The Devil's Chew Toy, Rob Osler's debut novel, is an inviting and gay cozy mystery, written with a clipped pace and a strong and assured voice. This droll and beguiling story reads like a sparkling combination of Alfred Hitchcock's North by Northwest and Armistead Maupin's Tales of the City. Diminutive eighth-grade social studies teacher and part-time blogger Hayden McCall--"Being five foot four (rounding up) and weighing 125 (again, rounding up)"--has been criticized by his former boyfriend, who said his "tolerance for thrill-seeking maxed out on the teacup ride at Disneyland." But that was before Venezuelan go-go boy Camilo Rodriguez accidentally kicked him in the face during a pole dance and took him home for an erotically charged, but chaste, night of conversation and cuddling. In the morning, Hayden wakes up to find only Camilo's bull terrier, Commander, in the apartment. He learns through two police officers that Camilo's truck was found in an empty parking lot, doors open and engine running.
Realizing that finding a missing gay go-go boy is a low priority for the police, Hayden sets off to find the mislaid man. He partners with Camilo's friend Hollister, a lesbian furniture maker (Hayden describes her as Serena Williams with a mohawk); Mysti, Hollister's prickly Korean American girlfriend; and Burley ("a six-and-a-half-foot-tall, three-hundred-pound giant of a woman") to form a ragtag team of amateur sleuths.
Osler has a knack for pacing this rollicking mystery at a fun gallop, but he truly excels at creating quirky and original characters. Cozy fans will be clamoring for sequels. --Kevin Howell, independent reviewer and marketing consultant