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Clifford Waterman Gay Philly Mystery #1
Knock Off The Hat: A Clifford Waterman Gay Philly Mystery
Lambda Literary Award-winning author delves into the sudden and extraordinary wave of gay-bashing in 1940s Philadelphia.
It's steaming August in post-war Philadelphia. Clifford Waterman, dishonorably discharged from the Army for an indecent act with a native in Cairo, can't go back to his job as a police detective and is struggling to make a go of it as a private investigator. He's soon hired to help a young man caught in a gay bar raid who can't afford the $500 bribe a corrupt judge demands to make a morals charge go away.
In the blink of an eye, an entire gay neighborhood is suddenly under siege, and Waterman has to find out why the cops, courts, and the city powers that be have unleashed a wave of brutal gay-bashing--astonishing even for that time and place.
Kept moving by Jim Beam, bluesy jazz, and a stubborn sense of outsider's pride, Waterman makes his way through Philadelphia's social, political, and financial swamp to rescue a few unlucky souls and inflict at least a bit of damage to the rotten system that would lead to the Stonewall rebellion in New York City 22 years later.
It's steaming August in post-war Philadelphia. Clifford Waterman, dishonorably discharged from the Army for an indecent act with a native in Cairo, can't go back to his job as a police detective and is struggling to make a go of it as a private investigator. He's soon hired to help a young man caught in a gay bar raid who can't afford the $500 bribe a corrupt judge demands to make a morals charge go away.
In the blink of an eye, an entire gay neighborhood is suddenly under siege, and Waterman has to find out why the cops, courts, and the city powers that be have unleashed a wave of brutal gay-bashing--astonishing even for that time and place.
Kept moving by Jim Beam, bluesy jazz, and a stubborn sense of outsider's pride, Waterman makes his way through Philadelphia's social, political, and financial swamp to rescue a few unlucky souls and inflict at least a bit of damage to the rotten system that would lead to the Stonewall rebellion in New York City 22 years later.
233 pages, Kindle Edition
First published April 26, 2022
36 people are currently reading
538 people want to read
About the author
Richard Stevenson
82 books143 followersLibrarian Note: There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name. See this thread for more information.
Richard Stevenson is the pseudonym of Richard Lipez, the author of nine books, including the Don Strachey private eye series. The Strachey books are being filmed by here!, the first gay television network. Lipez also co-wrote Grand Scam with Peter Stein, and contributed to Crimes of the Scene: A Mystery Novel Guide for the International Traveler. He is a mystery columnist for The Washington Post and a former editorial writer at The Berkshire Eagle. His reporting, reviews and fiction have appeared in The Boston Globe, Newsday, The Progressive, The Atlantic Monthly, Harper's and many other publications. He grew up and went to college in Pennsylvania and served in the Peace Corps in Ethiopia from 1962-64. Lipez lives in Becket, Massachusetts and is married to sculptor Joe Wheaton.
Richard Stevenson is the pseudonym of Richard Lipez, the author of nine books, including the Don Strachey private eye series. The Strachey books are being filmed by here!, the first gay television network. Lipez also co-wrote Grand Scam with Peter Stein, and contributed to Crimes of the Scene: A Mystery Novel Guide for the International Traveler. He is a mystery columnist for The Washington Post and a former editorial writer at The Berkshire Eagle. His reporting, reviews and fiction have appeared in The Boston Globe, Newsday, The Progressive, The Atlantic Monthly, Harper's and many other publications. He grew up and went to college in Pennsylvania and served in the Peace Corps in Ethiopia from 1962-64. Lipez lives in Becket, Massachusetts and is married to sculptor Joe Wheaton.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 34 reviews
August 25, 2022
3.5 stars
Clifford Waterman, WWII vet who didn't see much action until he saw too much of the wrong kind of action and got kicked out because of it (that's gay action), is a different kind of gumshoe. He's not full of snark or wit, he's not tenacious or filled with moral righteousness to see justice done for justice's sake. He hangs his dishonorable discharge papers on his office wall more like a warning sign than a badge of honor; his customers know what they're getting from him. And he generally keeps his head down and keeps trying to move forward as best he can in a world that's worn him down. It takes a lot to motivate him, but once he's motivated, he's hard to shake off the scent.
This was an interesting beginning to what could have been a very intriguing series, especially since it's set in a time not too often explored in M/M historical genre. 1940s Philadelphia was as corrupt a town as they come and this explored that corruption on several levels, from the politicians, to the mob, to the papers. There's a realism to the mystery and its ultimate solution here that makes it clear this would've been a series where the wins are rare and rarely worth winning. And I'm not really sure I would've been up to that series, honestly. But it was refreshing in its own way, especially seeing how dealing with modern politics in his Donald Strachey series made that series at times a bit too preachy.
Sadly, the author passed shortly after writing this book and there won't be anymore, so we'll never see what he planned for Cliff here.
Clifford Waterman, WWII vet who didn't see much action until he saw too much of the wrong kind of action and got kicked out because of it (that's gay action), is a different kind of gumshoe. He's not full of snark or wit, he's not tenacious or filled with moral righteousness to see justice done for justice's sake. He hangs his dishonorable discharge papers on his office wall more like a warning sign than a badge of honor; his customers know what they're getting from him. And he generally keeps his head down and keeps trying to move forward as best he can in a world that's worn him down. It takes a lot to motivate him, but once he's motivated, he's hard to shake off the scent.
This was an interesting beginning to what could have been a very intriguing series, especially since it's set in a time not too often explored in M/M historical genre. 1940s Philadelphia was as corrupt a town as they come and this explored that corruption on several levels, from the politicians, to the mob, to the papers. There's a realism to the mystery and its ultimate solution here that makes it clear this would've been a series where the wins are rare and rarely worth winning. And I'm not really sure I would've been up to that series, honestly. But it was refreshing in its own way, especially seeing how dealing with modern politics in his Donald Strachey series made that series at times a bit too preachy.
Sadly, the author passed shortly after writing this book and there won't be anymore, so we'll never see what he planned for Cliff here.
October 10, 2025
Rating: 4* of five
The Publisher Says: A dishonorably discharged World War II vet takes a job as a private investigator and begins looking into a sudden and extraordinary wave of gay-bashing in Philadelphia.
It's steaming August in post-war Philadelphia. Clifford Waterman, dishonorably discharged from the Army for "an indecent act with a native" in Cairo, can't go back to his job as a police detective and is struggling to make a go of it as a private investigator. He's soon hired to help a young man caught in a gay bar raid who can't afford the $500 bribe a corrupt judge demands to make a "morals charge" go away.
In the blink of an eye, an entire gay neighborhood is suddenly under siege, and Waterman has to find out why the cops, courts, and the city powers that be have unleashed a wave of brutal gay-bashing—astonishing even for that time and place.
Kept moving by Jim Beam, bluesy jazz, and a stubborn sense of outsider's pride, Waterman makes his way through Philadelphia's social, political, and financial swamp to rescue a few unlucky souls and inflict at least a bit of damage to the rotten system that would lead to the Stonewall rebellion in New York City 22 years later.
I RECEIVED A DRC FROM THE PUBLISHER VIA EDELWEISS+. THANK YOU.
My Review: Vale Richard Stevenson, 1938-2022. This story was to launch a new series of historical mysteries that will not now see their fruition. As a standalone, this is not the most satisfying read for us who read our mysteries to see ma'at served, order restored, evil accounted for.
Why then bother to read it? Because this past could easily become our collective future.
Its thrust is the (I had hoped) well-established truth that gayness is only made problematic by the systems designed to make it so; those are always systems of greed, exclusion, and therefore profit.
Waterman is a decently well-delineated character whose embrace of Otherness resonates with me. I get entirely his desire to stand up and say, "Enough is enough," in the face of those who want only one thing: More. He says "enough" in the face of the yawning voids that scream for, demand, extort, and ruin in search of More.
I hope the pathology of organizing your life in pursuit of More is obvious. I hope the courage to say "enough" exists in greater quantity than the laziness or apathy to let the loudest, the nastiest, the least likely to forgive have their way unopposed.
Because there is no end to, no satisfaction in, no glut capable of ending the search for, More.
The Publisher Says: A dishonorably discharged World War II vet takes a job as a private investigator and begins looking into a sudden and extraordinary wave of gay-bashing in Philadelphia.
It's steaming August in post-war Philadelphia. Clifford Waterman, dishonorably discharged from the Army for "an indecent act with a native" in Cairo, can't go back to his job as a police detective and is struggling to make a go of it as a private investigator. He's soon hired to help a young man caught in a gay bar raid who can't afford the $500 bribe a corrupt judge demands to make a "morals charge" go away.
In the blink of an eye, an entire gay neighborhood is suddenly under siege, and Waterman has to find out why the cops, courts, and the city powers that be have unleashed a wave of brutal gay-bashing—astonishing even for that time and place.
Kept moving by Jim Beam, bluesy jazz, and a stubborn sense of outsider's pride, Waterman makes his way through Philadelphia's social, political, and financial swamp to rescue a few unlucky souls and inflict at least a bit of damage to the rotten system that would lead to the Stonewall rebellion in New York City 22 years later.
I RECEIVED A DRC FROM THE PUBLISHER VIA EDELWEISS+. THANK YOU.
My Review: Vale Richard Stevenson, 1938-2022. This story was to launch a new series of historical mysteries that will not now see their fruition. As a standalone, this is not the most satisfying read for us who read our mysteries to see ma'at served, order restored, evil accounted for.
Why then bother to read it? Because this past could easily become our collective future.
Its thrust is the (I had hoped) well-established truth that gayness is only made problematic by the systems designed to make it so; those are always systems of greed, exclusion, and therefore profit.
Waterman is a decently well-delineated character whose embrace of Otherness resonates with me. I get entirely his desire to stand up and say, "Enough is enough," in the face of those who want only one thing: More. He says "enough" in the face of the yawning voids that scream for, demand, extort, and ruin in search of More.
I hope the pathology of organizing your life in pursuit of More is obvious. I hope the courage to say "enough" exists in greater quantity than the laziness or apathy to let the loudest, the nastiest, the least likely to forgive have their way unopposed.
Because there is no end to, no satisfaction in, no glut capable of ending the search for, More.
April 1, 2022
Knock Off the Hat is the first volume in what I hope will be an ongoing series that improves with time. The central character, Clifford Waterman, is a former police officer and WWII veteran, dishonorably discharged for being gay, currently working as a private investigator. Waterman's an interesting character: comfortable with his own homosexuality, but resigned to the status quo of bar life and the constant threat of harassment or violence from the police.
Knock off the Hat opens in the aftermath of a police bar raid. For years, gay men have been able to get morals charged dropped via an unethical and homophobic judge (known as "The Hat") for a payment of $50. Suddenly that price is raised to $500, far more money than many men can raise, dooming them to public exposure and a shattered life—or suicide. Waterman is hired to try to find a way around this price increase, through a mix of investigation and favors from others. From there the story grows more complex.
I enjoyed the novel, but the writing style felt heavy-handed—almost as if the sentences were soldiers dutifully marching past me in formation. I realize that description may not make sense, but it definitely describes my experience reading Knock Off the Hat. I expect, however, that this is a series where both the style and the characters will grow more satisfyingly complex over time, and I will definitely have an eye open for the next volume.
I received a free electronic review copy of this title from the publisher via EdelweissPlus; the opinions are my own.
Knock off the Hat opens in the aftermath of a police bar raid. For years, gay men have been able to get morals charged dropped via an unethical and homophobic judge (known as "The Hat") for a payment of $50. Suddenly that price is raised to $500, far more money than many men can raise, dooming them to public exposure and a shattered life—or suicide. Waterman is hired to try to find a way around this price increase, through a mix of investigation and favors from others. From there the story grows more complex.
I enjoyed the novel, but the writing style felt heavy-handed—almost as if the sentences were soldiers dutifully marching past me in formation. I realize that description may not make sense, but it definitely describes my experience reading Knock Off the Hat. I expect, however, that this is a series where both the style and the characters will grow more satisfyingly complex over time, and I will definitely have an eye open for the next volume.
I received a free electronic review copy of this title from the publisher via EdelweissPlus; the opinions are my own.
August 30, 2022
Such a beautiful yet bittersweet moment. Richard Stevenson is gone. He gave us the wonderful Donald Strachey Mysteries. And this book was the start of something - a brand-new series set in 1940’s Philadelphia. A new PI named Cliff and a deliciously complicated mystery packed with landmarks and familiarity sure to please any Philly lover. Bon Voyage Richard. You sure did give us a great send off!
I recommended this for Queer Writers of Crime podcast in the July 2022.
https://www.queerwritersofcrime.com/p...
I recommended this for Queer Writers of Crime podcast in the July 2022.
https://www.queerwritersofcrime.com/p...
August 18, 2022
Brilliant start to a new series with a great no-nonsense MC who is living/functioning as a 'proud' if not completely 'out' gay man in 1940's USA. The author provides a distinct and detailed sense of place and time and I was immersed into the post-war setting fairly quickly. What surprised me was how many regular folk were accepting and/or supportive of their 'homosexual' friends/family/colleagues without necessarily trumpeting said support/acceptance from the rooftops. No romance folks - but I totally dig our mature MC with developing 'love-handles' manages to find physical release and some semblance of 'connection' where he can. I relished this read and am definitely looking forward to more of Clifford Waterman in the books to come. 4.5 stars.
October 10, 2025
Rating: 4* of five
The Publisher Says: A dishonorably discharged World War II vet takes a job as a private investigator and begins looking into a sudden and extraordinary wave of gay-bashing in Philadelphia.
It's steaming August in post-war Philadelphia. Clifford Waterman, dishonorably discharged from the Army for "an indecent act with a native" in Cairo, can't go back to his job as a police detective and is struggling to make a go of it as a private investigator. He's soon hired to help a young man caught in a gay bar raid who can't afford the $500 bribe a corrupt judge demands to make a "morals charge" go away.
In the blink of an eye, an entire gay neighborhood is suddenly under siege, and Waterman has to find out why the cops, courts, and the city powers that be have unleashed a wave of brutal gay-bashing—astonishing even for that time and place.
Kept moving by Jim Beam, bluesy jazz, and a stubborn sense of outsider's pride, Waterman makes his way through Philadelphia's social, political, and financial swamp to rescue a few unlucky souls and inflict at least a bit of damage to the rotten system that would lead to the Stonewall rebellion in New York City 22 years later.
I RECEIVED A DRC FROM THE PUBLISHER VIA EDELWEISS+. THANK YOU.
My Review: Vale Richard Stevenson, 1938-2022. This story was to launch a new series of historical mysteries that will not now see their fruition. As a standalone, this is not the most satisfying read for us who read our mysteries to see ma'at served, order restored, evil accounted for.
Why then bother to read it? Because this past could easily become our collective future.
Its thrust is the (I had hoped) well-established truth that gayness is only made problematic by the systems designed to make it so; those are always systems of greed, exclusion, and therefore profit.
Waterman is a decently well-delineated character whose embrace of Otherness resonates with me. I get entirely his desire to stand up and say, "Enough is enough," in the face of those who want only one thing: More. He says "enough" in the face of the yawning voids that scream for, demand, extort, and ruin in search of More.
I hope the pathology of organizing your life in pursuit of More is obvious. I hope the courage to say "enough" exists in greater quantity than the laziness or apathy to let the loudest, the nastiest, the least likely to forgive have their way unopposed.
Because there is no end to, no satisfaction in, no glut capable of ending the search for, More.
The Publisher Says: A dishonorably discharged World War II vet takes a job as a private investigator and begins looking into a sudden and extraordinary wave of gay-bashing in Philadelphia.
It's steaming August in post-war Philadelphia. Clifford Waterman, dishonorably discharged from the Army for "an indecent act with a native" in Cairo, can't go back to his job as a police detective and is struggling to make a go of it as a private investigator. He's soon hired to help a young man caught in a gay bar raid who can't afford the $500 bribe a corrupt judge demands to make a "morals charge" go away.
In the blink of an eye, an entire gay neighborhood is suddenly under siege, and Waterman has to find out why the cops, courts, and the city powers that be have unleashed a wave of brutal gay-bashing—astonishing even for that time and place.
Kept moving by Jim Beam, bluesy jazz, and a stubborn sense of outsider's pride, Waterman makes his way through Philadelphia's social, political, and financial swamp to rescue a few unlucky souls and inflict at least a bit of damage to the rotten system that would lead to the Stonewall rebellion in New York City 22 years later.
I RECEIVED A DRC FROM THE PUBLISHER VIA EDELWEISS+. THANK YOU.
My Review: Vale Richard Stevenson, 1938-2022. This story was to launch a new series of historical mysteries that will not now see their fruition. As a standalone, this is not the most satisfying read for us who read our mysteries to see ma'at served, order restored, evil accounted for.
Why then bother to read it? Because this past could easily become our collective future.
Its thrust is the (I had hoped) well-established truth that gayness is only made problematic by the systems designed to make it so; those are always systems of greed, exclusion, and therefore profit.
Waterman is a decently well-delineated character whose embrace of Otherness resonates with me. I get entirely his desire to stand up and say, "Enough is enough," in the face of those who want only one thing: More. He says "enough" in the face of the yawning voids that scream for, demand, extort, and ruin in search of More.
I hope the pathology of organizing your life in pursuit of More is obvious. I hope the courage to say "enough" exists in greater quantity than the laziness or apathy to let the loudest, the nastiest, the least likely to forgive have their way unopposed.
Because there is no end to, no satisfaction in, no glut capable of ending the search for, More.
May 6, 2022
Fun and historically interesting, but not up to the Strachey series standard.
June 23, 2022
I had no idea that gay detective fiction is an entire genre on its own! And man does this one deliver. The best and most refreshing thing about this novel is the main character, Cliff Waterman. He’s a detective in post-war Philly and unapologetic about his sexuality. The language or cliche sayings of any detective novel are key, and this novel nails them all. There are so many hilarious lines. This is my favorite, after someone hires Waterman for a job because they think he has the right skills. “No, which skills? I can suck dick and I can parallel park.” LOL!! This also becomes a running joke throughout. I can’t wait to explore more of this genre.
August 12, 2024
Clifford Waterman has a past that includes military and police service, but after being removed from the military from "less than favorable" reasons, he is now a private detective. Some of his clients are divorce cases but a lot of the rest are gay man who are getting in trouble with the Philly police department.
Usually, when the police department raids a gay club, they fine each person about fifty dollars to drop the charge or their names will appear in the newspaper as a disorderly person in a bar "often frequented by people with sexual deviance issues". That headline with their names on it is enough to make them lose their jobs in most cases. Now, suddenly, however, the fine has gone to five hundred dollars, 10 times as much.
Clifford gets involved in trying to understand why suddenly the judge and his bagman are so determined to up the fines and make sure they can ruin more lives. In addition, as time goes on, there are actually deaths by people that either jump or fall into the Delaware River along the route though Philly.
There are the usual twists and turns and of course it turns out that a group of people have a lot invested financially in making sure the gay clubs are driven out of business and they are able to gentrify the area where those bars are. Cliff finds way to get the deaths to end, and get a certain amount of revenge on the most guilty of the most nasty of the group.
I recommend this book for those who like mysteries, and for readers who enjoy novels with gay characters with a prespective from the pre-gay rights days of the late 1940s after World War II.
Usually, when the police department raids a gay club, they fine each person about fifty dollars to drop the charge or their names will appear in the newspaper as a disorderly person in a bar "often frequented by people with sexual deviance issues". That headline with their names on it is enough to make them lose their jobs in most cases. Now, suddenly, however, the fine has gone to five hundred dollars, 10 times as much.
Clifford gets involved in trying to understand why suddenly the judge and his bagman are so determined to up the fines and make sure they can ruin more lives. In addition, as time goes on, there are actually deaths by people that either jump or fall into the Delaware River along the route though Philly.
There are the usual twists and turns and of course it turns out that a group of people have a lot invested financially in making sure the gay clubs are driven out of business and they are able to gentrify the area where those bars are. Cliff finds way to get the deaths to end, and get a certain amount of revenge on the most guilty of the most nasty of the group.
I recommend this book for those who like mysteries, and for readers who enjoy novels with gay characters with a prespective from the pre-gay rights days of the late 1940s after World War II.
September 30, 2022
I was looking in my city's library collection and was shocked at the only book by Richard Stevenson they carry is Knock Off the Hat. Little did I know, as I was so enjoying the first Clifford Waterman detective, that it would be the last. This was the most fun I'd had reading a detective story since Jackson Brody took my heart. And now sooo disappointed that I'll have to go to other sources - my great used book store - to find more detective stories by Stevenson.
His take on corruption set in the 1940s is exactly like the big-money corruption of today: who you know and especially who you want to silence. Only now the grifting is politically upfront, being bought and paid for seems to be an honor. And the Democrats' use of social media is "helping" to destroy those who disagree living in mortal fear (a little like some of Waterman's clients) of the return of Trump. It appears we've learned almost nothing about how to keep corruption out of government and the courts.
Nevertheless, the delightfully short chapters, the great dialogue, the wrapping it up beautifully in the last chapter - all a delight and well worth a read. The issues of how gays were treated some twenty years before Stonewall is not surprising but Stevenson does a great job of showing without too much telling. And loved the funeral scene from everyone's perspective. I will miss what might have happened next to Cliff and have Richard Stevenson in my thoughts today.
His take on corruption set in the 1940s is exactly like the big-money corruption of today: who you know and especially who you want to silence. Only now the grifting is politically upfront, being bought and paid for seems to be an honor. And the Democrats' use of social media is "helping" to destroy those who disagree living in mortal fear (a little like some of Waterman's clients) of the return of Trump. It appears we've learned almost nothing about how to keep corruption out of government and the courts.
Nevertheless, the delightfully short chapters, the great dialogue, the wrapping it up beautifully in the last chapter - all a delight and well worth a read. The issues of how gays were treated some twenty years before Stonewall is not surprising but Stevenson does a great job of showing without too much telling. And loved the funeral scene from everyone's perspective. I will miss what might have happened next to Cliff and have Richard Stevenson in my thoughts today.
April 5, 2022
It’s summer in post-World-War-II Philadelphia. The temperature is rising, and so too is the gay bashing, thanks to the police department and the City’s hugely corrupt judicial system. Tough-talking, but also hugely funny, Clifford Waterman—a former police detective who received a dishonorable discharge from the Army for being caught in the act in Cairo—is trying to make a go as a noirish PI. He’s hired to get the charges against a young man caught up in a bar raid dismissed and his $500 bribe reduced.
Shake-downs of lesbians and gay men are nothing new, but Waterman begins to realize that the scope of the attacks and the size of the bribes are escalating hugely—along with the psychological damage and suicides that the publicity is causing among the LGBTQ community. Waterman’s search is a broad one, taking him throughout the greater Philadelphia area and up and down the social ladder. Sex and lovers, the relationships between Black and white queer men—expect the racist language of the day—and jazz and the blues all contribute to creating a memorable time and place.
It’s great to have the author of the ground-breaking Don Strachey novels back with what we can only hope will be as prolific a series.—Brian Kenney
For more reviews of new crime fiction, subscribe to our weekly newsletter, First Clue: https://www.getrevue.co/profile/First...
Shake-downs of lesbians and gay men are nothing new, but Waterman begins to realize that the scope of the attacks and the size of the bribes are escalating hugely—along with the psychological damage and suicides that the publicity is causing among the LGBTQ community. Waterman’s search is a broad one, taking him throughout the greater Philadelphia area and up and down the social ladder. Sex and lovers, the relationships between Black and white queer men—expect the racist language of the day—and jazz and the blues all contribute to creating a memorable time and place.
It’s great to have the author of the ground-breaking Don Strachey novels back with what we can only hope will be as prolific a series.—Brian Kenney
For more reviews of new crime fiction, subscribe to our weekly newsletter, First Clue: https://www.getrevue.co/profile/First...
June 4, 2022
Maureen Corrigan recommended four books for summer reading and having read her memoir, I decided to read them all. I enjoyed this. A classic noir detective novel set in Philadelphia in post World War II. The twist is that the detective is gay (a term that I had thought that came out of the seventies, but as a good reader I Googled it and it goes much further back) So the obligatory sex scenes are different for me. As a child I had a cornea transplant at Wills Eye Hospital in Philly in the summer and as at that time the only way to secure the cornea was for the patient to lie with her head between sand bags for three weeks, and as a child I couldn’t be drugged for that, I know that his description of the city in the summer without air conditioning is absolutely spot on. Sweltering is way too mild a term for it, but he captures it perfectly. A highly textured book. Interesting characters and a twisty but believable plot.
September 16, 2022
My lungs feel as though they’ve developed cancer, having followed Clifford Waterman around sweltering Philly for 200+ pages as he investigates the increasingly expensive - and violent - shakedowns of the gay community. For Waterman, it’s mostly a $45 a day kind of job and a way to keep his phone line on…until it becomes more personal.
Stevenson, the author, does a terrific job not only putting you in the smells and feels of 1947 Philly, but in the the historically corrupt, racist, homophobic, misogynistic place too. (So much has changed 😬.) sad to have read his obituary - glad for this little Alice of gay Philly to have made it out into the world.
Stevenson, the author, does a terrific job not only putting you in the smells and feels of 1947 Philly, but in the the historically corrupt, racist, homophobic, misogynistic place too. (So much has changed 😬.) sad to have read his obituary - glad for this little Alice of gay Philly to have made it out into the world.
December 19, 2022
A gay private eye in 1947 Philadelphia is engaged to figure out a way to negotiate a bribe down to a more reasonable level by a man caught in a police 'morals' raid. But as the P.I. starts to put out feelers, he finds the corruption has metastasized beyond what he could have imagined. Suddenly, he's looking into suspicious deaths and wondering if his phone is tapped. Stevenson does a great job of evoking time and place here, particularly regarding the options for sexual minorities in an America stumbling into an era defined by McCarthy and J. Edgar Hoover.
December 31, 2022
A last book from the author of the beloved Donald Strachey series.
Very similar in a way, featuring a hard-boiled gay PI, but historical, not contemporary, and set in Philadelphia, not Albany. But it contained many of the same themes of (fighting back against) oppression in a maverick-y sort of way.
I wish Stevenson could have had the opportunity to continue this series, but it's a lovely end, nonetheless, to such an interesting career.
Very similar in a way, featuring a hard-boiled gay PI, but historical, not contemporary, and set in Philadelphia, not Albany. But it contained many of the same themes of (fighting back against) oppression in a maverick-y sort of way.
I wish Stevenson could have had the opportunity to continue this series, but it's a lovely end, nonetheless, to such an interesting career.
January 16, 2023
3.5/5
An interesting period piece about life for gay men in Philadelphia after the Second World War told within the confines of a standard detective mystery novel.
It contains a sordid, sympathetic, despicable cast of characters headed by a an atypically gay, but otherwise stereotypically hard-boiled gumshoe.
What works least well is the actual mystery/murder/plot because where this is all headed is fairly obvious from Chapter One.
An interesting period piece about life for gay men in Philadelphia after the Second World War told within the confines of a standard detective mystery novel.
It contains a sordid, sympathetic, despicable cast of characters headed by a an atypically gay, but otherwise stereotypically hard-boiled gumshoe.
What works least well is the actual mystery/murder/plot because where this is all headed is fairly obvious from Chapter One.
March 20, 2023
I am looking for a detective series with a gay lead. Richard Stevenson in the 90s had such a series with Donald Strachey. It was a good, not great series. So I was excited to read this. Unfortunately, this book did not work for me. Fo the first 3/4 of the book, it just kind of sat there. No story or character development. The last 1/4 picked up the pace but imho, the ending did not ring true.
I think the author had a good idea but he just was not able to flesh it out.
I think the author had a good idea but he just was not able to flesh it out.
July 25, 2022
A bit of the dark days of gay life in Philadelphia (and other cities) in the 1940s but a great story. I loved the characters and their interaction with each other and how they dealt with being gay or having gay relations without ever really coming out even to themselves. An easy read that kept pulling me along.
August 28, 2023
I like this book for the narrator/PI and his voice. He has a wry sense of humor. He also has sort of an everyman quality. It was a good escape into 1940's gay city life or the writer's idea of it. It was not a good time to be gay, but, none the less, I felt a nostalgia for a life I never experienced. In this sense it reminded me of Fellow Travelers by Thomas Mallon.
April 22, 2022
WOW! A gripping, well written, heartwrenching at times, and highly entertaining noir that kept me turning pages.
I loved the style of writing and the MC. The plot is well developed and solid.
Highly recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher and Edelweiss for this ARC, all opinions are mine
I loved the style of writing and the MC. The plot is well developed and solid.
Highly recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher and Edelweiss for this ARC, all opinions are mine
December 26, 2022
Well plotted and written. Gay life in that time and place is richly described, as is the politics and corruption of the period. The last gay mystery novelist I had read was Michael Nava, and I was pleased to see his name in the acknowledgements.
May 16, 2023
Worth a read if you are into Philly or gay mysteries and have time to kill. It was not my favorite mystery, but thought it was a lighter and more humorous version of Pelecanos novels about crime in DC in a slightly later time period.
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March 16, 2025A one-off mystery written by Richard Stevenson, featuring private investigator Clifford Waterman, seemingly to create a new character, instead of writing another volume about Don Strachey. The title contains a clever allusion to a main, albeit background, character in the story.
June 1, 2022
Thoroughly enjoyed this story and hope it’s the first of many more to come.
Thanks to Edelweiss for the ARC.
Thanks to Edelweiss for the ARC.
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June 24, 2022I’ll come back to this one. I was hoping that I could do something other than SF. But no.
July 5, 2022
An absolute delight, full of delicious historical tidbits.
January 12, 2023
A sleuthy gay pre Stonewall page-turner. Full of great 40s prose, history and homo life in Center City Philadelphia.
January 27, 2023
Tongue-in-cheek noir. A little hard to keep track of all the many characters.
March 10, 2023
Ham-handed, over the top and subtle as a ton of bricks, this book hits you over the head with the noir setting and language, and doesn't even give you a particularly good mystery to make up for it.
July 18, 2023
A gay gumshoe novel! Sign me up. Good period detail, although the thought process for the lead character seemed much more recent. Wrapped up rather abruptly.
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