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Tom Mason and Scott Carpenter #6
Rust on the Razor
Following weeks of tabloid rumors, Chicago baseball player Scott Carpenter publicly discloses that he's gay. Instantly the subject of sermons, Scott is besieged by the media, dropped from his endorsements, and sidelined by an injury; life couldn't get worse for him and his lover, high school teacher Tom Mason.
Until, of course, it does. In the midst of the uproar, Scott's father has a heart attack, and Tom and Scott rush to rural Georgia to be by his side. There they must deal not only with Scott's father's illness but with a plague of bigorty and homophobia from the local officials, the town's people and Scott's own siblings as well. Worse still, the town's sheriff is found murdered in the backseat of their car, and local officials would like nothing better than to pin the murder on Tom. Now Tom must uncover the hostile town's secrets and find the real murderer if he ever hopes to leave this small Georgia town alive.
Until, of course, it does. In the midst of the uproar, Scott's father has a heart attack, and Tom and Scott rush to rural Georgia to be by his side. There they must deal not only with Scott's father's illness but with a plague of bigorty and homophobia from the local officials, the town's people and Scott's own siblings as well. Worse still, the town's sheriff is found murdered in the backseat of their car, and local officials would like nothing better than to pin the murder on Tom. Now Tom must uncover the hostile town's secrets and find the real murderer if he ever hopes to leave this small Georgia town alive.
212 pages, Hardcover
First published July 1, 1996
2 people are currently reading
42 people want to read
About the author
Mark Richard Zubro
47 books50 followersAuthor also writes as: Mark Zubro.
Mark Richard Zubro is an American mystery novelist. He lives in Mokena, Illinois and taught 8th grade English at Summit Hill Jr. High in nearby Frankfort Square, Illinois.
Zubro writes bestselling mysteries set in Chicago and the surrounding Cook County area, which are widely praised as fast-paced, with interesting plots and well-rounded, likeable characters. His novels feature gay themes, and Zubro is himself gay.
His longest running series features high school teacher Tom Mason, and Tom's boyfriend, professional baseball player Scott Carpenter. The other series Zubro is known for is the Paul Turner mysteries, which are about a Chicago police detective. The books are a part of the Stonewall Inn Mystery series, published by St. Martin's Press. Zubro won a Lambda Literary Award for Best Gay Men's Mystery for his book A Simple Suburban Murder.
Series:
* Tom Mason and Scott Carpenter
* Paul Turner
I am the author of twenty-four mystery novels and five short stories. My book A Simple Suburban Murder won the Lambda Literary Award for Best Gay Men's mystery. I also wrote a thriller, Foolproof, with two other mystery writers, Jeanne Dams and Barb D'Amato. I taught eighth graders English and reading for thirty-four years and was president of the teachers' union in my district from 1985 until 2006. I retired from teaching in 2006 and now spend my time reading, writing, napping, and eating chocolate. My newest book, Another Dead Republican, is my thirteenth book in the Tom and Scott series which features as main characters, a gay school teacher and his lover, a professional baseball player. One of the keys in my mysteries is you do not want to be a person who is racist, sexist, homophobic, or a school administrator. If you are any of those, it is likely you are the corpse, or, at the least, it can be fairly well guaranteed that bad things will happen to you by the end. And if in my books you happen to be a Republican and/or against workers' rights, it would be far better if you did not make a habit of broadcasting this. If you did, you're quite likely to be a suspect, or worse.
Mark Richard Zubro is an American mystery novelist. He lives in Mokena, Illinois and taught 8th grade English at Summit Hill Jr. High in nearby Frankfort Square, Illinois.
Zubro writes bestselling mysteries set in Chicago and the surrounding Cook County area, which are widely praised as fast-paced, with interesting plots and well-rounded, likeable characters. His novels feature gay themes, and Zubro is himself gay.
His longest running series features high school teacher Tom Mason, and Tom's boyfriend, professional baseball player Scott Carpenter. The other series Zubro is known for is the Paul Turner mysteries, which are about a Chicago police detective. The books are a part of the Stonewall Inn Mystery series, published by St. Martin's Press. Zubro won a Lambda Literary Award for Best Gay Men's Mystery for his book A Simple Suburban Murder.
Series:
* Tom Mason and Scott Carpenter
* Paul Turner
I am the author of twenty-four mystery novels and five short stories. My book A Simple Suburban Murder won the Lambda Literary Award for Best Gay Men's mystery. I also wrote a thriller, Foolproof, with two other mystery writers, Jeanne Dams and Barb D'Amato. I taught eighth graders English and reading for thirty-four years and was president of the teachers' union in my district from 1985 until 2006. I retired from teaching in 2006 and now spend my time reading, writing, napping, and eating chocolate. My newest book, Another Dead Republican, is my thirteenth book in the Tom and Scott series which features as main characters, a gay school teacher and his lover, a professional baseball player. One of the keys in my mysteries is you do not want to be a person who is racist, sexist, homophobic, or a school administrator. If you are any of those, it is likely you are the corpse, or, at the least, it can be fairly well guaranteed that bad things will happen to you by the end. And if in my books you happen to be a Republican and/or against workers' rights, it would be far better if you did not make a habit of broadcasting this. If you did, you're quite likely to be a suspect, or worse.
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Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews
May 2, 2013
Tom and Scott head to Scott's hometown to see his sick father. The South is not welcoming to their relationship. While there someone is killed and Tom is suspected. Tom works to clear his name all the while fighting bigots, a lunatic, and hatred from some of Scott's family. This author captures the bigotry and Southern mannerisms to a tee. I like this story can't wait to read the next story in the series.
October 10, 2015
Disliked intensely. Stereotypes of racist, homophobic, Neanderthal southerners don't set well with me. I may be a Yankee, but my Mama is from the South, and I found much of this offensive (although I found their attitude toward Tom and Scott offensive also).
June 7, 2023
Favourite books of 2023
– February: Rust on the Razor by Mark Richard Zubro.
Petrifying. Best in the series so far.
Cw: graphic torture, extreme homophobia
Petrifying. Best in the series so far.
Cw: graphic torture, extreme homophobia
September 24, 2019
More enjoyable than the past two books I read in this series but there are still problems. In this story Scott's father has had a heart attack prompting Tom and Scott to travel to Georgie so Scott can be with his father and his family. Well, no original thought went into what follows. The town's sheriff, who had a run-in with Tom over his homosexuality, is found in the backseat of the rental car belonging to Tom and Scott. It goes without saying that Zubro went for the obvious. The powers that be in town all turn out to be homophobic, therefore, Tom is the number one suspect for being the killer. Zubro moves from one cliched stereotype to another throughout the book. Because of this, all characters come across as unrealistic and one-dimensional.
As has been evident throughout all of this series, the character of Tom Mason is troubling. Since he is the main character as well as the narrator of the books, you would assume he would be a model of heroic action. Instead, much of what he does is either done begrudgingly or for purely selfish reasons. Tom often speaks out against people unfairly maligning gays. His attitude towards both gays and straights revolves around his own personal prejudices. His attitude of his way or no way is evident in the way he treats his lover, Scott. Why Scott stays with someone as negative and unable to control his emotions as Tom is beats me. On the plus side, the books are very quick reads and interesting if you disregard the negatives of Tom's personality.
I cannot say I recommend this book to anyone. That's a decision left up to the reader. I cannot see myself recommending it because there's so many other, better books out there to read. I just am on of those people that starts a series and have to finish it.
As has been evident throughout all of this series, the character of Tom Mason is troubling. Since he is the main character as well as the narrator of the books, you would assume he would be a model of heroic action. Instead, much of what he does is either done begrudgingly or for purely selfish reasons. Tom often speaks out against people unfairly maligning gays. His attitude towards both gays and straights revolves around his own personal prejudices. His attitude of his way or no way is evident in the way he treats his lover, Scott. Why Scott stays with someone as negative and unable to control his emotions as Tom is beats me. On the plus side, the books are very quick reads and interesting if you disregard the negatives of Tom's personality.
I cannot say I recommend this book to anyone. That's a decision left up to the reader. I cannot see myself recommending it because there's so many other, better books out there to read. I just am on of those people that starts a series and have to finish it.
September 29, 2021
Well, quite an intense one.
Lots of emotion inducing story arcs - the bigoted south for one, with small town despots running things how they want.
The horrors of Jasper in the swamp - I’d been rattling through the boom til then, then i had ot force myself to read on.
Scott’s family drama - again, the narrow mindedness portrayed was very vexing.
Tom and Scott do still seem to rush straight into situations- swamp being a case in point.
But it was an engrossing read but felt the ending a bit rushed.
Lots of emotion inducing story arcs - the bigoted south for one, with small town despots running things how they want.
The horrors of Jasper in the swamp - I’d been rattling through the boom til then, then i had ot force myself to read on.
Scott’s family drama - again, the narrow mindedness portrayed was very vexing.
Tom and Scott do still seem to rush straight into situations- swamp being a case in point.
But it was an engrossing read but felt the ending a bit rushed.
December 19, 2023
loved this book much more than the last one i had read!
it felt a lot more fast paced, the chapters were much longer, and the characters were much easier to follow.
i really liked how the killer was revealed right at the end, and i definitely didn’t see it coming, but looking back now there was a lot of hints.
it felt a lot more fast paced, the chapters were much longer, and the characters were much easier to follow.
i really liked how the killer was revealed right at the end, and i definitely didn’t see it coming, but looking back now there was a lot of hints.
September 5, 2024
The views of this southern town are terrifying and to be honest I can see a lot of reality in them at the time this book was written. This is the best of the books in the series so far. It kept me on the edge and was a fast page turner. The characters of the town at times seemed extremed in all things but they fit the story. Love wins out and representation shines.
September 17, 2023
Wow, the thing that struck me most about this book, other than the great mystery story is that our society has not changed much with regards to it's bigotry or racist attitudes.
September 18, 2016
I picked this book up because a friend said it was good and ya gotta love a book by a white man that takes its title from a Maya Angelou quote. But it's really not good. The word choice is forced and all of the characters are two dimensional, including the two main ones. In the introduction the author thanks all of the people he spoke to about life in the South, but none of it feels real.
December 25, 2021
Not my cup of tea (the sequence describing the torture of one of Tom's friends was just too much. I didn't see any point of that gruesome scene at all. It added nothing and caused me to skim the remainder of the book.) My first and last by this writer.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
February 18, 2012
3.5 stars. Good gay mystery in which Tom and Scott go to rural Georgia after Scott's dad has a heart attack. They are not at all prepared for the bigotry and hatred they encounter.
June 1, 2013
I always new I didn't want to visit rural Georgia. This was an entertaining book, and as with all of his books, I certainly didn't know who committed the crime until the end.
January 11, 2016
An exciting story. A view of Scott's family we didn't see before.
Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews