Snowball in hell by Josh Lanyon

Snowball in Hell by Josh Lanyon

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


[Advance reader copy. The title was released several years ago, but is being re-released in extended form, I think to launch a series.]



A murder mystery and gay romance in early 1940’s Los Angeles, in which a widowed cop teams up with a reporter just home from the front.



I think, to the extent Lanyon’s usual readership may be dissatisfied with this long novella, it may be because it’s not an easy read. One of our protagonists has been driven to the brink of suicide; they are both all but choking on internalized homophobia. Writing a gay historical is difficult, for most periods, because either the end is laughably and anachronistically full of sunshine, or the grim realities of deception and fear and self-loathing bury the cotton candy romance at the heart of the genre. This one does a pretty good job of navigating that, without losing site of either point.



I think, actually, this story really ought to have been a full length novel, with a more elaborate mystery and a slower unfold of the relationship. There’s a lot of richness here, and some pretty dark waters are stirred up. I think it could have gone a lot deeper.





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