The Back Passage

With the exception of a brief interlude of (appropriate to context) police brutality, I laughed the whole way through this book! I read it when working nightshift and my co-workers thought I was mad. Written in a great 1920's style it is very explicit and the sex scenes are very intense (and unrelenting). However, the humour in evident on every page. If you want a nice whodunnit buy agatha christie - want a whodunnit with wit and bite? Try this! Ok, as a straight woman I am maybe not the intended audience but as random purchases go, I am so glad I bought it. Hilarious.

5 stars for the cover! (8/8 people found this helpful)

Is there a label for this kind of gay lit that has proliferated in recent years? These romps are usually decently written and often quite diverting but their raison d'etre is the endless stream of graphically described sexual encounters in which just about every young guy the handsome hunky hero encounters is ready and willing. If you removed the continuous stream of sex fantasies nobody would be bothered to read these books and presumably the authors wouldn't be bothered to write them. This particular opus in totally anachronistic in the sense that the gay ethos of our modern age is transplanted to a 1920s setting. But it's all fantasy so what does it matter?
Now, are you looking for a dazzling example of a classic whodunnit from the Golden Age of the 20s and 30s? In which case do an Amazon search for the Poisoned Chocolates Case by Anthony Berkeley.
Or would you prefer a porny read that's pretty good fun, capably written with a so-so whodunnit stitched on? I thought so. In which case the Back Passage will do nicely.

An Absolute Hoot (5/5 people found this helpful)

This is an absolute scream, a period piece set in the world of silent cinema and po faced between-the-wars-Britishness. The sexy bits are, ahem, not for the faint hearted, but are never gratuitous, and the plot itself is neatly put together. One of the funniest books I have ever read.

Gay American hunk, seducer and crime solver (22/22 people found this helpful)

The hot summer of 1925, and a twenty-two year old randy Bostonian hunk, Edward "Mitch" Mitchell, in England following postgraduate studies at Cambridge, has been invited to Drekeham Hall, Norfolk, home of Sir James Eagle, MP, for the weekend by his best friend and fellow student, Harry "Boy" Morgan, handsome muscular athlete and rowing blue. Boy is set to marry Belinda, the daughter of the house, but this minor inconvenience does not deter Mitch, the narrator, from his aim of seducing him by the end of the day.
While playing the game of Sardines, and incidentally during which Mitch begins his seduction of Boy, a dead body tumbles from a cupboard, and so begins a weekend of action, drama and amateur sleuthing. Immediatley a servant of the house is arrested for the murder, but Mitch suspects things are not quite so simple and sets out, with Boy's help, to find the real culprit. Mitch's attempts at detective work are hampered only by his sex drive, for he meets temptation at every turn. Apart from his ongoing seduction of Boy, Mitch also enjoys other diversionary assignations with among others Sir James' flamboyant and sinister brother, a handsome young policeman and an investigating journalist. He also encounters sadistic and corrupt policemen, a couple of naked male servants on horseback and cavorting in the long grass, an oversexed chauffeur, a voyeuristic butler, and a compliant young house boy, plus a few surprises.
Well written, with smooth flowing prose, this is a most enjoyable, if unlikely mystery; very funny and with plenty of twists and surprises in the plot. More vividly described sexual encounters than one could ever hope for in an average weekend, but then this is no average weekend.

Oh So Entertaining (11/11 people found this helpful)

"Graphic" is the first word that springs to mind, and indeed the second and third. Well-written, good continuity, consistently humourous, appealing characters, appalling character twists-- an enjoyable and easy read. Perhaps a must-have, certainly a must-borrow-from-library.
The main character is a randy American college student in England in 1925 relating the murder mystery that began just feet from him while he was rather adamantly "otherwise occupied." Generally the premise feels real, if startlingly unlikely, and the reader will find himself torn between anticipation at the next R-rated moment and curiosity about the identity of the murderer. Not one to leave lying around when children are present, but a smashing good read otherwise.

James Lear

Reader Reviews:

Giggle fest almost the whole way through! (0/0 people found this helpful)

5 stars for the cover! (8/8 people found this helpful)

An Absolute Hoot (5/5 people found this helpful)

Gay American hunk, seducer and crime solver (22/22 people found this helpful)

Oh So Entertaining (11/11 people found this helpful)

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