Review by Mary Adler
The main character in Oh, Detective, Mark Topher, introduces himself as “a gay man playing the first bisexual detective on network television’s highest rated police action show.”
Mark is also a family man. He lives with Cameron, his divorced sister; her two children, Liam and Edan; and his golden retriever, Derek, who is named for the detective Mark plays on TV. One of the charms of the book is the loving way Mark is there for his niece and nephew. He coaches and encourages Edan to try out for the role of Sandy in Grease, and helps Liam with a camp sporting event. (I won’t reveal how he does that.)
The importance of family is a central theme of the book, and it shows not only the way loving families can support each other, but also how families can devastate members who do not conform to what the family believes is the only way to live. One particularly touching relationship is that between Mark and the elderly woman who believes he is actually Derek, the detective he plays on TV, and that Derek was a friend of her husband who was a detective in real life.
Unfortunately, Mark becomes a multiple murder suspect when he is found passed out holding the murder weapon not once, not twice, but three times. Fortunately for him, the real-life homicide detective, Reese Franco, does not rush to judgment, and investigates Mark’s claim that he is being framed. Almost everyone has a motive for the murders and something to gain from the deaths.
Mark is more concerned with winning Detective Reese’s heart than in winning his freedom, but he does say he feels like Rita Hayworth in I Want to Live, just one of many references to old movies.
Mark is clever and funny, and the dialogue between the characters is witty. Mark’s thoughts and observations are particularly funny in a droll sort of way. After saying his father was a detective, he thinks, I wonder if what they say is true, that men marry their fathers. And when asked how things are going, he thinks, About as well as Carrie at the prom. He also gives Derek the golden retriever some funny reactions that aren’t quite possible for a dog, but acceptable to the reader who has been charmed by Mark and his friends.
The plot has as much to do with the romantic lives of the many characters as it does with solving the murder. Of course, food plays a central role in the book, but it is not so much about desserts as it is about very, very healthy food like protein shakes, kale salads, and whole grains. Mark eats quite a lot so it’s good he works out every morning in his home gym.
I don’t know if you will figure out who the murderer is. I will say the author does a good job of obscuring who it is, and in a very fair way. He uses the reader’s own assumptions to do that, and when the murderer is revealed, the reader is able to say, “I didn’t see that coming, yet all the clues were there.”
This book is not for everyone. The author clearly states that it is for ADULT AUDIENCES ONLY. There are explicit sex scenes and a great deal of sexual banter and innuendo that may be uncomfortable for some readers. But there is also a good story, caring characters, and much wisdom to be gained in the reading of Oh, Detective.
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Disclosure: This post contains links to an affiliate program, for which we receive a few cents if you make purchases. KRL also receives free copies of most of the books that it reviews, that are provided in exchange for an honest review of the book.Mary Adler is the author of the Oliver Wright and Harley mysteries set in the San Francisco area during World War II. She lives in northern California with her two rescue dogs from Mexico. maryadlerwrites.com
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