Books: Vermilion (Valentine and Lovelace #1) By Nathan Aldyne (1980)

"A dead young hustler is found on the lawn of a queer-baiting legislator. Boston's political and queer communities are up in arms about the matter, and police are bent on finding the killer -- fast. Best friends Daniel Valentine and Clarisse Lovelace team up and hit the streets of Boston. Through a sinister underworld of bars and baths, bondage and blackmail, they're out to solve a very bizarre murder.” 

Vermilion is first of four books mysteries that Michael McDowell and Dennis Schuetz (who penned the 1985 episode ANSWER ME from the syndicated anthology series TALES FROM THE DARKSIDE) wrote under the pseudonym of Nathan Aldyne. 

Much like Joseph Hanson’s Dave Brandsetter series I read a few years ago, Vermilion will give a a reader a bit of a culture shock, especially to those not familiar with the 1970s and pre-AIDS era gay scene (sadly, both men died of the disease, Schuetz in 1989 and McDowell a decade later). It’s a bit un-PC, which reflects how a lot of gay men and drag queens dealt with each other. It is also a delightful look at era that is both in the past and in the present (queens will always be mean to other queens). It’s has a very familiar format, yet original, funny, but a bit dark. 

I found a quick and enjoyable read, mostly interesting for its depiction of gay life in Boston (which was probably the same in any big city at the time). Daniel does take a bit to start liking at first, and Clarisse is rather clichéd fag hag, but it was a fun read and, again., an interesting time capsule for anyone who did not grow up in that era and might want to know how the gays that came before the 21^st Century used to live.