Sinfully Good Gay Book Reviews: London

Title: A Death at His Majesty's (The Simon Simpson Mysteries, #3)

Author: David Dawson

Publisher: Park Creek Publishing

Release Date: April 18, 2024

Genre(s): Historical Murder Mystery

Page Count: 280

Rating: 4 stars out of 5

The first two book in the Simon Sampson Mysteries series are set in late 1932 and 1933 in London and Berlin, respectively, featuring political conspiracies and high intrigue. The main character, Simon Sampson works for BBC news and his close friend Bill (Florence Mills) manages the BBC library, although they are each equally comfortable in the arena of spies and espionage.

A Death at His Majesty's serves as a prequel to the series, set in 1929 London when Bill was Noel Coward's beleaguered assistant and Simon worked as a journalist for the Chronicle. They meet when the prop girl, Maureen Lyon, Bill's former lover, is founded murdered by the stage door of the Majesty, when Noel Coward's operetta Bitter Sweet is set to open. A second death leaves Bill and Simon searching for a common thread to the death and uncovering a killer that may have connections to those in powerful places.

As always, Dawson does an exception job of setting the scene with historic details about the era, and the gay men and women who lived in an other version of London. Ironically, "it's not even illegal in this country for women to be ... Sapphic ... as far as I know. The law's just obsessed with buggery, you know. Between chaps. The ladies are left alone." Yet this did not prevent women who frequented bars such as Paradise Regained, the Cherry Tree or the Honey Pot from pressure from the police.

We also get Bill's POV throughout the book and get more of a glimpse into her background, and her acerbic personality. But we also see all the societal pressures that Bill fought against; Simon's Aunt Cynny, who has an important job in the Home Office, serves as an example of the few women who managed to overcome these assumptions and pressures.

Personally, I didn't think the mystery and conclusion as gripping as the end of A Death in Berlin (but then, it is hard to top that ending!) and some characters like Darling were sort of shoe-horned in without a lot of depth, However, learning how Bill and Simon became friends and getting more pieces of the history of pre-WWII, I did like this installment in the series. I think the author has definitely found his niche, and as always, I'm looking forward to the next book! 4 stars.

I received an ARC from the author in exchange for an honest review.

Title: The Gentleman's Book of Vices (Lucky Lovers of London, #1)

Author: Jess Everlee

Publisher: Carina Adores

Release Date: November 29, 2022

Genre(s): M/M Historical

Page Count: 304

Rating: 3.5 stars out of 5

Read book blurb here

Overall, I found this a very enjoyable read.

However, my favorite character ended up being Charlie's fiance Alma ("the sweet, fun-loving woman he would spend the rest of his life lying to") rather than the two protagonists. And while it's historical, there are quite a few anachronisms (did they use the word "butch" in the 1880's?), oh, and although Miles is the author of "the most buggery-filled book of the age" .... sex scenes are few and far between, usually quickly fade to black.

Miles Montague, aka Reginald Cox, earns wads of cash writing said smut, using the proceeds to poorly and halfheartedly manage his inherited bookstore. Charlie is soon to be married and wants to get Miles' autograph on his favorite Cox book "Immorality Plays ("in which two moralists seclude themselves in a country house to pen a treatise against sin, only to find themselves compelled by dark forces to act out each crime they denounce") prior to settling down in marriage and stowing his beloved porno collection safely away for good.

Charlie frequents The Curious Fox, the London molly house equivalent of Cheers, with quirky characters like Noah Clarke / Miss Penelope Primrose, bartender Warren Bakshi, the proprietor Mr. Forester and Miss Jo, an occasional refuge from the Sapphists' club. The development of the secondary characters is somewhat spotty, with Noah being fairly well fleshed out, and Miss Jo and The Beast remaining (to me at least) somewhat enigmatic.

So, yeah .... good bones ... this book has certainly got them, especially as this is the author's debut book. The author does a good job of setting the scene along with some interesting sentences like this one describing Noah: ""The fellow slipped down off the bar like he was made from liquid and scurried into Charlie's arms. They hugged. They kissed, right on the mouth." And Alma is truly interesting, and not just a throw-away character in the role of the unwanted wife.

The first part of the book works really well, as Charlie meets Miles and they fall into some very interesting situations, but the second half of the book felt too busy and populated with far too many happenstances, odd reveals, with an overly complicated conclusion that may be best summed up as huh? Wait a minute .... huh?

There is a second book coming starring Noah and David Forester, so I do look forward to reading their story, and catching up on Alma, and Charlie and Miles as they all move into the next chapter of their lives. 3.5 stars.

I received an ARC from the publisher, via NetGalley, in exchange for an honest review.