When a man is shot to death in his San Francisco apartment building and witnesses say that the killer is a woman but … not, the police are convinced they have a killer drag queen on their hands. Veteran homicide detective Tom Danzel and rookie Stanley Korski have been unexpectedly paired together to solve the case and to apprehend the killer. Tom is straight and is even mildly homophobic, and he is horrified to be paired with the swishy Stanley. Surely this is a partnership made in hell, but with the police department’s it-takes-a-queer-to-catch-a-queer mentality, there is nothing he can do about it but suffer.

Surprisingly, Tom and Stanley get along pretty well, and soon they are in the middle of their investigation, interviewing witnesses and examining the crime scene. When the killer strikes again, the sense of urgency escalates and the investigation intensifies, and the two detectives find themselves combing the local drag bars for suspects. Now not only does Tom have to deal with the frustration of a dead-end investigation and an over-eager and flirtatious partner, he’s beginning to realize that his feelings toward his partner are divided: annoyance on one hand and attraction on the other. How can he conduct a serious investigation when he keeps wondering how Stanley would look in a dress?

When the killer decides to target Tom, they know that they must be getting close to an answer, and when Tom realizes that he has seen the killer’s face before, the puzzle pieces begin to drop neatly into place. Now they just need to stay alive long enough to arrest the killer.

Victor Banis’s Deadly Nightshade is a novel that will appeal to lovers of police procedural mysteries. This is a well-written story that will draw the reader in and hold them hostage until the very end. The characters of Deadly Nightshade are well-developed and are realistically flawed. The two detectives have a love/hate relationship with each other. Stanley calls Tom a Neanderthal, and Tom desperately wishes that Stanley would stop acting so gay. Stanley’s motivation for becoming a police officer is questionable, and he has a bad habit of falling in love easily and inconveniently and throwing himself at the object of his affection. Tom is so conflicted as to his sexuality that it is surprising that he doesn’t spontaneously combust. He looks down on Stanley for being gay but wants him at the same time.

The murder mystery that this story revolves around is just as interesting as the dysfunctional relationship between the main characters. Throughout the story, we are given glimpses into the mind of the killer. They are enough to make the reader think that they know the identity of the villain throughout the story, so the actual revelation towards the end makes for an agreeable twist. The final identification of the murderer is no big surprise, but the journey the reader takes to make the discovery makes this story well worth a read.

Reviewed by: Whitney