More representative gay thrillers
December 12, 2019 2:04 PM Subscribe
I'm looking for Thrillers, suspense, mystery novels with relatable gay characters. I'm looking for novels with characters who don't fulfill the gay stereotypes of clubbing, drugs, overly flertatious, promiscuous sex, etc.
This is all fine for many gay people, but there are also many gay people like myself that are pretty much straight in every other way except their partner and romantic and sexual attractions.
In America especially, part of gay (gay male) culture tends to be lots of parties and sex. Just look at the features of a gay cruise.
However this does not represent all gay people, and I feel the former types of gay individuals are over represented in our media compared to people like me who's idea of living as a happy gay person involves basically the exact same as it would be for a straight guy, barring the fact a dedicated, monogamous same sex relationship is involved.
I don't have any problem with the many gay people who dive into the gay culture and love it, but it isn't for me. It is simply a case of differing personalities.
Can you recommend thriller, suspense and mystery novels with gay protagonists I will be able to relate to?
In America especially, part of gay (gay male) culture tends to be lots of parties and sex. Just look at the features of a gay cruise.
However this does not represent all gay people, and I feel the former types of gay individuals are over represented in our media compared to people like me who's idea of living as a happy gay person involves basically the exact same as it would be for a straight guy, barring the fact a dedicated, monogamous same sex relationship is involved.
I don't have any problem with the many gay people who dive into the gay culture and love it, but it isn't for me. It is simply a case of differing personalities.
Can you recommend thriller, suspense and mystery novels with gay protagonists I will be able to relate to?
Best answer: Try the Dave Brandstetter series, by Joseph Hansen.
posted by ubiquity at 2:33 PM on December 12, 2019 [4 favorites]
posted by ubiquity at 2:33 PM on December 12, 2019 [4 favorites]
I was 90% certain that Sean Duffy was gay, however, I can't find any mention of it in the summaries so I'm not quite as sure.I don't think so. I've only read three or four of them, but so far, Duffy has only had relationships with women.
posted by ArbitraryAndCapricious at 2:38 PM on December 12, 2019 [1 favorite]
Laurie R King wrote a series featuring Kate Martinelli, a lesbian detective. Not sure if it's as good as her Holmes and Mary Russell series, but it might be worth a trip to the library. The series begins with A Grave Talent.
posted by Enid Lareg at 3:09 PM on December 12, 2019
posted by Enid Lareg at 3:09 PM on December 12, 2019
Ann Cleeves has just started a new crime series -‘Two Rivers’ - with a happily-married gay man as the protagonist detective. First title is The Long Call. Read it; liked it; looking forward to the next!
posted by Morfil Ffyrnig at 3:12 PM on December 12, 2019 [2 favorites]
posted by Morfil Ffyrnig at 3:12 PM on December 12, 2019 [2 favorites]
It's a TV show, not a book, but you could hardly find a more, er, wholesome gay couple than Captain Holt and his husband Kevin on the detective show comedy Brooklyn Nine-Nine.
posted by praemunire at 3:24 PM on December 12, 2019 [1 favorite]
posted by praemunire at 3:24 PM on December 12, 2019 [1 favorite]
I think there's been some Duffy confusion--the Duffy series by "Dan Kavanagh" (Julian Barnes) has a bisexual private detective as the main character. I just finished the second book in the series and I don't think it's what you're looking for re: sex & monogamy, but the character does consider himself to be different from stereotypes. The mystery aspect of the books isn't that great, but I found them interesting as a glimpse into the lost world of 1980.
posted by betweenthebars at 3:28 PM on December 12, 2019
posted by betweenthebars at 3:28 PM on December 12, 2019
Seconding the "Dave Brandstetter" series. This is exactly what you described
posted by librosegretti at 3:51 PM on December 12, 2019 [1 favorite]
posted by librosegretti at 3:51 PM on December 12, 2019 [1 favorite]
No one is ever going to call them fine literature, but Mark Richard Zubro has written two different mystery series feature gay men. One (the Paul Turner series) is about a police detective, the other (Tom and Scott) is about an English teacher who inexplicably solves mysteries and is in a relationship with a pitcher for the Chicago Cubs.
The Donald Strachey books by Richard Stevenson also fit the bill. But, to be frank, so do most of the mystery series written by gay authors. They're not necessarily particularly good books, but they're not the stereotype you're imagining either. (There are two more whose names are escaping me right now. One is somebody Navarro, but I can't figure out the first name on google.)
You seem to want men, but Val McDermind's character Lindsay Gordon is gay.
posted by hoyland at 4:44 PM on December 12, 2019
The Donald Strachey books by Richard Stevenson also fit the bill. But, to be frank, so do most of the mystery series written by gay authors. They're not necessarily particularly good books, but they're not the stereotype you're imagining either. (There are two more whose names are escaping me right now. One is somebody Navarro, but I can't figure out the first name on google.)
You seem to want men, but Val McDermind's character Lindsay Gordon is gay.
posted by hoyland at 4:44 PM on December 12, 2019
Response by poster: Hoyland, it could simply be because I'm a gay man and not a lesbian, but I've not noticed the same level of stereotyping issues among lesbian characters in books. On TV, certainly. That being said, I'm not opposed to suggestions for good books with lesbian protagonists, though this thread was primarily created for gay male protagonists.
posted by MrFahrenheit at 5:01 PM on December 12, 2019
posted by MrFahrenheit at 5:01 PM on December 12, 2019
I am not sure if you're interested in YA, but I have found Caleb Roehrig's thrillers/mysteries very well done, very well written, and very enjoyable -- both the protagonists in LAST SEEN LEAVING and WHITE RABBIT are young gay men.
posted by Countess Sandwich at 5:36 PM on December 12, 2019
posted by Countess Sandwich at 5:36 PM on December 12, 2019
Thirding Dave Brandstetter.
Reginald Hill's DS Edgar Wield is a supporting character (although he's a major player & is the lead in a few novels). He's happily partnered off in the last few books.
Lev Raphael's Nick Hoffman series stars an English professor who doubles as a detective.
posted by thomas j wise at 6:28 PM on December 12, 2019
Reginald Hill's DS Edgar Wield is a supporting character (although he's a major player & is the lead in a few novels). He's happily partnered off in the last few books.
Lev Raphael's Nick Hoffman series stars an English professor who doubles as a detective.
posted by thomas j wise at 6:28 PM on December 12, 2019
I like Michael Nava’s books featuring Henry Rios.
posted by calgirl at 9:11 PM on December 12, 2019 [1 favorite]
posted by calgirl at 9:11 PM on December 12, 2019 [1 favorite]
The Alex Delaware books prominently feature his best friend Milo who's an LAPD detective and gay and fits all your criteria. The books are a little formulaic but very readable and Milo is probably the best written character in them.
posted by fshgrl at 11:31 PM on December 12, 2019 [1 favorite]
posted by fshgrl at 11:31 PM on December 12, 2019 [1 favorite]
Oh and the Doug Orlando books too. I've only read one (two?) but I really liked the 90s New York grittiness of them. The protagonist is gay but otherwise it's a fairly traditional cop story.
posted by fshgrl at 11:48 PM on December 12, 2019
posted by fshgrl at 11:48 PM on December 12, 2019
> I like Michael Nava’s books featuring Henry Rios.
Seconding Michael Nava, and he's reissuing the series.
posted by gingerbeer at 10:16 PM on December 30, 2019
Seconding Michael Nava, and he's reissuing the series.
posted by gingerbeer at 10:16 PM on December 30, 2019
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by Ftsqg at 2:15 PM on December 12, 2019