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COPYRIGHT 2001 Liberation Publications, Inc.
Legions of devoted sleuth-loving fans mystery novels among the most widely read gay and lesbians books
Blue McCarron lives in the desert in an old motel, her closest companion a Doberman named Bronte, her free time spent taking long, parching hikes and plunging nude into her swimming pool. Benjamin Justice chews over the past in a rented room, steadily imbibing alcohol to keep recrimination at bay, yet impressing everyone he meets with his bitter genius.
They're perfectly individual, yet instantly recognizable as two of a type: the often brooding, always remote, yet perversely adorable heroes and heroines of lesbian and gay mystery novels. They may dwell in the oft-belittled realm of "genre fiction," but sleuths like Abigail Padgett's dog-loving Blue and John Morgan Wilson's alcoholic Benjamin Justice are among the most beloved characters in our literature. And they're appealing not in spite of but because of their inability to fit into the world.
As misfits, these protagonists are not much different from those who read about them. For decades lesbian and gay mystery fans have known there's something about this genre that creates a shared understanding of what it's like to be marginal. As Hostage author R.D. Zimmerman says, "Mysteries give you a...
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