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Kyle Callahan Mystery #1
Murder at Pride Lodge
Who killed Teddy the handyman – if anyone killed him at all? Was it Sid, one of the new owners of Pride Lodge whose past gets darker the closer you look? Was it the woman whose name was once Emily, when she witnessed the murder of her parents in a burglary gone bad, and who has waited thirty years for vengeance? Was it young Happy Corcoran, promoted to bartender only to vanish three days before Teddy was found dead at the bottom of the empty pool? Find out soon . . . as Kyle Callahan refuses to believe it was an accident, doggedly pursues the truth in his friend’s death and does his best not to join him.
'Murder at Pride Lodge' is the first in the Kyle Callahan Mystery series. Kyle and his partner Danny Durban live in New York City, where murder never seems to be more than a subway stop away. In this first story, they head to Pride Lodge, their favorite getaway from the City, over what they expect to be a festive Halloween weekend. What they find instead is a web of murder, deceit, and revenge served cold as a knife blade. At the Lodge we meet a rich cast of characters, many of whom return in Book II, 'Pride and Perilous,' that finds them back in the familiarity of New York City. Murder has never been this much fun.
'Murder at Pride Lodge' is the first in the Kyle Callahan Mystery series. Kyle and his partner Danny Durban live in New York City, where murder never seems to be more than a subway stop away. In this first story, they head to Pride Lodge, their favorite getaway from the City, over what they expect to be a festive Halloween weekend. What they find instead is a web of murder, deceit, and revenge served cold as a knife blade. At the Lodge we meet a rich cast of characters, many of whom return in Book II, 'Pride and Perilous,' that finds them back in the familiarity of New York City. Murder has never been this much fun.
181 pages, Kindle Edition
First published September 20, 2012
50 people are currently reading
667 people want to read
About the author
Mark McNease
53 books118 followersI've been writing as M.A. McNease as well - not a pen name, it's my initials. Books under M.A. McNease include 'I, Warlock,' 'A House in the Woods (1 and 2)', and 'Hell to Pay' (a two-book volume of both House in the Woods books).
I'm the author of the Kyle Callahan Mysteries, two of which have been best sellers on Kindle. In 2022 I released the second Maggie Dahl Mystery, 'Open Secrets,' with Maggie pursuing another killer in sleepy Lambertville, NJ.
My Detective Linda mystery, 'Last Room at the Cliff's Edge', was released in September, 2016, and called a winner by Publishers Weekly. I released the first Marshall James thriller, 'Murder at the Paisley Parrot', in 2017, followed by 'Beautiful Corpse,' 'Final Audition,' and most recently 'Night Flight to Murder Town' in 2025.
'Black Cat White Paws: A Maggie Dahl Mystery' was released in 2018, followed by 'Open Secrets.'
I have 10 audiobooks currently available (Audible, Amazon, various retailers). My short story 'Stop the Car' was selected as a Kindle Single and is now an audiobook narrated by the amazing Braden Wright. It was selected twice to be included in the Amazon Prime reading library.
For old time's sake I also have two Emmys for Outstanding Children's Program for 'Into the Outdoors', a television show I co-created and wrote for two years that is now in its 17th year.
I live in the New Jersey woods with my husband, Frank, and our two cats, Wilma and James.
You can find me at my website, MarkMcNease.com.
I'm the author of the Kyle Callahan Mysteries, two of which have been best sellers on Kindle. In 2022 I released the second Maggie Dahl Mystery, 'Open Secrets,' with Maggie pursuing another killer in sleepy Lambertville, NJ.
My Detective Linda mystery, 'Last Room at the Cliff's Edge', was released in September, 2016, and called a winner by Publishers Weekly. I released the first Marshall James thriller, 'Murder at the Paisley Parrot', in 2017, followed by 'Beautiful Corpse,' 'Final Audition,' and most recently 'Night Flight to Murder Town' in 2025.
'Black Cat White Paws: A Maggie Dahl Mystery' was released in 2018, followed by 'Open Secrets.'
I have 10 audiobooks currently available (Audible, Amazon, various retailers). My short story 'Stop the Car' was selected as a Kindle Single and is now an audiobook narrated by the amazing Braden Wright. It was selected twice to be included in the Amazon Prime reading library.
For old time's sake I also have two Emmys for Outstanding Children's Program for 'Into the Outdoors', a television show I co-created and wrote for two years that is now in its 17th year.
I live in the New Jersey woods with my husband, Frank, and our two cats, Wilma and James.
You can find me at my website, MarkMcNease.com.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 64 reviews
September 9, 2014
Kyle Callahan and his partner Danny Durban plan to spend a wonderful Halloween weekend at Pride Lodge. Kyle is an inquisitive sort of person so Danny isn't surprised when he can't leave the suspicious death of his friend Teddy alone.
I like that the age of most characters in this book is over forty or close. Another good thing is the lack of romantic drama (this isn't a romance, but the two main characters are in a comfortable relationship).
There is so much telling in this book. Almost everything is revealed in the beginning that it is a mystery only to the characters in the book. The woman who came to Pride Lodge to get her revenge kept calling herself an assassin which was pretty annoying. There is a twist, a surprise in the end, but I lost my interest by then.
I like that the age of most characters in this book is over forty or close. Another good thing is the lack of romantic drama (this isn't a romance, but the two main characters are in a comfortable relationship).
There is so much telling in this book. Almost everything is revealed in the beginning that it is a mystery only to the characters in the book. The woman who came to Pride Lodge to get her revenge kept calling herself an assassin which was pretty annoying. There is a twist, a surprise in the end, but I lost my interest by then.
July 10, 2023
I enjoyed this fun murder mystery. The characters were well developed and very likable. The secondary characters were fun in their own quirky way. The murderer was a surprise to me. I still don't know why Happy and Teddy were killed. It seemed unnecessary to me. This would make a good beach book as it's an easy read and doesn't take much concentration.
August 13, 2018
This was better than I’d anticipated, not perfect but not bad. It kept me focused. I was engaged by both Kyle & Emily, and a few other characters. The past mystery was more intriguing than the present one but it wasn’t bad. I do wish there’d been more care with the actual solving of the mystery. I think I’d call it slap-dashed to the finish line. Overall there’s a chance this series can get better, if Kyle develops a stronger sense of direction. My fingers are crossed.
July 13, 2013
I had the good fortune to be selected by the author for the Goodreads giveaway, and finished reading the book a few days ago. I had to think a bit before rating it and reviewing it.
The good parts are easy to spot. There's the lush and uncommon setting, an LGTB resort in the Pennsylvania hinterlands. Is this the first murder series to be written in which the sleuth is identified as gay? If so, then this writer may go down in history as the creator of a sub-genre. (Laurie King has a series prior to this with a lesbian detective).
The motivation of the villain(s) is interesting and believable. (Trying not to give too much away here). And the workaholic spouse was something I could really relate to, and I'll bet a lot of people can. (The last time I took my spouse with me on vacation, he wouldn't even leave the hotel and his laptop for dinner!) This tidbit made it easy for me to bond with poor Danny, who just wanted his sweetheart to himself for a single weekend.
I had trouble getting the sense of this as a murder mystery at first, hence the missing star. The title makes the reader expect suspense from the get-go, but there is so much character and relationship description that I wanted to say, "Can we get to the murder, please? Enough with the camera and the coffee machine. I thought this was a murder mystery!"
If the reader is patient, though, the mystery unfolds in a way that is both interesting and oddly gratifying. Hang in there. The writer throws in some unexpected twists and turns, and the ending is a corker!
Frosting on the cake are some fun chapter titles; I especially liked "Breakfast at Epiphany's".
This is just the first in a series; Pride and Perilous, the sequel, has just been released, and gives the reader something to reach for when this one is done.
Happy reading!
The good parts are easy to spot. There's the lush and uncommon setting, an LGTB resort in the Pennsylvania hinterlands. Is this the first murder series to be written in which the sleuth is identified as gay? If so, then this writer may go down in history as the creator of a sub-genre. (Laurie King has a series prior to this with a lesbian detective).
The motivation of the villain(s) is interesting and believable. (Trying not to give too much away here). And the workaholic spouse was something I could really relate to, and I'll bet a lot of people can. (The last time I took my spouse with me on vacation, he wouldn't even leave the hotel and his laptop for dinner!) This tidbit made it easy for me to bond with poor Danny, who just wanted his sweetheart to himself for a single weekend.
I had trouble getting the sense of this as a murder mystery at first, hence the missing star. The title makes the reader expect suspense from the get-go, but there is so much character and relationship description that I wanted to say, "Can we get to the murder, please? Enough with the camera and the coffee machine. I thought this was a murder mystery!"
If the reader is patient, though, the mystery unfolds in a way that is both interesting and oddly gratifying. Hang in there. The writer throws in some unexpected twists and turns, and the ending is a corker!
Frosting on the cake are some fun chapter titles; I especially liked "Breakfast at Epiphany's".
This is just the first in a series; Pride and Perilous, the sequel, has just been released, and gives the reader something to reach for when this one is done.
Happy reading!
September 2, 2018
I'm not really sure what to make of this one or if it even really can be called a mystery. In general, I liked the writing style and some of the characters had potential to be interesting, but the story's execution is on the sloppy side. There's a tendency for the narrative to go on long rambling info dumps, especially about things and people that don't even matter to the story. I started skipping those pretty early. Then the story is written from multiple POVs, which were easy to follow along with and in itself, this isn't an issue. I don't mind stories with multiple POVs, however, you don't really get any new info with the switches. You just get different characters learning the same information. There's a lot repetition here. There's also the device I don't like of revealing who the criminals are very early on, so you don't even have the chance to try to piece the puzzle together yourself before the reveal, and you're just waiting for the good guys to catch up. Oh, but wait. At the last second, there's a plot twist that comes out of nowhere, the real killer is arrested with zero evidence and nothing but speculation, and the detective ends up looking incredibly dense next to our novice sleuth. The story had a certain charm to it, but overall it just didn't work for me.
dnf
June 30, 2014I gave up at the 30% mark. The whole thing so far has been rambling musings by the different characters, sitting or standing around thinking about the conversations they just had. There's no immediacy. And it's info dumpy too- we got the whole history of the Lodge in the first couple of chapters. I was really looking forward to this one, but I was just too bored to force myself to continue.
February 8, 2015
Free on Amazon UK 1.12.14
Gay mystery told from just about everyone's POV. A little cluttered in the narrative at times but otherwise a quite enjoyable fairly light story.
Gay mystery told from just about everyone's POV. A little cluttered in the narrative at times but otherwise a quite enjoyable fairly light story.
dnf-2018
June 26, 2018DNF at 42% because I don't have the patience for the rambling narration. One of the murderers assassins was revealed early, so half the fun was already missing.
Read
March 25, 2022I started this in 2015 and tried again to get into it but can't.
September 21, 2015
I wish now I hadn't read the Alex Rios series so quickly. Finding a new gay mystery series is hard!
This one had a couple of good things going for it, the narrator was 50 instead of the usual gay 20-something stereotype. The setting was well done and presented. The story was good.
Much of the book is presented by telling, not showing, with many pages of exposition to start the book and scattered throughout. I couldn't tell the main couple apart, more separation should have been between them. At one point I thought the other one was the TV assistant, then I thought Kyle was in TV, then it became clear I had no idea what the other job in the relationship was. Also I finished the book yesterday and I'm calling the boyfriend the other one, which says something about his character development.
It was okay, better than some other gay mysteries I've read, but not quite worth continuing to find out more.
This one had a couple of good things going for it, the narrator was 50 instead of the usual gay 20-something stereotype. The setting was well done and presented. The story was good.
Much of the book is presented by telling, not showing, with many pages of exposition to start the book and scattered throughout. I couldn't tell the main couple apart, more separation should have been between them. At one point I thought the other one was the TV assistant, then I thought Kyle was in TV, then it became clear I had no idea what the other job in the relationship was. Also I finished the book yesterday and I'm calling the boyfriend the other one, which says something about his character development.
It was okay, better than some other gay mysteries I've read, but not quite worth continuing to find out more.
July 13, 2019
A clunky, awkward piece of writing. I do not know if this is the author's first book but it reads like one. The elements of making a mystery story are there but they are awkwardly put together in very predictable ways. The characters are right out of central casting with oddly unfitting twists.
February 10, 2020
Almost a DNF
March 22, 2024
Decent murder mystery amateur sleuth story featuring a rural LGBTQ+ lodge similar to one in Pennsylvania.
December 6, 2023
Every time I read a book this poorly written, I think of the novel a friend of mine wrote that was really good, but her literary agent could not find a publisher for. Maybe they were shooting too high, or for the wrong markets, but it's a shame becasue it was a really good book and deserves a series.
As to this book, where to start. There was so much detail about unimportant characters that I'm fairly certain the author is an "oooh, shiny" person. I know more about the main couple's cats than I know about the pivotal character . I know more about the previous hostess at the lodge (who never worked there during any of the events of the book) than I know about either of the people who worked at the lodge who died there.
The one character that the author wants to be a red herring is completely one-dimensional. And simply repeating her idee fixe ten times in seven chapters is extraordinarily boring. I'd rather not come back to the character until she has something to do. That would make her more suspicious. But having a chapter of her sitting in her room ruminating on her idee fixe after we've already been introduced to it twice was boring, repetitive, not interesting and telling us something we already know.
The other character that could have been a red herring (Hern) has no time devoted to him at all, so he couldn't possibly be a red herring. He's just there for color, but we have absolutely not enough information about his past interaction with the main character's partner to make him interesting. He's just bitchy and we don't know why. (Which is ironic, given the level of detail devoted to so many unimportant people: here's the crown prince of unimportant is not given the slightest bit of minute detail.)
I'm all for narrative convenience: that everyone stumbles onto the secret past of the one character who has taken great pains to hide her past is convenient, but I can go along with it. But when the one character who is most equipped to find the most information about that secret past doesn't find it, my disbelief is no longer suspended.
And when the murderer is finally apprehended, we don't even get the moment where he monologues his intentions; and I have a lot of questions about how he came to the information he had and physically did all of the things he did .
At least it wasn't that oscar wilde crime story…
As to this book, where to start. There was so much detail about unimportant characters that I'm fairly certain the author is an "oooh, shiny" person. I know more about the main couple's cats than I know about the pivotal character . I know more about the previous hostess at the lodge (who never worked there during any of the events of the book) than I know about either of the people who worked at the lodge who died there.
The one character that the author wants to be a red herring is completely one-dimensional. And simply repeating her idee fixe ten times in seven chapters is extraordinarily boring. I'd rather not come back to the character until she has something to do. That would make her more suspicious. But having a chapter of her sitting in her room ruminating on her idee fixe after we've already been introduced to it twice was boring, repetitive, not interesting and telling us something we already know.
The other character that could have been a red herring (Hern) has no time devoted to him at all, so he couldn't possibly be a red herring. He's just there for color, but we have absolutely not enough information about his past interaction with the main character's partner to make him interesting. He's just bitchy and we don't know why. (Which is ironic, given the level of detail devoted to so many unimportant people: here's the crown prince of unimportant is not given the slightest bit of minute detail.)
I'm all for narrative convenience: that everyone stumbles onto the secret past of the one character who has taken great pains to hide her past is convenient, but I can go along with it. But when the one character who is most equipped to find the most information about that secret past doesn't find it, my disbelief is no longer suspended.
And when the murderer is finally apprehended, we don't even get the moment where he monologues his intentions; and I have a lot of questions about how he came to the information he had and physically did all of the things he did .
At least it wasn't that oscar wilde crime story…
March 25, 2024
Kyle Callahan is a personal assistant to a demanding ageing starlet in NY so he and his partner, Danny Durban, take time off each year to enjoy time at Pride Lodge, a luxury LGBTQIA retreat. However, it’s not a restful weekend when one of the staff is murdered and another disappears. Kyle’s suspicions soon fall on Bo Sweetzer who appears to have a mysterious and tragic past. Can Kyle solve the mystery before anyone else is killed?
Just to be clear, this is a gay cosy mystery rather than a m/m romance—Kyle and Danny are an established couple and there’s no real relationship angst. Despite the contemporary setting, this has an old world feel due to the classic country house mystery trope where suspicion largely falls on a sequestered group of people with a couple of skeletons in the closet. Listening to the excellent audio narration by KC Kelly, it was a little hard to keep track of all the different characters but the author does spend time describing each person and their background. I think the mystery would have been more intriguing if that stuff had been discovered along the way rather than told through the 3rd person omniscient narrator but I didn’t mind too much. All in all, a very pleasant start to series I’ll continue to explore!
Just to be clear, this is a gay cosy mystery rather than a m/m romance—Kyle and Danny are an established couple and there’s no real relationship angst. Despite the contemporary setting, this has an old world feel due to the classic country house mystery trope where suspicion largely falls on a sequestered group of people with a couple of skeletons in the closet. Listening to the excellent audio narration by KC Kelly, it was a little hard to keep track of all the different characters but the author does spend time describing each person and their background. I think the mystery would have been more intriguing if that stuff had been discovered along the way rather than told through the 3rd person omniscient narrator but I didn’t mind too much. All in all, a very pleasant start to series I’ll continue to explore!
September 8, 2018
Okay, I liked this book. I like Kyle and Danny, I like Detective Linda Sikorsky and the people in the Pride Lodge and the mystery.
What I didn't like was the lesbian assassin. And by that, I don't mean the usual dislike you feel for someone whose main goal in life is killing three people, no. What I mean is that I simply got bored (quickly) of the sheer amount of little chapters from her POV that did nothing to advance the story, and keep only repeating themselves over and over. I think that the idea was that we'll be feeling sorry for her, and . Surprise! I didn't work for me.
That aside, the mystery is interesting, and Kyle and Danny are alluring enough to keep me reading this series.
What I didn't like was the lesbian assassin. And by that, I don't mean the usual dislike you feel for someone whose main goal in life is killing three people, no. What I mean is that I simply got bored (quickly) of the sheer amount of little chapters from her POV that did nothing to advance the story, and keep only repeating themselves over and over. I think that the idea was that we'll be feeling sorry for her, and . Surprise! I didn't work for me.
That aside, the mystery is interesting, and Kyle and Danny are alluring enough to keep me reading this series.
November 14, 2017
Story: 7
First MC: 7
Second MC: 7
Secondary characters: 6
Mystery: 7
Sexual tension: 1
Humor: 5
Hotness: 0
Product placement: 3
Ridiculousness: 4
Annoying: 4
Audio: 8 (6h 24min)
To re-read: 0
kinda of old fashioned book. A murder at a gay friendly lodge where almost all guests are over 50. There is no sex to speak of. No romance brewing. All established couples. This could've been a book full of asexual characters....anyways
lesbian assassin, greedy husbands, nosy photographers, bitchy queens, and a gay curious cop
First MC: 7
Second MC: 7
Secondary characters: 6
Mystery: 7
Sexual tension: 1
Humor: 5
Hotness: 0
Product placement: 3
Ridiculousness: 4
Annoying: 4
Audio: 8 (6h 24min)
To re-read: 0
kinda of old fashioned book. A murder at a gay friendly lodge where almost all guests are over 50. There is no sex to speak of. No romance brewing. All established couples. This could've been a book full of asexual characters....anyways
lesbian assassin, greedy husbands, nosy photographers, bitchy queens, and a gay curious cop
July 28, 2018
A charming murder mystery that leads the reader to the solution early--then spins them around twice before resolution. The characters are well rounded, but a little underdeveloped. Mayhaps because there are extraneous ones who are even less so.
I justifiably expected a Teddy cause of death and it wss glaringly missing. Neglecting other loose ends, which shall remain unspoken of here, kept me from contemplating that fifth star.
The New Hope references and landmarks were a delight and other area mentions as much so. Get thus book on main street and read it during your stay.
I justifiably expected a Teddy cause of death and it wss glaringly missing. Neglecting other loose ends, which shall remain unspoken of here, kept me from contemplating that fifth star.
The New Hope references and landmarks were a delight and other area mentions as much so. Get thus book on main street and read it during your stay.
May 25, 2025
A captivating read from start to finish
This is my first book of mark McNease and though it did take a while to get into it I enjoyed it. One of the things I loved about it was the age of the characters. As a similar aged male, nice to see a mature character as centre not propping up the young, handsome hero. The book told from so many peoples perspectives is disconcerting at first but important.
I advise anyone to read it. It is a story with so many twists and turns you will be kept on your toes. If you love the play, the mousetrap this is right up your street.
This is my first book of mark McNease and though it did take a while to get into it I enjoyed it. One of the things I loved about it was the age of the characters. As a similar aged male, nice to see a mature character as centre not propping up the young, handsome hero. The book told from so many peoples perspectives is disconcerting at first but important.
I advise anyone to read it. It is a story with so many twists and turns you will be kept on your toes. If you love the play, the mousetrap this is right up your street.
April 1, 2025
Read as audiobook.
Narration - very good quality, voice fit the story very well. Enjoyable voice type, who I'd like to listen to in the future.
Story - 3.5 stars. Interesting characters with the added bonus that there were long-established couples who were comfortable together, with no added relationship angst. The start was a bit messy with lots of characters and events being introduced at once. The murder mystery was enjoyable and had a good plot twist.
Narration - very good quality, voice fit the story very well. Enjoyable voice type, who I'd like to listen to in the future.
Story - 3.5 stars. Interesting characters with the added bonus that there were long-established couples who were comfortable together, with no added relationship angst. The start was a bit messy with lots of characters and events being introduced at once. The murder mystery was enjoyable and had a good plot twist.
July 4, 2017
3.9⭐️. An enjoyable read. Not the best murder mystery I have ever read. The story ARC was different than the usual, character description and development was presented well. The story location and the characters ages, was what made this story different than the usual and made it more interesting than the run of the mill murder mystery.
January 7, 2021
This was so good, so enjoyable!
It may have turned this old gay guy into a murder mystery fan.
The characters are wonderfully fleshed out. It’s like I know or have known these people. I look forward to getting to know them better in the next book!
It may have turned this old gay guy into a murder mystery fan.
The characters are wonderfully fleshed out. It’s like I know or have known these people. I look forward to getting to know them better in the next book!
April 17, 2022
I enjoyed this one; it was a good listen. I liked the story but was disappointed by one of the characters not being caught by the police. I did feel that it tended to be too much story focusing on the past and not enough on the present. Nevertheless, I will try the next one in the series.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
April 24, 2020
Another McNease to love
Having read several of the authors books out of sequence, this is another Danny & Kyle mystery to enjoy and also to be taken by surprise, to boot!
Having read several of the authors books out of sequence, this is another Danny & Kyle mystery to enjoy and also to be taken by surprise, to boot!
January 15, 2021
The writing style took some time to get used to, but a good read for the genre.
July 30, 2021
A fun read. Really enjoyable. I now onto the next in the series!
August 28, 2021
Took a bit to get the rhythm of the writing, but in the end, super-satisfying - great characters.
Read
August 7, 2023DNF. characters entertaining, writing good. but too many people, too much description, distracted so the book was neither crime nor relationship-led. no suspense.
October 17, 2018
This was a likable murder mystery, even though we know who the murderer is from the beginning. I didn't enjoy the constant info dumping and repetitiveness of the same info though. The twist at the end was unexpected. I will read another Kyle Callahan mystery and see how things progress.
March 4, 2017
Murder at Pride Lodge is an interesting blend of crime story and whodunit, and I thought the middle aged cast of characters was a welcome change from the twinks, hustlers, and clones that populate so much gay fiction. There's an awkwardness to the plotting that keeps me from fully recommending it, but the novel is so short that I can't say I regret the time I spent at Pride Lodge.
I might even try the next in the series.
I might even try the next in the series.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 64 reviews