Slate: A Daniel Valentine & Clarisse Lovelace Mystery

Things have changed for Valentine and Lovelace. She's stopped selling real estate and is going to law school. Valentine has decided to open his own bar called Slate with Lovelace as a co-owner. Evil Sweeney Drysdale II, a gossip columnist, is threatening to close Slate before it opens--but he's killed and the corpse is left on Lovelace's bed! Who did it? As in the previous books there are many suspects and they all have motives. This is the least of the series (meaning it's just very good and not excellent) and the shortest (188 pages). Also Lovelace's dog Veronica Lake is gone and never mentioned again. Having them open a bar was a good idea but the band of supporting characters this time around is sort of bland. Mr. Fred and America are one note jokes and Julia and Susie are two VERY annoying lesbian lovers. Only Linc Hamilton, Ashes and Apologetic Joe are any fun. Also the plot is confusing and needelessly convoluted and there's a sequence at a wrestling match which is totally out of place and not even remotely funny. It's still worth reading though with some classic bits--Ashes personal ad and Clarisse's description of the Eagle bar are uproarious! So it's worth reading--it's just not as good as the previous two.

I first read these books back when they were first published, and still pick up extra copies whenever I chance upon them in used bookstores. Glad they have re-released them! Daniel and Clarrise are fun friends who spend a lot of time together getting into typical friend trouble. (oooh, he's cute, which one of us does he want?) Their gay man-straight woman friendship rings very true to me. The other characters in the series also are well-defined and interesting. These books hold up well as nostalgia for the fun-loving days pre-HIV and play on the party-town atmosphere of Providence Town. Fun summer reading!