Death in the Dark (Dublin Drag Mysteries, #2)

by Kitty Murphy

Abduction. Accusations. And murder on the dance floor.

Sparkle McCavity, young drag queen and employee of Miss Merkin, is missing, presumed kidnapped or even worse. Naturally, Merkin turns to reluctant sleuth and friend to the community Fi for help, but clues and suspects are worryingly thin on the ground—and the drag king Stan the Man is proving somewhat distracting. When Merkin’s niece is then found murdered, spiked on a light pole in nightclub TRASH, it becomes clear that Fi’s friends are in danger. Again.

With the ever-inept Detective O’Hara becoming convinced that the most likely suspect is Miss Merkin herself, tensions begin to build among the friends. Could one of them really be responsible?

After a strangely spooky séance, Fi’s best friend Robyn disappears. Guilt-ridden and distraught, Fi and her friends must double their efforts to save Robyn and Sparkle before it’s too late.

Just as long as her increasingly complicated and distracting love life doesn’t get in the way!

• ISBN10: 1542037247
• ISBN13: 9781542037242
• Publish Date: 11 April 2023
• Publish Status: Active
• Publish Country: US
• Imprint: Thomas & Mercer
• Format: Paperback (US Trade)
• Pages: 299
• Language: English

Reviews

[annieb123]

Originally posted on my blog Nonstop Reader.

Death in the Dark is the second Dublin Drag mystery featuring part time till worker and full time friend and amateur sleuth Fi, written by Kitty Murphy. Released 11th April 2023 by Thomas & Mercer, it's 299 pages and is available in paperback, audio, and ebook formats. It's worth noting that the ebook format has a handy interactive table of contents as well as interactive links and references throughout. I've really become enamored of ebooks with interactive formats lately. For Kindle Unlimited subscribers, this book is currently included in the KU subscription library to borrow and read for free. The first book in the series, Death in Heels, is also available on KU.

This is such a well written and genuinely engaging mystery. The main protagonist, Fi McKinnery, is earnestly appealing, brave, loyal, and rendered believably. In fact, the author has a real gift with characterisation; even the minor secondary characters are handled well and skillfully. Given the premise (murder, skullduggery, and drama in and around a Dublin drag club), the pitfalls could have been legion. A lot of authors would have been tempted to caricature and ridicule and Ms. Murphy skillfully navigates the traps, resulting in a solidly entertaining and very well written read.

The mystery is well plotted and paced, and I never found my interest wandering at all. The climax, denouement, and resolution were satisfying (if not shocking or unexpected). It's rather sad that it needs to be said in today's world, but a high point for me was that there was no cruelty or ridicule aimed at the characters on the author's part. It would've been easy (maybe expected!) to lampoon drag and LGBTQIA+ culture for cheap laughs and the author has refrained throughout, for which I applaud. There is *camp* aplenty; bad puns, and occasionally catty dialogue (it's a murder mystery in a drag club), but it's not *mean* and I'm so very glad. There's a fun, almost Scooby Do mystery feel, with ridiculous situations, ghosts in the walls, do-lally geriatric aunties and a final middle finger scene to homophobia that is *very* satisfying to read (no spoilers).

Quite looking forward to the next books in this delightful series. 

Four and a half stars. With two books extant, and included in KU, this would make a superlative choice for a weekend binge or buddy read.

Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes.