Death Drop

by Greg Herren

"A First-Rate Launch of a Drag Queen Mystery Series We All Need Now More Than Ever!"—Alison Gaylin Glam artist Jem Richard loved making New Orleans' society mavens feel beautiful—but doesn't like being stiffed. He reluctantly agrees to help with the make-up for the fall fashion show for the House of Mercereau, but demand payment up front after what happened the last time—when designer Marigny Mercereau's check bounced. But no one warned him before he arrives, brushes and make-up palettes in hand, that the models he'll be working on are drag queens! Pressed into service when one of the queens doesn't show Jim wows the crowds and slays his fellow queens with his style and presentation on the runway. But between trips down the runway (and tequila shots for courage), Jim starts noticing bits and pieces of conversations and arguments showing all is not well behind the scenes of the House of Mercereau, and everyone seems to want Marigny dead. When her body is discovered the next morning, Jim finds himself in the sites of a killer! Jim puts on his best Shirley Holmes deerstalker cap and starts tracing the clues to help that handsome police detective—who may or may not be flirting with him—catch the killer before the killer catches Jem.
The Golden Notebook Bookstore has been Woodstock New York's fiercely independent bookstore for over close to fifty years. We launched the Golden Notebook Press in 2023 as a way to publish books and authors we believe in and that we know can sell to wide audience as our store reaches not only our artistic community, but thousands of annual tourists from around the world. We hope to keep books in print that are vital to the artistic and literary needs of our diverse customer base, find new exciting subjects and voices, and promote the Catskills and Hudson Valley region we are so proud to call our home.

368 pages, Paperback

Published October 31, 2023

About the author

Greg Herren is a New Orleans-based author and editor. Former editor of Lambda Book Report, he is also a co-founder of the Saints and Sinners Literary Festival, which takes place in New Orleans every May. He is the author of ten novels, including the Lambda Literary Award winning Murder in the Rue Chartres, called by the New Orleans Times-Picayune “the most honest depiction of life in post-Katrina New Orleans published thus far.” He co-edited Love, Bourbon Street: Reflections on New Orleans, which also won the Lambda Literary Award. He has published over fifty short stories in markets as varied as Ellery Queen’s Mystery Magazine to the critically acclaimed anthology New Orleans Noir to various websites, literary magazines, and anthologies. His erotica anthology FRATSEX is the all time best selling title for Insightoutbooks. Under his pseudonym Todd Gregory, he published the bestselling erotic novel Every Frat Boy Wants It and the erotic anthologies His Underwear and Rough Trade (to be released by Bold Strokes Books in 2009).

A long-time resident of New Orleans, Greg was a fitness columnist and book reviewer for Window Media for over four years, publishing in the LGBT newspapers IMPACT News, Southern Voice, and Houston Voice. He served a term on the Board of Directors for the National Stonewall Democrats, and served on the founding committee of the Louisiana Stonewall Democrats. He is currently employed as a public health researcher for the NO/AIDS Task Force.

Reviews

[Mat · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have been a fan of Herren's work for years. This is the first in a new series. While I did enjoy the plot line, it is a departure from his previous work. As such, I think he might be finding this voice a little bit. That said, I'm already planning to purchase the planned releases for 2024.

The book is a good whodunnit, mixed with NOLA culture and small-town gossip. It's solid work, and I did enjoy reading it, and I'm looking forward to the upcoming adventures of the main character.

[Garrett Law · Rating 3 out of 5]

I thought this was a fun who dun-it. Was fun to read a mystery involving drag queens. The writing reads a bit as YA and is repetitive and I found the climax and ending of the book to be very rushed. I enjoyed it as a quick read though.

[David Van Horne · Rating 4 out of 5]

This looks to be a good start for another series. The writing is a bit rough in a few places but the other series are great and I'm sure this one will follow suit.

[Anne · Rating 2 out of 5]

Vaguely enjoyable but not actually any good. The writing is incredibly repetitive and riddled with inconsistencies. The characters are muddy and the plot is unclear.

[ReadingWithCec · Rating 3 out of 5]

this was fun and kept me interested but could have used another round with the editor.