The Spinner of Tales

His first novel, The Butterscotch Prince, was hailed in 1975 as a triumph: an explicitly gay murder mystery story with erotic elements released during the heady days of Gay Liberation. Richard Hall’s career, as a writer of short and long fiction, in theatre and as a widely acclaimed book critic, flourished. Seventeen years later, Hall worked feverishly, and lovingly, to complete his second gay mystery novel, The Spinner of Tales, now released for the first time and marking 30 years since his death.

Dr. Bruce Pittman runs a successful music school in New York, nurturing young talent for the concert stage. David Donnenfield has been in his orbit for nearly a decade; he arrived as a fresh-faced, somewhat tentative, 19-year-old with talent, ambition but sorely lacking polish. Now he was touring regularly to great acclaim ... until he’s been charged with the bludgeoned murder of Miles Halloran, longtime friend of Bruce, and a great raconteur and world traveler.

But as Bruce tries to fit the pieces together, David resists, and darker elements of Miles’ life come to the surface. Worse, his battle with AIDS-related “opportunistic infections” is taking a deep toll, sapping his energy and placing him in and out of hospital. There is much more to Miles’ own back story which leads to a dangerous trip to Miles’ second home in Puerto Rico, threads through the world of New York publishing, and hints at drug trade and money laundering. Is anyone who they seem to be? And when, inadvertently, Bruce hands NYPD Detective Kerrison a crucial bit of evidence, David may be lost.

Jeffrey Round provides an introduction. A ReQueered Tales Original Publication.

“Richard Hall’s prose displays a rare polish, and his accounts of ordinary and exceptional lives unfold in grateful cadences.” — Los Angeles Times
“The elegance and refinement of Hall’s prose have once again marked him as one of our most distinguished writers.” — Gay Pride