Free (Kindle DRM-free) Sunset Island [Gay 1950s WWII Fallout Investigative Mystery]

[ATDrake]

Sunset Island by Lambda Literary Award-nominee Elliott Mackle is the 3rd in his Caloosa Club Mysteries series (which incidentally netted him the award-nom) of historical investigative mystery novels with m/m romantic elements set in 1950s Florida specifically dealing with post-WWII military/civilian societal fallout issues and assorted war-related crimes, starring an ex-Navy officer turned hotelier of the aforementioned club and an ex-Marine turned county detective, this installment apparently featuring several sets of cases rather than focusing on a single overarching crime, free courtesy of LGBT specialty publisher Lethe Press.

Currently free (and DRM-free) for up to the next 5 days @ Amazon (available to Canadians & in the UK and probably worldwide, since this seems to be done via KDP Select's exclusive-or-else program unlike the bulk of Lethe's catalogue which incidentally is couponable at Kobo and sometimes offered for deep-discount during Smashwords' periodic event sales).

And this has been the (late!) selected 3rd (non-repeat) free ebook thread of the day.

Because not-necessarily-murder investigative mysteries in an award-nominated series starring minority characters in an historical context which actually explores the societal effects of said history both on them and rest of their surrounding culture is so Relevant To My Interests™ that it's very definitely and probably once I actually start reading it.

Enjoy!

Description
February, 1950. Lee County, Florida. In the freewheeling, celebratory aftermath of World War II, survivors and veterans are starting new lives, resuming old ones, or just picking up the pieces.

Former Navy officer Dan Ewing feels safer than any gay man might expect in a segregated, dry county where the Ku Klux Klan is still strong. Managing an ultra-private club-hotel in Ft. Myers with a mixed-race staff, untaxed alcohol, high-stakes card games and escorts of both sexes, he’s been acting like he has nothing to lose: business is good and his romantic life is better. Lee County Detective Bud Wright, a former Marine sergeant and Dan’s secret lover, is outwardly strong and brave, but uneasy with the knowledge that, every time he and Dan get naked together, they’re breaking laws he’s sworn to uphold. It’s nothing that a few drinks can’t get him past, especially when moonlighting as security for Dan’s hotel.

Both men have their work cut out for them, however, once a hurricane evacuation brings to the hotel wealthy, well-connected non-members who happen to own Sunset Island, a secluded resort fronting the Gulf of Mexico. Their arrival sets in motion a turnover of hotel staff, sensual and sordid seductions, brutal assaults, the discovery of looted art from Holocaust victims, and, of course, murder. After drowned men start washing ashore on nearby beaches, Dan and Bud must set to work unraveling war-related mysteries and exploring the implications of a rapidly changing society in those postwar years.

[ATDrake]

Now a repeat freebie.