A well-crafted novella that captures the flavour of 1930s America. It played out, much like a film of that era, in my head including musical soundtrack and well-suited actors cast in the major roles! ( )

A light historical romp on a Gentleman Thief, the 1930s prototype of a twink and an handsome detective… and no, don’t worry, this is not a ménages a trois.

When Detective Hawk is taking the case about a break-in in an antiquities shop, he doesn’t expect to find love. Hawk is homosexual, but while in the 1920s it was easier to be gay in New York (for reference please read the fabulous Gay New York), in the 1930s people are starting the witch hunt, and so Hawk prefers to take for himself his preferences in bed companions. But when he meets Remington Trueblood, Englishman transplanted in New York and fashionable owner of a tea house, he knows he has met his destiny.

Remi is very young and despite his role as successful businessman, very innocent. He had a bad break-up with an older man, someone who is still holding a place in his heart, and he was not believing possible to fall in love again. But as for Hawk, it’s love at first sight, and the little detail he is on the focus of a thief is not so important like the task to know better Hawk.

Despite Remi’s young age, 23 years old, and being the 1930s (or maybe right since it’s the 1930s and so when you see a chance it’s better not to let it go), Remi and Hawk move very quickly and in the blink of a day they went from strangers to lovers. True there is nothing against them, they are both free, independent and willing, so why should they have to wait? And for what? And if someone is wondering about the chance of two men having an happily ever after in that age, well, I suggest you to read the above mentioned essay, you will be surprise how it seemed easier to be gay and discreet in the 1930s, and being a couple when most people don’t really care what you did in the privacy of your bedroom.

There is really no mystery on the real identity of the Gentleman Thief, and the dangerous adventures are not so dangerous after all; the main focus are Remi and Hawk and their blossoming love. I have the feeling this was only an appetizer for this author, and the idea is to have more and more adventures centered around the antiquities shop.

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B007FGWHOE/?tag=elimyrevandra-20