Book Description
Bob Abramson’s first encounter with murder occurred four years previously, in 1985, when his roommate, the scion of an old Boston family, was murdered and the case was investigated by the victim’s Harvard professor, Marcus George. As the investigation developed, Bob and Marcus, naturally, fell in love.
Now, Bob has completed law school and landed a job as an Assistant District Attorney in San Diego, and Marcus has accepted a new position at UC San Diego. As they settle in to their new home, they’re thrust into the investigation and its political ramification, and they find that a gay subculture roils much of southern California’s placidly straight surface.
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/125477842-fault-line?ac=1&from_search=true&qid=May09m0GOK&rank=1
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My Book Review
RATING: 5 out of 5 Stars
FAULT LINE (A Bob & Marcus Mystery Book #2) by H.N. Hirsch is a murder mystery that is intricately plotted with many motives and suspects, political pitfalls, and a realistic look back at the gay scene and subculture in 1980’s California. Professor Marcus George, who has accepted a position at UCSD, and Bob Abramson, who has been newly hired to the San Diego DA’s office, have relocated to the West Coast and end up once again embroiled in a murder mystery. This book in the series can easily be read as a standalone.
Bob Abramson has graduated law school and as he studies for his bar exam, he is also working for the San Diego DA’s office and asked to assist on a politically charged investigation into the violent death of the husband of the mayor of San Diego. While Bob is excited to be working in the DA’s office, he soon discovers he may not be able to trust the supposed “good guys”. The political pitfalls are many and add in the whispered questions about the victim’s sexuality and Bob is quickly discovering that sunny California has plenty of secrets in the shadows and is questioning his and Marcus’s move.
I found myself immersed in this murder mystery and could not put it down. Bob and Marcus are a wonderful couple still finding their way as a committed gay couple in the 1980s. While Marcus is settled in his profession, Bob is now having second thoughts, even as he for now follows his family’s tradition of practicing law. The atmospheric descriptions of the gay subculture in the 1980’s is well written and realistic. All the secondary characters, family, friends, and suspects are fully developed and believable.
The mystery plot is more police procedural than amateur sleuth style with the detectives having to have Bob and/or the Asst. DA present during all interviews due to the sensitive political nature of the murder. There are plenty of red herrings and twists that kept me guessing to the end.
I highly recommend this LGBTQ murder mystery, and I am looking forward to following more of Bob and Marcus’s adventures in the future.
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About the Author
H N Hirsch was born in Chicago and attended the University of Michigan. He then received a PhD from Princeton in Politics, and taught political science for 40 years at Harvard, the University of California-San Diego, Macalester College, and Oberlin College, where he also served as Dean of the Faculty and is now the Erwin N Griswold Professor of Politics Emeritus.
Social Media Links
Website: https://www.hnhirsch.info/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/harry.hirsch.50999
BookBub: https://www.bookbub.com/books/fault-line-by-h-n-hirsch
