A seaside village, an English country house, a family of wealthy eccentrics and their equally peculiar servants, a determined detective - all the ingredients are here for a cozy Agatha Christie-style whodunit.
But wait.... Edward Mitch Mitchell is no Hercule Poirot, and The Back Passage is no Murder of Roger Ackroyd. Mitch is a handsome, insatiable 22-year-old hunk who never lets a clue stand in the way of a steamy encounter, whether it's with the local constabulary, the house secretary, or his school chum and fellow athlete Boy Morgan, who becomes his Watson when they're not busy boffing each other.
When Reg Walworth is found dead in a cabinet, Sir James Eagle has his servant Meeks immediately arrested as the killer. But Mitch's observant eye pegs more plausible possibilities: polysexual chauffeur Hibbert, queenly pervert Leonard Eagle, missing scion Rex, sadistic copper Kennington, even Sir James Eagle himself.
Blackmail, police corruption, a dizzying network of spyholes and secret passages, watersports, and a nonstop queer orgy backstairs and everyplace else mark this hilariously hard-core mystery by a major new talent.
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"What do you get when you mix gay pornography with Agatha Christie? That must be the question James Lear asked himself when he set out to write this short piece of filth set in 1920s England. Mitch is a hot, young American studying in Cambridge who is invited to spend a weekend at Drekeham Hall, the type of English country house where a lot of shenanigans goes on both up and down stairs. The novel opens with Mitch busy trying to give his best friend "Boy" Morgan a blowjob in a hallway closet, when suddenly interrupted by a piercing scream from somewhere else in the house. From then on, each chapter revolves around one or other type of sexual encounter Mitch must get through before he can assemble more clues on the murder. The question becomes not who was killed, but who will Mitch fuck next. As a light summer read, this is a perfect book to get you through the first warm days of the season, providing also a few chuckles here and there. Anyone who loves murder mysteries, in particular the golden age types, will be amused by Lear's pastiche."
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Ollie (4 out of 5 stars)