Murder in the Rue St. Ann

When a gay private eye's boyfriend disappears he learns that the lad's unshared past might have a bearing on a case he is already investigating. Second in this series is nicely plotted and well paced (unlike the first, which was somewhat tedious). Too much drug use for my taste, but perhaps that is normal in this milieu. Recommended for both straight and gay readers.

Herren, Greg. "Murder in the Rue St. Ann", Alyson, 2004. Chanse MacLeod, Detective Amos Lassen and Literary Pride Following "Bourbon Street Blues" and "Jackson Square Jazz". Greg Herren gives us one more of his Chanse MacLeod mysteries. This one takes us behind the usual French Quarter of New Orleans that tourists see and into the total gay subculture. Making New Orleans look like a place that has not much more than gay bars, it is a nice look at the way gay New Orleanians live. Chanse MacLeod is once again faced with a situation that is loaded with intrigue. We see that Chanse has been asked to solve what seems at first to be a simple case of economic harassment soon becomes a domestic confrontation between him and his partner, Paul. Family histories that had never been discussed suddenly come to light and add tension and soon murder rears its head. A nightclub owner hires Chanse to learn who has been sabotaging her business and as Chanse begins to delve into the case, he discovers that Paul is somehow involved with one of the suspects. It seems that Paul has a past as an erotic wrestler in gay videos and Chanse begins to wonder how much he really knows his boyfriend. When Paul is ultimately arrested, Chanse finds himself in an inner battle between his feelings for his boyfriend and his career as an investigator and this is never resolved even when Paul s cleared of the charge. We get obsession, jealousy, intrigue, duplicity, duality, kink, loyalty and so on all in one book and believe it or not, it is easy to follow. Unlike the other two Chanse MacLeod books, this one is somewhat dark and depressing but the descriptions of New Orleans are vivid and wonderfully drawn. The characters are drawn well and the mystery is constructed so that you will not want to stop reading until you have to close the covers.

I have read all three of his novels and each one is more intriguing and difficult to put down for a moment. Murder in the Rue St. Ann is so descriptive that you actually feel you are present in New Orleans. Great set of main characters who continue in the novel and are not dropped out midstream. I can't wait for his next novel. GREAT job here.

In this second in the "Chanse MacLeod" mystery series, former New Orleans cop-turned-private investigator Chanse MacLeod is hired by the owner of a new nightclub to find out who has been trying to sabotage her business from opening. During his preliminary investigation, he finds his boyfriend, Paul, is somehow involved with one of the suspects in the case. Eventually, Chanse finds out that Paul had a secret past as a well-known "erotic wrestler" in gay videos, which makes Chanse doubt how well he really knows his boyfriend. When Paul is then arrested for the murder of one of the other suspects, Chanse fights an inner battle between his feelings and loyalty to his boyfriend and his instincts as an investigator, a battle that isn't completely resolved when Paul is cleared of the charges and promptly disappears. A captivating mystery of deceptions, kinky obsessions, unshared pasts, loyalties, and mob ties, well-written as is all of Herren's works. Kept me on the edge of my seat till the last page.