Shock to the System (Donald Strachey Series #5) by Richard Stevenson

From the Publisher

Young Paul Haig dies after hiring PI Donald Strachey. Despite his dislike of her, Strachey agrees with the boy's homophobic mother: Paul didn't commit suicide. But, she clings to deep denial about her son's sexual orientation. Conversion therapy - interventions to create ex-gays - get the once over in this Strachey mystery, and it ain't a pretty sight.1995 Lambda Finalist

Washington Post

Believe me, it's a lot of fun and much of it is very wicked fun indeed. . . . Don't think for a minute that Stevenson's writing just for gays. (Washington Post)

Booklist

Three different persons all want to hire gay private detective Donald Strachey to prove that somebody other than they killed Paul Haig, the son of a rich, politically connected lush. The real fun begins when Strachey discovers that the common thread linking Haig to all his potential employers is "reparative" therapist (i.e., one of the kind that "cures" homosexuals) Vernon Crockwell, whose hatred of homosexuals is exceeded only by that of Haig's mother. Stevenson's dialogue grows increasingly hilarious as his hero deals with these two characters whose every other word derides the very person they're asking to help save them. As in other Strachey mysteries, the detective's tranquilly domestic relationship with his longtime lover stands in refreshing contrast to affairs in most other gay novels, with their less contented leading characters. Charles Harmon —This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Lambda Rising Book Report

Stevenson has deftly picked up where he left off...A tightly plotted, fast-paced, entertaining mystery full of twists and turns that will keep you guessing until the very end.

What People Are Saying

Katherine V. Forrest
"A warm welcome back to Richard Stevenson-his admirable, absorbing new mystery has the immediacy and realism of a telegram from the front. (Katherine V. Forrest, author of Flashpoint)

Product Details

• Table of Contents
• Read an Excerpt

Table of Contents

Read an Excerpt

"You mean gay people."

"Yes."

"And Paul had come to be de-queered."

"Made whole, brought into sync with nature, yes.Please don't bait me, Donald. It was no trouble for me to find out that in addition to being a private investigator you are a well-known gay libber around Albany. If you would like my opinion on Paul's emotional state as it might relate to his death, I will give it to you. But I'm not going to waste my time and yours debating aspects of the human personality you obviously know nothing about." He sat looking smug, though not quite 100 percent certain I wouldn't lunge at him. He kept one hand out of sight at all times below the desk—though if he had an alarm button down there, or a firearm or a little squeeze toy that might suddenly go "Fuh-wee-too, fuh-wee-too," I had no way of knowing.