bester Gesundheit erfreute. Noch ein Unfall? Oder könnte es sich… um Mord handeln? Neugierig versucht Damien, die eigenartigen Rätsel zu lösen, über die er hier gestolpert ist. Er hat jedoch weder mit einem streitsüchtigen Kommissar gerechnet, noch mit dem unerwarteten Verschwinden einer Reisebegleiterin, noch damit, dass Nikos ihm genau in dem Moment den Laufpass gibt, als er erneut Hoffnung schöpft. Plötzlich hat er mehr Fragen als Antworten… Könnte es sein, dass die Phrase „sie lebten glücklich bis ans Ende ihres Lebens“ nur in Märchen existiert? Gay Romance, schwule Liebesgeschichte, Amateurdetektiv, Mord, Krimi, Griechenland, Ferien, Urlaub, Liebe, M/M, Krimipreis, Prix du roman policier - Prix du roman gay 2019

Genres: Mystery

369 pages, Paperback

Published April 10, 2019

About the author

Born in the early 70s, I grew up in a little village in Austria. Today, I’m living in Paris, France, with my boyfriend and work as a graphic designer. In my spare time, I write, read, cook fancy recipes, take photos, and travel. All my novels are available in English, French, and German. By the way, the French version of my first murder mystery novel “The Stuffed Coffin” won the prestigious French Gay Murder Mystery Award 2019. You can also find me on Rainbow Book Reviews, where I write book reviews under the pseudonym of ParisDude (for French reviews, have a look at my review site livresgay.fr).

Find more information on my author website http://www.dietermoitzi.com or on my Patreon https://www.patreon.com/dietermoitzi

Reviews

[CrabbyPatty]

Damien is on a two-week holiday in Lekvos Greece, relaxing and exploring the beauty of the Greek countryside. Damien is part of a Thalassa Voyages tour staying at the White Beach Hotel, with planned activities facilitated by activity and sports directors as well as guided side trips in the area. We meet many of Damien's fellow vacationers including the excessively chatty Mrs. Marchand and Mrs. Delatte, Madame Regnier, Madame Durand and her police inspector daughter; author Dieter Moitzi gives us a full cast of quirky characters in the tour group as well as locals.

Dieter is content to drink good coffee and relax by the pool with a drink in hand. On his first night, Damien meets Nikos, a beautiful Greek boy and they head off to a deserted beach to get intimately acquainted. Walking back to the hotel, Damien meets an old man, soon after hears a spirited argument followed by a gunshot and then is almost run down by a car. The next day he learns the old man is dead and shortly thereafter a member of the tour group is found dead in the hotel swimming pool.

Damien is a translator specializing in detective novels, and his interest is piqued by the unusual circumstances of the two deaths. As the story slowly unfolds (at times a bit too slowly), Damien works to pull the pieces of the puzzle together, as well as figuring out his developing relationship with Nikos. The story works for me in many ways, but a pivotal scene in the mystery when Damien and a secondary character are basically kidnapped and held in another location and each passed out after having a drink with the same person is frustrating in that neither character can figure out what seems so obvious.

Finally, because the author is French (and translated his novel into English), I felt some cultural illiteracy on my part at times. For example, I often wasn't sure of various popular culture references (apparently Rocco Siffred is an Italian porn star/director/producer) or idioms. (Edited on 2/6/19: The author has let me know that the Kindle version of "The Stuffed Coffin" available for purchase has the X-Ray option which provides more information on book contents. This option was not available with my ARC format.)

But I enjoyed the convoluted murder mystery plot and the cast of interesting characters, although I didn't entirely feel a strong sense of chemistry between Nikos and Damien. 3.5 stars and I'm looking forward to reading more from Dieter Moitzi.

I received an ARC from the author in exchange for an honest review.

Visit my blog, Sinfully Good Gay Book Reviews

[Suze]

3.5*
I enjoyed the description of place, I could smell the hot sun baked air, hear the cicadas, envisage the sleepy village.
Whilst Damien is styled an investigator but he is more of a thoughtful ponderer who stumbles across information.
He also attracts the attention of the local boys, and one man in particular which comes back to bite him.
At times 31yo Damien feels more childlike than 20yo Nikos - that may be partly the translation from original language.