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Paul Turner #6
Sex and Murder.com
Craig Lenzati, the rich and powerful CEO of Chicago's answer to Microsoft, is found brutally murdered with stab wounds all over his body. The murder is reported anonymously, and a quick and quiet resolution to the case is demanded by City Hall. Meanwhile, the list of suspects is almost endless and that along has the powers-that-be breathing down the necks of Chicago Police Detectives Paul Turner and Buck Fenwick. But as the two struggle to untangle the case and find the killer, they soon learn that the killer has only just begun.
304 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2001
1 person is currently reading
60 people want to read
About the author
Mark Richard Zubro
48 books50 followersAuthor also writes as: Mark Zubro.
Mark Richard Zubro is an American mystery novelist. He lives in Mokena, Illinois and taught 8th grade English at Summit Hill Jr. High in nearby Frankfort Square, Illinois.
Zubro writes bestselling mysteries set in Chicago and the surrounding Cook County area, which are widely praised as fast-paced, with interesting plots and well-rounded, likeable characters. His novels feature gay themes, and Zubro is himself gay.
His longest running series features high school teacher Tom Mason, and Tom's boyfriend, professional baseball player Scott Carpenter. The other series Zubro is known for is the Paul Turner mysteries, which are about a Chicago police detective. The books are a part of the Stonewall Inn Mystery series, published by St. Martin's Press. Zubro won a Lambda Literary Award for Best Gay Men's Mystery for his book A Simple Suburban Murder.
Series:
* Tom Mason and Scott Carpenter
* Paul Turner
I am the author of twenty-four mystery novels and five short stories. My book A Simple Suburban Murder won the Lambda Literary Award for Best Gay Men's mystery. I also wrote a thriller, Foolproof, with two other mystery writers, Jeanne Dams and Barb D'Amato. I taught eighth graders English and reading for thirty-four years and was president of the teachers' union in my district from 1985 until 2006. I retired from teaching in 2006 and now spend my time reading, writing, napping, and eating chocolate. My newest book, Another Dead Republican, is my thirteenth book in the Tom and Scott series which features as main characters, a gay school teacher and his lover, a professional baseball player. One of the keys in my mysteries is you do not want to be a person who is racist, sexist, homophobic, or a school administrator. If you are any of those, it is likely you are the corpse, or, at the least, it can be fairly well guaranteed that bad things will happen to you by the end. And if in my books you happen to be a Republican and/or against workers' rights, it would be far better if you did not make a habit of broadcasting this. If you did, you're quite likely to be a suspect, or worse.
Mark Richard Zubro is an American mystery novelist. He lives in Mokena, Illinois and taught 8th grade English at Summit Hill Jr. High in nearby Frankfort Square, Illinois.
Zubro writes bestselling mysteries set in Chicago and the surrounding Cook County area, which are widely praised as fast-paced, with interesting plots and well-rounded, likeable characters. His novels feature gay themes, and Zubro is himself gay.
His longest running series features high school teacher Tom Mason, and Tom's boyfriend, professional baseball player Scott Carpenter. The other series Zubro is known for is the Paul Turner mysteries, which are about a Chicago police detective. The books are a part of the Stonewall Inn Mystery series, published by St. Martin's Press. Zubro won a Lambda Literary Award for Best Gay Men's Mystery for his book A Simple Suburban Murder.
Series:
* Tom Mason and Scott Carpenter
* Paul Turner
I am the author of twenty-four mystery novels and five short stories. My book A Simple Suburban Murder won the Lambda Literary Award for Best Gay Men's mystery. I also wrote a thriller, Foolproof, with two other mystery writers, Jeanne Dams and Barb D'Amato. I taught eighth graders English and reading for thirty-four years and was president of the teachers' union in my district from 1985 until 2006. I retired from teaching in 2006 and now spend my time reading, writing, napping, and eating chocolate. My newest book, Another Dead Republican, is my thirteenth book in the Tom and Scott series which features as main characters, a gay school teacher and his lover, a professional baseball player. One of the keys in my mysteries is you do not want to be a person who is racist, sexist, homophobic, or a school administrator. If you are any of those, it is likely you are the corpse, or, at the least, it can be fairly well guaranteed that bad things will happen to you by the end. And if in my books you happen to be a Republican and/or against workers' rights, it would be far better if you did not make a habit of broadcasting this. If you did, you're quite likely to be a suspect, or worse.
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
May 1, 2013
This is a great mystery. Turner and his partner, Fenwick, investigating the stabbing death of a prominent businessman stumbled upon shocking secrets that a lot of people want kept quiet. Add to it the puzzling stabbings of cops around the country, interference from top brass, pesky media, and Turner dealing with a psycho threats against his loved ones, you have got a great mystery series.
July 31, 2019
Turner and Fenwick are looking for the killer of prominent members of the dot.com set who have backers among the top politicians in Chicago. While looking for that killer, there may also be a serial killer headed for Chicago to kill a cop. Turner keeps getting gifts and messages but from whom?
I enjoyed this book. Though this is part of a series, it can be read as a standalone. I was able to follow the story and start piecing together the relationships but I have some questions so I will have to get the earlier books in the series to find the answers to my questions. I liked Fenwick's sense of humor. I loved that Turner's family is part of the story also. The writing is well-rounded and kept me involved.
I'll definitely come back to this series and author.
I enjoyed this book. Though this is part of a series, it can be read as a standalone. I was able to follow the story and start piecing together the relationships but I have some questions so I will have to get the earlier books in the series to find the answers to my questions. I liked Fenwick's sense of humor. I loved that Turner's family is part of the story also. The writing is well-rounded and kept me involved.
I'll definitely come back to this series and author.
March 14, 2026
This review contains spoilers for Sex and Murder.com.
Rating: 3/5
This one is kind of a weird entry in the series. Previous entries were focused on the gay community in one way or another while this one is way more focused on the computer field and the Internet. I have no idea if the technological stuff in this book is accurate (for the time period it was written in) or if it's authorial mumbo-jumbo, but honestly it doesn't matter.
I'm not sure what the point of the cop killer subplot was. A red herring, maybe? But considering how abruptly that subplot was handled, it felt mostly pointless.
Rating: 3/5
This one is kind of a weird entry in the series. Previous entries were focused on the gay community in one way or another while this one is way more focused on the computer field and the Internet. I have no idea if the technological stuff in this book is accurate (for the time period it was written in) or if it's authorial mumbo-jumbo, but honestly it doesn't matter.
I'm not sure what the point of the cop killer subplot was. A red herring, maybe? But considering how abruptly that subplot was handled, it felt mostly pointless.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
April 11, 2023
This book is about twenty years old and it's quite dated. The main plot has to do with the murder of a Bill Gates/Steve Jobs-type tech tycoon; the details of his business and the technology he supposedly was involved with don't parse particularly well in 2023.
The victims and their murders--for there are several more in this book--are unsavory and kind of icky. The detectives are definitely more likable, especially Paul Turner, who is a gay man working on the Chicago police department's detective squad. Turner's gay identity is in fact very incidental to the story, which feels nice but doesn't provide much for a reader looking for a gay character to care about/identify with.
The subplot concerns a serial killer targeting police detectives; it was pretty hard to swallow and the solution was quite disappointing.
Overall I just didn't get into this book, and I was hoping to because I am always interested in a new series involving an interesting detective character.
The victims and their murders--for there are several more in this book--are unsavory and kind of icky. The detectives are definitely more likable, especially Paul Turner, who is a gay man working on the Chicago police department's detective squad. Turner's gay identity is in fact very incidental to the story, which feels nice but doesn't provide much for a reader looking for a gay character to care about/identify with.
The subplot concerns a serial killer targeting police detectives; it was pretty hard to swallow and the solution was quite disappointing.
Overall I just didn't get into this book, and I was hoping to because I am always interested in a new series involving an interesting detective character.
December 8, 2013
In this 6th Paul Turner mystery we find Detectives Turner & Fenwick investigating the brutal of a computer geek that along with his business / friend partner have a booming billion dollar business. In less then 48 hours the business partner will be found brutally murder and Paul & Buck find themselves on the trail of a serial killer that not only killed these two geeks, but have brutally killed cops in different cities. Turner has also found himself receiving threatening messages on his computer, and candies that might be from the killer. This is the most intense of the Turner's mystery and Avery good read!
March 10, 2020
This is a great book. It was a reread for me so I read it quickly. I started reading M/M mysteries with guys like Mark Zubro! It is classic and interesting. He has great kids in this mystery, ALSO
March 20, 2009
One of the worst-written books I've ever read.
December 9, 2013
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews