Goverment Gay: An Alex Reynolds Mystery

This author was new to me, and I didn't know what to expect. I certainly didn't expect what I got: a really playful mystery featuring one of the most engaging sleuthing couples I've seen yet. Alex and Peter are such a wonderfully matched, loving couple they made me jealous! They demonstrate a kind of old-married-couple sensibility that was different from a lot of gay fiction I've come across. And the addition of Alex's mother, Jean, to the mix was a wonderful touch. The plot, involving Russian spies and defectors, was hilariously complicated (and somewhat silly, but that was part of the fun). I'm going to get the rest of the series ASAP.

Hunter creates a cast of characters we'll want to visit agin and again. Government Gay is a welcome addition to the growing ranks of gay sleuths! Ellen Hart, author of the Jane Lawless series

This was a thoroughly enjoyable mystery, and very out of the ordinary. Alex Reynolds and his husband, Peter Livesay, join the ranks of happily married sleuthing couples along with such luminaries as Nick and Nora Charles and Agatha Christie's Tommy and Tuppence Beresford. Added to the mix is Jean Reynolds, Alex's mother, an irrepresible Brit with whom the two men live. Jean is a positively delightful character, forever coming up with schemes and devising ways out of the predicament in which the trio find themselves, quite by accident. Believeability is not exactly the matter here, as with most romps. I wonderered if one would actually meet foreign agents in a gay bar, but the story and the prose were so delightful that I really didn't spare much time to worry about it! The best thing about the book was that these characters were so personable and believable (particularly the relationship between Alex and Peter, which was very complementary and compelling) that it made me want to come back and revisit them. I really am looking forward to the next entry in this series.

This is probably one of the funniest books I've read in years. It was so refreshing to discover a new series that doesn't take itself so seriously! It was equally refreshing to find a book featuring gay characters in which the leading men are actually happily married and devoted to each other - there is none of the gay-angst that plagues a lot of gay literature. Additionally, the set up is very unusual. Alex Reynolds and his husband, Peter, not only live happily together, they live happily with Alex's mother Jean (and she's a stitch on her own!) This book contains a delightful trio in a mystery that was obviously meant to be more fun than mysterious. The real hallmark of this book was not so much that the mystery was entertaining (though it was), but that the relationships are so alive. These are people you will want to revisit again and again. Buyer beware: if you take yourself too seriously, you will not like this book!

When Peter, his lover, is working late one night, a bored Alex Reynolds stops at a Chicago gay bar that he used to frequent before he married Peter. It quickly becomes obvious to Alex that the bar has lost its luster so he decides to go home, but first makes a pit stop. In the bathroom, he is accosted by two individuals asking him "where is it?". Before they can beat him up, Alex manages to flee into night. He gets home in one pie ce and thinks that the incident at Charlene was just a case of mistaken identity. ...... The only mistake made is by Alex as the two thugs think he has been given something in the bar that belongs to them. The next day, the CIA show up at Alex' home and start questioning him, Peter, and Alex' mother (she lives with them). The two villains from the bar are also following poor Alex, leaving him under the surveillance of both the Feds and the crooks. If he and his two partners fail to figure out soon what they all want from him, Alex may find himself in a more perilous situation that could cost him his life. ...... GOVERNMENT GAY is a hilarious mystery novel without being offensive. Peter and Alex are one of the most charming couples that have appeared in a novel in a long time and their deep love for each other feels so real. However, it is mom who steals the show with her original ideas. Fred Hunter provides a jocular time that will be enjoyed by anyone who gives the novel a chance. This reviewer cannot wait for the next tale to appear. ......Harriet Klausner