Author:Susan M. Hooper

ISBN 1414013728

The following review was contributed by: Paul Lappen & CLICK TO VIEW Paul Lappen's Reviews

Arnie Kotkin and Barnaby Moss are lifelong friends in
the small town of Lawton, NY. Girls were never an
important part of their lives while growing up. Their
decision to live together as a gay couple, while not
exactly a surprise, elicits two very different family
reactions, the subject of this book.

The Moss family comes from a lower-middle class
background, and always placed the health and
well-being of their children above material
possessions, anyway. If Barnaby is happy as a gay
person, that's all that matters. The Kotkin's live in
Belle Harbor, the rich part of town. Thelma, Arnie's
mother, is a social climber with an inordinate
interest in what others think of the family. Arnie's
coming out is an absolute disaster, for her, and she
lets Arnie know it. She can just imagine the
whispering that will go on around town, now that they
have a . . .queer in the family.

A few days later, Arnie is informed that his father
has had a heart attack. Rushing to the hospital with
Barnaby, and Helene and Jack Fentnor, Arnie's aunt and
uncle who are visiting, they are confronted by Jimmy,
one of Arnie's brothers. He is a medical student at
the hospital and very much takes after his mother in
being a self-centered jerk. He takes great exception
to Barnaby's presence, and, in front of everyone,
takes out a gun and shoots Barnaby, wounding him in
the shoulder.

The incident becomes news, jeopardizing Arnie's
teaching job at the local elementary school. Barnaby
is released after a couple of days (HMO). Thelma
begins to realize that there is more to life than
worrying about the opinion of others. A few days
later, another tragedy strikes the Kotkin family.
Freddie and Jerry, Arnie's other brothers, were in a
car that was deliberately forced off the road by
another car. Freddie escaped with minor injuries, but
Jerry was killed. Arnie and Barnaby decide that they
had better do some fast crime solving, because someone
has certainly targeted the Kotkin family. Amid
everything else, Helene and Jack let Arnie in on some
deep, dark family secrets.

This isn't just a good "gay novel," or a good mystery
or a good story about family secrets, it's a really
good novel, overall. It moves easily, and will
certainly keep the reader involved.