The Secret Casebook of Simon Feximal by KJ Charles

Publisher:  Samhain Publishing, Ltd. (June 16, 2015)

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Review written by Christopher Hawthorne Moss

OK, I admit it.  I’m hooked on K. J. Charles.  While not myself wild about the paranormal, Charles’s historical tales charm me to no end.  One of the elements I appreciate is the realism around the acceptability of gay relationships, that is, the lack of it and the need to be discreet.  The men in Charles’s stories need to hide their love but for the warm and caring men this will not be easy, and they find ways to possess a love life and share it with like-minded men and other friends and family.  It could be done and in some cases, it was a success.   The fact that careful monogamy is one of the rules and plenty of cleverness makes the story palatable to modern readers, I suppose.

And… this is Holmes and Watson but not really.  The two have just that sort of relationship and even acknowledge it, but of course, they have paranormal powers which separate the pairing.  A lot more mysterious things can happen with these two.  The two men meet when  one of them needs a ghost removed from his property so he can sell it.  The ghost is a randy son of a bitch so sex between the Ghostbusters is inevitable.

They stay together after the journalist partner’s getting fired over a haunting of a Duke, but though the established ghost hunter is reluctant to start a relationship, he turns out to really want a partner.  They live with his studious and strong sister.  The book is a series of cases they solve, then a rather surprising and dramatic ending which I won’t spoil.

I love the relationship between the two men.  Though eccentric their partnerships are full of the sort of issues that plague anyone, and their passionate love for each other helps them make their way together in the world.