April Books: Sexy Murder Mysteries Plus Johnnie Ray Rousseau is Back!

Author Larry Duplechan’s first novel, Eight Days a Week (1985) introduced Black, gay, athletic and artistic Johnnie Ray Rousseau, then just 20 and in love. Duplechan followed that with a “prequel,” 1986's Blackbird (now back in print), where Johnnie Ray was a sweet seventeen.

Duplechan left Rousseau out of his third novel, 1989's Tangled Up In Blue, but brought him back - now 35 and widowed - in 1993's Captain Swing. That was it for a while, until Arsenal Pulp Press’s re-publication of Blackbird - as part of its series of “Little Sister’s” gay classics - apparently led to a demand of more of both Duplechan and Rousseau.

The result is Got ‘Til It’s Gone (Arsenal Pulp Press; $17.95), Duplechan’s first full-length book in fifteen years.

Author Larry Duplechan (right)

In Got ‘Til It’s Gone, Johnnie Ray Rousseau is back - more mature perhaps, but as hot, sexy, sassy and self-absorbed as ever. Now 48, Johnnie Ray maintains a muscular figure in order to deter the aging process and attract younger dudes looking for a daddy.

He also works as a secretary for a law firm on weekdays and as a deacon and soloist for the First Assembly of Love Church on weekends. Though single for years, JRR enjoys the company of friends and sex buddies as well as an occasional visit to the baths.

But not even Johnnie Ray Rousseau can deter the inevitable and in Got ‘Til It’s Gone he has to deal with his own health issues, the death of friends (from AIDS complications and other causes), as well as his beloved mother’s brain tumor diagnosis.

Johnnie Ray Rousseau is an interesting character, though I don’t know if I would want to have him as a friend. (Larry Duplechan might be a different story.) Even when he is concerned about another person’s dilemma - for example, his Mom – Rousseau always seems to ultimately come back to himself and his needs.

When Johnnie Ray does find love in this novel, it is with a much younger porn star and rent boy who is as self-absorbed as he is. A new reader who begins Got ‘Til It’s Gone cold turkey will find it hard to enjoy this book, which is why I recommend that  they read Blackbird – and the other Johnnie Ray books, if one can get a hold of them – before reading this new installment.

Only then will the new reader appreciate Duplechan’s talent and Johnnie Ray’s character, and realize what we all knew all along: that Larry Duplechan is one of our community’s most gifted writers.

Murder mysteries are the “fast food” of literature: tasty, convenient, easy to consume, but not very satisfying in the long run. On the other hand, they are among the most popular and reliable genres. There is always a demand for a good mystery and a good writer who creates an interesting detective is blessed with a lucrative franchise and a set of devoted readers who will buy said detective’s books again and again.

In the case of Greg Herren’s mysteries, they have the added advantage of being set in Herren’s hometown of New Orleans, a compelling city in its own right (especially after Hurricane Katrina).

Gay private detective Chanse MacLeod, arguably Herren’s greatest creation, has already appeared in three mysteries, each one named after a street in New Orleans’ French Quarter: the Rue Dauphine, the Rue St. Ann and the Rue Chartres.

Author Greg Herren (left)

Author photo credit: smoness

Murder in the Rue Ursulines (Alyson Books; $14.95) is Herren’s fourth Chanse MacLeod mystery. This one finds our muscled sleuth, like his city, still recovering from Katrina and trying his best to go on with his life.

Murder in the Rue Ursulines has everything that we expect from a Herren novel: hot men, hot action, and the kind of interesting characters that we expect to find in the Crescent City but with a bit of Hollywood drama thrown in. (Chanse goes to work for an “A-List” Hollywood couple who may or may not resemble Brangelina.)

Herren is always fun to read – as readers of his blog know only too well - and Murder in the Rue Ursulines is no exception. Herren ought to write another Chanse MacLeod mystery, and then another, at least until he runs out of streets in the Big Easy.

Next page! The Secret Tunnel and First You Fall.