Death in Key West.

Henry G. MacLeod teaches sociology at both Trent University and the
University of

Waterloo.

Despite its title and a cast of gay characters, Jeffrey Round’s Death in Key West comes across as a satire. It is a fun read that holds your attention, but it does not quite succeed as a gay murder mystery. Bradford Fairfax, who is described on the jacket as a gay man’s James Bond, is more like Maxwell Smart on vacation with his boyfriend. Special Agent Red, as he is known to his mysterious boss Grace who, like Charlie in Charlie’s Angels, he has never met, works for an independent intelligence security organization called Box 77 that is “dedicated to countering threats to world peace.” With that kind of start the reader is clearly engaged in a parody.

Bradford and the blue-haired Zachary Tyler are planning a romantic New Year’s Eve at the luxury Lighthouse Estate resort in Key West. There they meet fellow guest Madame or Jim, James Vanderbilt III, who is blessed with an operatic voice and is also heir to a great fortune. He is staying with his Russian partner, Count Yuri. Jim is convinced that his father wants him dead because he is an embarrassment to his brother’s Presidential aspirations, but not even Bradford takes him seriously until the deaths of five drag queens. Madame, who was meant to sing at the Pussy Palace with The Twisted Bitches, was the intended target. After two more failed attempts, Jim is found dead. At this point Round shifts gears and the story becomes more serious. But it does not last. When the unarmed Bradford and Zach are threatened by a thug with a gun, they are saved through the timely intervention of a hungry crocodile rather than any secret agent skills.

With the help of Rosie, a ghost, and Zach’s Zen-based candle reading technique (learned in Tibet), Bradford eventually solves the mystery. Although Death in Key West is not a suspenseful whodunit, it is still a highly amusing and lively cozy.