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Caloosa Club Mystery #3
Sunset Island
February, 1950. Lee County, Florida. In the freewheeling, celebratory aftermath of World War II, survivors and veterans are starting new lives, resuming old ones, or just picking up the pieces.
Former Navy officer Dan Ewing feels safer than any gay man might expect in a segregated, dry county where the Ku Klux Klan is still strong. Managing an ultra-private club-hotel in Ft. Myers with a mixed-race staff, untaxed alcohol, high-stakes card games and escorts of both sexes, he’s been acting like he has nothing to business is good and his romantic life is better. Lee County Detective Bud Wright, a former Marine sergeant and Dan’s secret lover, is outwardly strong and brave, but uneasy with the knowledge that, every time he and Dan get naked together, they’re breaking laws he’s sworn to uphold. It’s nothing that a few drinks can’t get him past, especially when moonlighting as security for Dan’s hotel. Both men have their work cut out for them, however, once a hurricane evacuation brings to the hotel wealthy, well-connected non-members who happen to own Sunset Island, a secluded resort fronting the Gulf of Mexico. Their arrival sets in motion a turnover of hotel staff, sensual and sordid seductions, brutal assaults, the discovery of looted art from Holocaust victims, and, of course, murder. After drowned men start washing ashore on nearby beaches, Dan and Bud must set to work unraveling war-related mysteries and exploring the implications of a rapidly changing society in those postwar years.
Elliott Mackle—who has been called “the Tom Wolfe of gay fiction” and “the gay Pat Conroy”—is also the author of the multiple-award-winning Captain Harding trilogy. Sunset Island is third in a series that includes Lambda Award finalist It Takes Two and International Rainbow Award winner Only Make Believe.
Former Navy officer Dan Ewing feels safer than any gay man might expect in a segregated, dry county where the Ku Klux Klan is still strong. Managing an ultra-private club-hotel in Ft. Myers with a mixed-race staff, untaxed alcohol, high-stakes card games and escorts of both sexes, he’s been acting like he has nothing to business is good and his romantic life is better. Lee County Detective Bud Wright, a former Marine sergeant and Dan’s secret lover, is outwardly strong and brave, but uneasy with the knowledge that, every time he and Dan get naked together, they’re breaking laws he’s sworn to uphold. It’s nothing that a few drinks can’t get him past, especially when moonlighting as security for Dan’s hotel. Both men have their work cut out for them, however, once a hurricane evacuation brings to the hotel wealthy, well-connected non-members who happen to own Sunset Island, a secluded resort fronting the Gulf of Mexico. Their arrival sets in motion a turnover of hotel staff, sensual and sordid seductions, brutal assaults, the discovery of looted art from Holocaust victims, and, of course, murder. After drowned men start washing ashore on nearby beaches, Dan and Bud must set to work unraveling war-related mysteries and exploring the implications of a rapidly changing society in those postwar years.
Elliott Mackle—who has been called “the Tom Wolfe of gay fiction” and “the gay Pat Conroy”—is also the author of the multiple-award-winning Captain Harding trilogy. Sunset Island is third in a series that includes Lambda Award finalist It Takes Two and International Rainbow Award winner Only Make Believe.
192 pages, Kindle Edition
First published December 13, 2014
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Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
February 4, 2020
This long awaited third book in the ‘Dan and Bud’ series starts with a SWE – significant weather event, which sets up the premise on how our MCs get to meet up with a fairly large cast of new characters / suspects – all from a prominent local wealthy and privileged family hailing from a nearby resort establishment called Sunset Island. Given the special ‘underground’ pleasures offered to the patrons of the Caloosa Club, of course there will be some sort of shenanigans which lead to a fracas requiring house detective Bud’s physical intervention.
With drowned bodies of young men turning up on the beaches around Sunset Island – the local police investigations focus on the resort family and workers and our heroes Dan and Bud make several trips there to uncover what shady dealings are occurring underneath the posh and refined resort environs. What is the connection with oil drilling plans for the island? How is the recent death of the patriarch related to these bodies? Why the antagonism between the son/heir and the second trophy wife of the patriarch? Is there gay sexual misconduct and procurement happening? Is there stolen wealth gained from the horrific disappearance of millions of European innocents in WW2?
Mr Mackle gives readers an intriguing medium-paced plot delivered in his usual non-nonsense, laconic writing style. There is some further exposition on Dan and Bud’s growing relationship … although the afterword states that the action of this book occurs in the narrative period between It Takes Two and Only Make Believe. I can’t fully remember what the relational state of play was between our MCs in Only Make Believe (read it a while ago) so I should revisit the book. Suffice to say in the 1950s … whatever Dan and Bud are doing together will land them in jail and this historico-legal fact does take some toll on their growing emotional bonds.
To further complicate things between Dan and Bud – the author introduces a sexy new character who could well be Dan’s doppleganger.
As an additional draw-card for lovers of M-M historical wartime fiction, readers will be delighted to find a favourite pairing make a brief appearance at the Caloosa Club for a short stay – enigmatic what what?
I loved this book and give it a 4.5 star (rounded up to 5) rating.
With drowned bodies of young men turning up on the beaches around Sunset Island – the local police investigations focus on the resort family and workers and our heroes Dan and Bud make several trips there to uncover what shady dealings are occurring underneath the posh and refined resort environs. What is the connection with oil drilling plans for the island? How is the recent death of the patriarch related to these bodies? Why the antagonism between the son/heir and the second trophy wife of the patriarch? Is there gay sexual misconduct and procurement happening? Is there stolen wealth gained from the horrific disappearance of millions of European innocents in WW2?
Mr Mackle gives readers an intriguing medium-paced plot delivered in his usual non-nonsense, laconic writing style. There is some further exposition on Dan and Bud’s growing relationship … although the afterword states that the action of this book occurs in the narrative period between It Takes Two and Only Make Believe. I can’t fully remember what the relational state of play was between our MCs in Only Make Believe (read it a while ago) so I should revisit the book. Suffice to say in the 1950s … whatever Dan and Bud are doing together will land them in jail and this historico-legal fact does take some toll on their growing emotional bonds.
To further complicate things between Dan and Bud – the author introduces a sexy new character who could well be Dan’s doppleganger.
As an additional draw-card for lovers of M-M historical wartime fiction, readers will be delighted to find a favourite pairing make a brief appearance at the Caloosa Club for a short stay – enigmatic what what?
I loved this book and give it a 4.5 star (rounded up to 5) rating.
February 6, 2015
"A Very Moving Bromance and Mystery Novel"
This is a post-World War II novel about soldiers home from the battle fields, all carrying the heartfelt memories and battle scars. Many of the men are still bonded together as they were previously during war missions. The main character in this story is Dan Ewing who manages a hotel and club, with benefits, called the Caloosa Club in Fort Myers, Florida. Not quite ready to open up for their resort season during November to April, they are being threatened by a powerful hurricane. Unable to continue his trip home to Sunset Island, rich, powerful mogul, Duke Bannerman, who is old and frail, seeks shelter for the duration of the storm. He is with his younger second wife, Edna, a registered nurse, and his adult son, Arch. You have realize that Arch is a good guy in that he travels with his dog, a fox terrier named Brownie. Most of the employees are veterans, some gay, some not. Dan Ewing has partnered up with a local police detective, Bud Wright. It is noted that during this time in Florida such man/man relationships were considered a felony in Florida. So discretion is always the name of the game. When a body floats ashore upon Sunset Island, Bud is called in to investigate, taking along Dan, as the call came in while they were on a fishing boat near the island. This mystery takes on many twists and turns, more 'floaters' and artworks which the Germans took from Jewish families during the war. There is much true history here as well as fiction which makes for a compelling read. Elliott Mackle has an amazing style of writing, easy to read and provides many thought-provoking moments. This book is for mature readers and who support equality for all.
This is a post-World War II novel about soldiers home from the battle fields, all carrying the heartfelt memories and battle scars. Many of the men are still bonded together as they were previously during war missions. The main character in this story is Dan Ewing who manages a hotel and club, with benefits, called the Caloosa Club in Fort Myers, Florida. Not quite ready to open up for their resort season during November to April, they are being threatened by a powerful hurricane. Unable to continue his trip home to Sunset Island, rich, powerful mogul, Duke Bannerman, who is old and frail, seeks shelter for the duration of the storm. He is with his younger second wife, Edna, a registered nurse, and his adult son, Arch. You have realize that Arch is a good guy in that he travels with his dog, a fox terrier named Brownie. Most of the employees are veterans, some gay, some not. Dan Ewing has partnered up with a local police detective, Bud Wright. It is noted that during this time in Florida such man/man relationships were considered a felony in Florida. So discretion is always the name of the game. When a body floats ashore upon Sunset Island, Bud is called in to investigate, taking along Dan, as the call came in while they were on a fishing boat near the island. This mystery takes on many twists and turns, more 'floaters' and artworks which the Germans took from Jewish families during the war. There is much true history here as well as fiction which makes for a compelling read. Elliott Mackle has an amazing style of writing, easy to read and provides many thought-provoking moments. This book is for mature readers and who support equality for all.
August 4, 2015
I enjoyed catching up with Dan Ewing and his hotel crew again but there was just too much going on in this story for me! I really struggled to get into it as I felt bombarded by too many characters and too many happenings.
Once again, the mystery didn’t work for me. Two dead bodies show up relatively quickly in this story, but it seemed to take forever for me to understand anything about who they were and why they were killed. And then the end descended into a very predictable melodrama.
Art restitution after WW2 is another very heavy topic for the Caloosa Club books. Readers are still wading through homophobia and segregation. Do we really need more injustice? In the first story, the darker subject matter was balanced by charming character descriptions and some lighter moments in the Caloosa Club. Sex is the only thing that lightens this story. The sex is more creative and involves more people than the sex in the first book, but it lacks some of the intimacy.
I’m not sure I would have finished this if I hadn’t agreed to review it. I found it confusing, complicated and lacking the charm of the first book.
I was given a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
Once again, the mystery didn’t work for me. Two dead bodies show up relatively quickly in this story, but it seemed to take forever for me to understand anything about who they were and why they were killed. And then the end descended into a very predictable melodrama.
Art restitution after WW2 is another very heavy topic for the Caloosa Club books. Readers are still wading through homophobia and segregation. Do we really need more injustice? In the first story, the darker subject matter was balanced by charming character descriptions and some lighter moments in the Caloosa Club. Sex is the only thing that lightens this story. The sex is more creative and involves more people than the sex in the first book, but it lacks some of the intimacy.
I’m not sure I would have finished this if I hadn’t agreed to review it. I found it confusing, complicated and lacking the charm of the first book.
I was given a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
January 4, 2016
I have mixed emotions about this read. I enjoyed the colorful personalities abound in this story as well as their thoughtful and detailed backstories. I admire the well-researched historical references to WWII, giving the reader an insightful glimpse into the specific struggles, social progress and cultural trends unique to that era. I admire the obvious creative efforts behind the intricate plot. I was most interested in the relationship of Bud and Dan, the two grieving war veterans who left the hell of war behind, only to risk their safety and freedom to be together in a time when homosexuality was a criminal offense.
All that said, I didn't love the actual storyline that encompassed 3/4 of the book. I would classify this story as a mystery, suspense or crime drama rather than a historical romance. I wish the story's main focus was the romantic relationship between the two (and later three) men and their struggles as gay men in such a culturally significant time in our history.
I was torn between a 3 and 4 star rating for most of the book. I credit the final chapters with my decision to go with the higher rating.
A worthwhile read overall...just not my type of book.
All that said, I didn't love the actual storyline that encompassed 3/4 of the book. I would classify this story as a mystery, suspense or crime drama rather than a historical romance. I wish the story's main focus was the romantic relationship between the two (and later three) men and their struggles as gay men in such a culturally significant time in our history.
I was torn between a 3 and 4 star rating for most of the book. I credit the final chapters with my decision to go with the higher rating.
A worthwhile read overall...just not my type of book.
Read
January 15, 2015Thus appears to take place between book 1 and 2. I can't figure it out. Apparent relationship advances made in book 2 appear erased here, and the lack is aggravating.
I really enjoyed book 1 and 2.
I really enjoyed book 1 and 2.
January 5, 2017
A good murder mystery, this is the first time I read a book by this Author. I must say it was a very good book. I loved the main character Bud, and Dan, They were strong characters, I liked the plot of this story. I enjoyed this book very much.
unable-to-finish
December 17, 2014 I couldn't get into the story after 10 %– it was just all over the place, and the characters didn't particularly work for me... :(
March 19, 2015
Historical gay mystery
Terrific story involving World War Two secrets, stolen art, illegal immigrants and murder, set in late 1940s South Florida. Couldn't put it down.
Terrific story involving World War Two secrets, stolen art, illegal immigrants and murder, set in late 1940s South Florida. Couldn't put it down.
April 23, 2017
3.5 stars
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews