Works by
Josh Lanyon
(Writer)

Adrien English Mystery Series

1. Fatal Shadows (2000)
   Los Angeles bookseller and aspiring mystery author Adrien English opens his front door to murder one sunny morning. His old high school buddy (and employee) has been found stabbed to death in a back alley following a loud and very public argument with Adrien the previous evening.
   
   Naturally the cops want to ask Adrien a few questions; they are none too impressed with his answers, and when a few hours later someone breaks into Adrien's shop and ransacks it, the law is inclined to think Adrien is trying to divert suspicion from himself.
   
   Adrien knows better. Adrien knows he is next on the killer's list.

2. A Dangerous Thing (2001)
   A group of university archaeologists are camped out in a Californian forest. One of the team, of Native American descent, is convinced the place is haunted – and the weird nighttime sounds that are spooking them all out are slowly convincing the rest of them. It sounds more like the setup for an episode of Scooby Doo than a murder mystery, but the latest novel from Gay Men’s Press enters areas that Hanna-Barbera’s 'Mystery Machine crew' would never dare approach.
   
   In A Dangerous Thing by Josh Lanyon, bookseller-turned-crime writer Adrien English escapes out to the Pine Shadow Ranch, bequeathed to him by his beloved grandmother, in the hope of overcoming his writer’s block and to sort out in his head his frustrating relationship with the S/M-obsessed LAPD detective that he met in Lanyon’s first book, Fatal Shadows.
   
   English finds he has little time for writing, though, when he discovers a dead body on his driveway – one that has disappeared by the time the local sheriff turns up. Any hopes that this would be a comedy romp disappear further when we realize that the disappearing corpse is that of the curmudgeonly caretaker. So, without giving too much away, we can safely assume that he won’t be unmasked at the end, claiming in true Scooby style he would have gotten away with it too, if it hadn’t been for you meddling homosexuals...
   
   When a second corpse turns up (assumed by the none-too-intelligent local police to be the hereto missing body), suspicion falls on English himself. His case doesn’t look much brighter when he discovers that the caretaker was growing nearly a million dollars’ worth of cannabis on site. Together, English and his on-off boyfriend seek to solve the mystery of the two murders – and just what is behind the strange goings-on affecting the archaeologists.
   
   Lanyon’s second book is a riveting romp, moving along at an incredible pace. Alongside the tensions of the murder mystery, the two main characters’ growing togetherness slowly knit. Detective Jake Riordan coming to terms with his first relationship with a man manages to be touching with being cliché-ridden.

3. The Hell You Say (2006) -- Finalist 2006 Lambda Literary Award for Gay Men's Mystery)
   The long anticipated third novel in the Adrien English series finds the “ill-starred and bookish” mystery writer and bookseller battling demons—maybe literally.
   
   After bookstore clerk Angus flees following terrifying death threats, Adrien must contend with a mysterious Satanic cult, a hot and handsome university professor, and his on-again/off-again relationship with closeted LAPD Homicide Detective Jake Riordan.

   And, oh, yes, murder...

4. Death of a Pirate King (In progress)

• The Dark Horse (A novella coming soon from Loose ID.)
  Love is a dark horse—and Sean Fairchild is in for the ride of his life.
  
  Paul Hammond is dead. That’s what tough and sexy LAPD Detective Daniel Moran tells his lover, Hollywood actor Sean Fairchild—and Sean wants to believe him, but what about those threatening postcards in Hammond’s handwriting? What about the fact that he’s seeing Hammond everywhere he goes? Yes, Sean’s had some emotional problems in the past, but that was a long time ago and he’s not imagining things, so why is Dan looking at him that way?
  
  The last thing Sean needs is someone doubting him, especially when he’s competing for the coveted leading role in the screen adaptation of The Charioteer. But then again, as ex-lover and manager Steve points out, what does Sean really know about his new boyfriend?
  
  Dan is a dark horse—and maybe Sean is betting too much on this relationship. It not just Sean’s career at stake, or his relationship, or even his sanity—-it’s his life.

• Scared Stiff (2007)
  A eclectic mix of inspired stories from best-selling authors Josh Lanyon, Laura Baumbach, Sarah Black, and William Maltese. Scared Stiff offers four very different tales of m/m ghostly doings that'll have readers panting (in more ways than one) under the covers.