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Mark Manning Mystery #5
Boy Toy
Mark Manning gave up a career as a prominent journalist at a major daily newspaper in Chicago to take over as the owner and publisher of the Dumont Daily Register, the daily newspaper in a small Wisconsin town. Living there with his lover, architect Neil Waite, and his nephew and ward Thad Quatrain, Mark's life in Dumont is usually quiet.
At the moment, the biggest news is the forthcoming production of a new play by the local community theater group. Two local teenage boys are alternating in the lead role - one is Jason Thrush, a gregarious and somewhat egotistical athlete, and the other is Thad Quatrain. When Jason and Thad have a verbal clash during rehearsal, it is quickly forgotten by almost everyone involved. But when Jason turns up dead on opening night - leaving Thad to take over the lead role - the local gossip turns against Thad. Jason's death is soon proved to be murder and, even though he has not been charged, opinion about town has all but convicted Thad of the crime.
Sure that Thad is innocent, Mark, with the help of his lover and friends, is determined to publicly clear Thad's name. But that means finding out exactly what happened to Jason Thrush on that fatal day and Manning's investigation may place him and his loved ones in mortal danger.
At the moment, the biggest news is the forthcoming production of a new play by the local community theater group. Two local teenage boys are alternating in the lead role - one is Jason Thrush, a gregarious and somewhat egotistical athlete, and the other is Thad Quatrain. When Jason and Thad have a verbal clash during rehearsal, it is quickly forgotten by almost everyone involved. But when Jason turns up dead on opening night - leaving Thad to take over the lead role - the local gossip turns against Thad. Jason's death is soon proved to be murder and, even though he has not been charged, opinion about town has all but convicted Thad of the crime.
Sure that Thad is innocent, Mark, with the help of his lover and friends, is determined to publicly clear Thad's name. But that means finding out exactly what happened to Jason Thrush on that fatal day and Manning's investigation may place him and his loved ones in mortal danger.
272 pages, Paperback
First published June 1, 2001
17 people are currently reading
78 people want to read
About the author
Michael Craft
44 books56 followersMichael Craft is the author of 20 published novels, four of which have been honored as finalists for Lambda Literary Awards. The first installment of his Dante & Jazz series, "Desert Getaway," was a 2023 MWA Edgars nominee for the Lilian Jackson Braun Award. The second installment, "Desert Deadline," was a Gold Winner of the IBPA Benjamin Franklin Award, as was his 2019 mystery, "ChoirMaster." In addition, his prize-winning short fiction has appeared in British as well as American literary journals. Craft grew up in Illinois and spent his middle years in Wisconsin, which inspired the fictitious small-town setting of Dumont, used in many of his earlier books. He holds an MFA in creative writing from Antioch University, Los Angeles, and now lives in Rancho Mirage, California, near Palm Springs, the setting of his current Dante & Jazz mystery series. In 2017, Michael Craft's professional archives were acquired by the Special Collections Department of the Rivera Library at the University of California, Riverside. Visit the author's website at www.michaelcraft.com.
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
January 7, 2019
As usual, cannot put it down!
Rereading the Manning series after a number of years. If you have read it in the past, I highly recommend you do the same! The series stands the test of time (other than for cell phones not being quite as prominent, lol) and the character development in each Manning novel is among the best I've seen in cozy mystery series, equaled perhaps only by Susan Wittig Albert's China Bayles series. So many other cozy mystery series tend to stagnate and rest on their laurels with no character growth or development. Michael Craft does not rest on any of his considerable laurels. He keeps us on the edge of our seats, wondering what will happen next. In this entry to the series, Mark's guardianship of teenaged Thad is put to the test when Thad co-stars in a local play. The other teenaged star of the show makes a public jeering of Thad's "two dads," which makes it more than awkward for Thad when his co-star is found dead. Even after this entry seems to have ended, there is another ending. I have eagerly moved on to the next entry in the series, but also I'm dreading it because I know I'm near the end of the series .
Rereading the Manning series after a number of years. If you have read it in the past, I highly recommend you do the same! The series stands the test of time (other than for cell phones not being quite as prominent, lol) and the character development in each Manning novel is among the best I've seen in cozy mystery series, equaled perhaps only by Susan Wittig Albert's China Bayles series. So many other cozy mystery series tend to stagnate and rest on their laurels with no character growth or development. Michael Craft does not rest on any of his considerable laurels. He keeps us on the edge of our seats, wondering what will happen next. In this entry to the series, Mark's guardianship of teenaged Thad is put to the test when Thad co-stars in a local play. The other teenaged star of the show makes a public jeering of Thad's "two dads," which makes it more than awkward for Thad when his co-star is found dead. Even after this entry seems to have ended, there is another ending. I have eagerly moved on to the next entry in the series, but also I'm dreading it because I know I'm near the end of the series .
October 18, 2014
Review of “Boy Toy”
By Michael Craft
Four stars
“Boy Toy” is the third of what I think of as the “Dumont Novels,” and the fifth of seven in Michael Craft’s Mark Manning series of murder mysteries.
Set in Dumont, Wisconsin, a fictitious small city that is nonetheless familiar to me from my one and only foray into that lovely, lake-filled state, “Boy Toy” moves the reader along in the development of three separate threads in Mark Manning’s life. There is his evolving relationship with Neil Waite—the handsome young architect who seems ready to do whatever he needs to do to make Mark happy; there is his evolving relationship with Dumont itself—as both the steward of a large local printing fortune and the owner/publisher of the respected local newspaper; and, most interestingly to me, his evolving shared role with Neil as de facto parents to his seventeen-year-old cousin Thad Quatrain.
And it is this adopted gay parenthood—insofar as it existed in 2001, when the book was published—that is most central to the murder narrative in “Boy Toy.” (Note: my husband and I adopted two babies in 1996, from opposite sides of the world; so I have some history we being a gay parent.)
Since Craft seems to enjoy putting some oddball context for his murders into these books, he’s done so this time with mushrooms. Yep. Mushrooms. Just as we learned about the world of miniatures in “Name Games” (a topic, oddly enough, with which I have a good bit of familiarity, through my day job as a museum curator); we learn a good deal about mycology in “Boy Toy.”
But the title of this book is linked to a complex, and ultimately disturbing thread that winds its way through the story. Even as we see Neil and Mark become closer as partners, and as we see them both become ever more loving and good parents to a teenager, we also see uglier aspects of what it is to be gay in America. For once I didn’t fully anticipate the outcome until the very end: the double surprise of the denouement was logical and satisfying, but almost blindsided me.
This installment in the Mark Manning series is seen by the author as the most successful of the first five—following the idea that the writer gets more comfortable with the character as he controls his evolution as a fictitious human being. Craft’s writing has gotten less tentative, less stilted, as the books have progressed, and that growing ease is reflected as well in his main character’s personality. Mark Manning, who comes out late after decades of self-repression, has become increasingly comfortable in his skin, and increasingly proud of who he is as a gay man. The plot twists in “Boy Toy” would have been beyond the coping skills of the Mark Manning we first knew in “Flight Dreams.” I didn’t like that first Mark Manning—both smug and neurotic. But the Mark Manning who gives his all to protect the young man he and his partner have taken on as a surrogate son is someone whom I would be proud to call a friend.
By Michael Craft
Four stars
“Boy Toy” is the third of what I think of as the “Dumont Novels,” and the fifth of seven in Michael Craft’s Mark Manning series of murder mysteries.
Set in Dumont, Wisconsin, a fictitious small city that is nonetheless familiar to me from my one and only foray into that lovely, lake-filled state, “Boy Toy” moves the reader along in the development of three separate threads in Mark Manning’s life. There is his evolving relationship with Neil Waite—the handsome young architect who seems ready to do whatever he needs to do to make Mark happy; there is his evolving relationship with Dumont itself—as both the steward of a large local printing fortune and the owner/publisher of the respected local newspaper; and, most interestingly to me, his evolving shared role with Neil as de facto parents to his seventeen-year-old cousin Thad Quatrain.
And it is this adopted gay parenthood—insofar as it existed in 2001, when the book was published—that is most central to the murder narrative in “Boy Toy.” (Note: my husband and I adopted two babies in 1996, from opposite sides of the world; so I have some history we being a gay parent.)
Since Craft seems to enjoy putting some oddball context for his murders into these books, he’s done so this time with mushrooms. Yep. Mushrooms. Just as we learned about the world of miniatures in “Name Games” (a topic, oddly enough, with which I have a good bit of familiarity, through my day job as a museum curator); we learn a good deal about mycology in “Boy Toy.”
But the title of this book is linked to a complex, and ultimately disturbing thread that winds its way through the story. Even as we see Neil and Mark become closer as partners, and as we see them both become ever more loving and good parents to a teenager, we also see uglier aspects of what it is to be gay in America. For once I didn’t fully anticipate the outcome until the very end: the double surprise of the denouement was logical and satisfying, but almost blindsided me.
This installment in the Mark Manning series is seen by the author as the most successful of the first five—following the idea that the writer gets more comfortable with the character as he controls his evolution as a fictitious human being. Craft’s writing has gotten less tentative, less stilted, as the books have progressed, and that growing ease is reflected as well in his main character’s personality. Mark Manning, who comes out late after decades of self-repression, has become increasingly comfortable in his skin, and increasingly proud of who he is as a gay man. The plot twists in “Boy Toy” would have been beyond the coping skills of the Mark Manning we first knew in “Flight Dreams.” I didn’t like that first Mark Manning—both smug and neurotic. But the Mark Manning who gives his all to protect the young man he and his partner have taken on as a surrogate son is someone whom I would be proud to call a friend.
July 24, 2012
I usually listen to audiobooks during my commute, so it is rare that I sit down and read a book. It is even rarer that I sit and read a book in day. Having worked in the theater that the theater in this book is based on, the book truly came to life (including Craft's description of the smell of the theater). The book does keep you going, as I thought I knew who the murderer was four times... and I was wrong each time. I wanted to read this book because I knew the theater, now I need to read the others in the series.
July 4, 2020
A great who dunnit even though I had the mystery solved before the last 100 pages.
December 11, 2023
Another great entry in the series.
May 2, 2016
Another win
I was sure early on who it was, being disappointed thinking he gave it away.
Have to admit he fooled me right up to last chapter. Played out as I expected but their was a twist and I never even considered the real answer.
He seems to have a good understanding of motives and he does well with complex subjects.
Only one part was a bit drawn out, but otherwise very well done
I was sure early on who it was, being disappointed thinking he gave it away.
Have to admit he fooled me right up to last chapter. Played out as I expected but their was a twist and I never even considered the real answer.
He seems to have a good understanding of motives and he does well with complex subjects.
Only one part was a bit drawn out, but otherwise very well done
January 13, 2024
Mark must solve the mystery to clear his nephew's name and also save another potential victim of ending up the same. This mystery I thought was a little bit darker than others.
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews