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Death of the Gay Deceiver

by Beverly Littlejohn

256 pages; quality trade paperback (softcover); catalogue #03-0064; ISBN 1-55395-701-6; US$21.00, C$27.95, EUR18.20, £12.60

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About the book      About the author      Sample excerpts or Table of Contents      Catalogue info

About the Book An elegantly dressed corpse in the outside stairwell of a Midtown Manhattan apartment house is not what she appears to be. She is a he - a female impersonator at Le Paree. Unmasking the murderer from among the "unusual" suspects - the Le Paree troupe; Elberta English, the voyeuristic hostess of a dinner party where "illusionist" Billie Love had his farewell performance; and her dinner guests, most of whom are hiding secrets - becomes the obsession of NYPD detectives Maggie O'Dowd and herb Klein. Suspecting procurement and blackmail, they must discover the vulnerabilities of the large cast of characters: Maggie*s deteriorating relationship with her mother and inability to commit to her detective boyfriend Vince Garza; and herb's unrequited love for Maggie. Complicating the unraveling of who killed Billie love are a stone-walling witness, the sudden disappearance of a tenant, the murder of a private investigator with connections to the investigations, a false confession, the discovery of a blackmailer blackmailing a blackmailer, and homophobic cops in the detective's precinct. Maggie's attempt to flush out Billie's killer with misinformation in the press backfires and precipitates a deadly encounter between Maggie and a murderer.

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About the Author Beverly Littlejohn, an expatriate Texan who now lives in Arizona, makes her novel debut with Death of the gay Deceiver but she has received honors in the crime/mystery genre with such short stories as "Prognosis: Terminal", winner of the Glendale, AZ Public Library's first Mystery Short Story contest, and "The Good Neighbor", recipient of a Writer's Digest honorable mention. She also has scripted two screenplays in the genre. She is a member of the Sun Cities Authors Association.

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Sample Excerpts

Prologue

He stood watching, folded into the darkness but for a narrow stream of soft light coming through a first-floor window. He pressed closer to the building when the custodian emerged from the basement stairwell across the street and took a seat on the steps to relax with his pipe. He watched the custodian tamp the tobacco, light it, and inhale a satisfying drag.

He waited. More than a few minutes passed before the custodian returned to his basement room. Then, he crossed the street.

He let himself through the locked apartment house entrance using a key he had kept from an earlier, happier time. Thin, lithe, and cat-like, he noiselessly crossed the tiled foyer to stand outside the door of the only apartment on the floor, No. 101. He wasn't worried about the door being opened on him. Those inside were lovers whose passion would smother all other sounds. Pressed against the door, he heard no laughter, only the familiar whispers of foreplay. He knew too well the uncontrollable kissing to follow, the frantic undressing of one another. Now he heard the bedroom door close.

Billie Love didn't have to imagine what was going on in Apartment 101. He had been there, done that, knew so well the frenzied appetite of his former lover, now in the throes of ecstasy. I didn't give you up for this, my dear. Both of you are going to pay and pay and pay.

Billie Love left the apartment house as quietly as he had entered and hailed a cab to drive him to Lower Manhattan's most infamous club, Le Paree. Tonight, he would give an unequaled and unforgettable performance. As he left the midtown neighborhood, he failed to see the watcher watching him.

Billie looked forward to the dinner party tomorrow night. I'll play the guests like a violin: my ex in Apartment 101, the femme d'affair and her husband, my hostess, her gay son. Oh, the possibilities. Billie rushed through the stage door of Le Paree, shoving his way through costumed performers. The backstage din quieted to a hush, as everyone, particularly The Duchess, Candy, Honey, and Pretty Woman, anticipated a showdown between Billie and Kim (Dolly) Darling, Le Paree's owner and artistic director. Kim broke through the crowd and pursued Billie into a dressing room.

"You're late," Kim snapped.

"You're lucky I'm here."

Kim slammed out of the room, and Billie leisurely dressed. The show wouldn't start without him.

Following the show, the female impersonators mingled among the tables. Billie made Elberta English wait, teasing her, stopping at a number of tables and talking with other patrons before finally pretending to see her for the first time. She looked ravishing for a woman her age. Every strand of her flaming red hair in place, her décolleté gown plunging with scandalous allure. Billie bent toward her beckoning breasts, slightly brushed them with his lips, then kissed her on the cheek. Breathlessly she whispered in his ear, "Tomorrow?"

"Tomorrow."

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Catalogue Information

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