Murder in Pastel
I’m kicking myself for requesting this book. I really am. Because, when I initially read the genre slot (mystery) and the blurb, I fully expected a good mystery novel. What I got, instead, was a soap opera with mystery elements. I should have known. Reading the blurb again now, its obvious. It ‘screams’ soap opera, and trust me, this book screams soap opera. Oh, my lord. The unrequited love, the town sleep-around, the hormones, the back-biting, the cattiness, the suspicious deaths.I don’t watch soaps. I don’t watch romances. Heck, I don’t even watch comedies, so this book was so very far outside the realm of things I’d enjoy reading that it made me physically angry.
However, for the style that it is, its well-written. There are several salient points about homosexuality and homophobia inserted when you least expect it. There’s even a piece I liked because it discussed something I’v discussed more than once about homosexuality as it appears in most novels.
“..if the point is that marriage for us is the same as marriage for straights, then I think their relationship should have illustrated commitment and responsibility and compromise.”
“Its a story, Brain Guy.”
“its a story that confirms stereotypes about gays.” -Josh Lanyon
I’ve had the pleasure of reading several novels lately where, when a character is homosexual, the same-sex relationships are not made a big deal of. At least not more so than any other relationship. There’s hormones, lust, love, anger, etc. Its all there. But the lens of ‘wrongness’ is not. That is a fantastic thing.
Overall, Murder in Pastel is not a bad book. As I said before, it is well written. It just wasn’t quite the mystery book I was expecting to get!
Disclaimer: I received a copy of this book free from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.
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