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Paperback
Publisher: Alyson Books
When sexy gay private eye Chanse MacLeod investigates the financial shenanigans of club promoter Mark Williams, he discovers that not only does Williams have ties to the New Orleans judiciary, he also has ties to Chanse's lover, Paul-a connection that reveals secrets about Paul's past that Chanse had never guessed and now wishes he didn't know. When Paul disappears, it seems his past has caught up with him in a terrifying way. Greg Herren is the author of Murder in the Rue Dauphine, which also features Chanse MacLeod, and Bourbon Street Blues. He lives in New Orleans.
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| Chanse MacLeod, Detective |
| Customer Rating: 4 out of 5 |
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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.
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| Life Behind the Facade |
| Customer Rating: 3 out of 5 |
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My wife bought this book, autographed by the author, at the Louisiana Book Festival. Reading it took me on a trip behind French Quarter facade that the tourists see--at least to the gay/lesbian subculture, which in the Big Easy is substantial. I liked the flawed nature of hero Chanse McLeod as he grappled with his feelings about his wrestler boyfriend. By the end, I was hoping that things would turn out differently than I somehow knew they would, and did. The gay porno wrestling scene in the first chapter might put some readers off, but it's worth breaking through.
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| Solution Obvious to All But the Dumb Detective |
| Customer Rating: 1 out of 5 |
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Having thoroughly enjoyed Greg Herren's BOURBON STREET BLUES and JACKSON SQUARE JAZZ I was really looking forward to this one. It was a colossal disappointment to say the least. Whereas the other two were light and witty and the hero was charming, this book was dark and depressing and the hero was an egoistic, jealous, and above all--STUPID bore. It was obvious from the word go who had abducted his boyfriend. So for nine tenths of the book, in spite of the school of red herrings that were constantly thrown at us, we were left to agonize at his ineptitude. And then there's the ending! Believe me it was all for nothing. Stick with the two books I've mentioned. Forget this irritating trip to nowhere.
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| Detective Chase |
| Customer Rating: 3 out of 5 |
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I didn't like it very much because the book makes seem New Orleans as a place only with Gay Bars (I don't mean this disrespectfully). Anyway, the plot is actually good, suspense and everything that you expect to find in this kind of detective-mistery novels. One thing I can say is that I anjoyed very much the descriptions of the city and the ending is interesting. I on't regret buying the book but I have better books that take place in New Orleans and-or deal with the novel's topic.
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| WHERE DO WE GO FROM HERE? |
| Customer Rating: 5 out of 5 |
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MURDER IN THE RUE ST. ANN is a truly fascinating book. Chanse MacLeod is once again confronted with a totally baffling series of situations that spell intrigue, jealousy, obsession, duplicity, and duality. As the story develops, Chanse is asked to solve, what initially appears to be a simple case of economic harassment. This however, soon morphs into a domestic confrontation for him and his lover Paul. Untold personal histories add to the drama and tension, and once murder becomes part of the picture, all bets are off. Self-doubt, recriminations, harsh words and judgments, combine to keep the reader trying to piece together the clues to a dual mystery. Suffice it to say, the reader will more than shocked by the resolution of both mysteries in the novel. I'm not sure where Chanse MacLeod will go from here, but I genuinely like the character, and I sincerely hope we will be treated to more of his adventures.
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