Pumpkin Eater

February 17, 2014
This worthy sequel to 2012's Lake on the Mountain, which won a Lambda Award for best gay mystery, begins with missing persons investigator Dan Sharp struggling with his personal life, even as he tries to find a ruthless serial killer. Sharp's effort to locate registered sex offender Darryl Hillary ends in the discovery of the man's mutilated corpse hanging in an old slaughterhouse. Hillary's death is no singular event: someone is using a leaked list of sex offenders to select murder victims. The police have a suspect in the form of abuse victim Gaetan Belanger; what they don't have is any concrete idea where Gaetan is. Although distracted by a potential client who is a rock star, Sharp has resources the Toronto police lack. More importantly, Sharp is armed with an outsider's perspective, allowing him insights the police cannot match. The author eschews a narrow focus; Sharp's efforts to be a good father to his son Ked and a worthy partner to boyfriend Trevor are as central to the novel as the murder mystery. Indeed, Sharp's personal life makes him the man who can unravel the case, which is far more convoluted than the authorities believe. This integration of the personal and professional produces a fascinating read.

March 1, 2014
Round's (Lake on the Mountain, 2012) latest Dan Sharp mystery finds the gay investigator locating a missing brother, but too late. Mutilated, Darryl Hillary hangs from a meat hook in a burnt-out slaughterhouse. The philosophic Toronto investigator, haunted by what if questions from the past, muses, There is no such thing as closure. You can dehumanize things on the surface, but not deep down, setting the mood for this compelling whodunit. Dan's sensitive observations range from his client's worn face . . . so unexceptional . . . she'd disappear into the crowd to the music of the famed rock star he's guarding: always a cut above, Jags has an innate feel for dramatic phrasing, not unlike an opera singer's. While some readers may find Round's novel a bit slow as plot complexities and multiple characters appear, including one with powers of foresight who proclaims forebodingly, It's not over yet. . . . . You're going to get wrapped up in it. You can feel it, others will enjoy Pumpkin Eater's wealth of details and measured pace.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2014, American Library Association.)