Title: The Thin Man Takes A Husband
Author: Diana Williams
Fandom: The Donald Strachey Mysteries (Movie ‘verse)
Pairing(s): Donald Strachey/Timothy Callahan
Rating: NC17
Warnings: Violence
Genres: First Time, Suspense
Word Count: 11,011
Summary: A mistaken encounter plunges Timothy Callahan into an adventure, as he pretends to be married to the fascinating detective, Donald Strachey, in order to protect an elderly woman from a mysterious threat.
Why You Should Read This: First, about the fandom itself. The Donald Strachey Mysteries are one of the few male/male lead character mystery books (4 of which were made into movies) that have made it nearly to the mainstream. And while the books are good, the movies are excellent. Like in any television series or movie, you want the main characters to have a good chemistry, which both Chad Allen and Sebastian Spence have. Their chemistry is amazing, and you can’t help but love them.
There are four movies in total, though unfortunately none of them are available via streaming with the exception of one, “Shock To The System” (available here) which is available on Youtube as a paid part of here! TV (A gay TV channel). Netflix and Amazon both have the DVDs for rent/sale.
The movies should probably be watched in order. They are:
- Third Man Out (trailer here)
- Shock to the System (trailer here)
- On the Other Hand, Death (trailer here)
- Ice Blues (trailer here)
Now, the story itself. There is a lot of backstory that we don’t know about the Donald Strachey Mysteries if you’re only in the Movie ‘verse, and this fiction actually does quite a lot of wonder in settling all of that. The fiction starts with Timothy not knowing Donald, who accidentally hires him to be his date to a party in order to find out who is harassing a woman with a gay son. Their friendship grows from strangers to friends, and eventually leading to becoming lovers. What Diana has written is a natural progression that just feels right.