Transgender

Forum















Book Chat: Sue Grafton

By Elizabeth Parker


As I was preparing this month's selections, I noticed it has already been an entire year since this column began. It is hard to believe I've been writing this column that long, since I was somewhat shy about starting. I'm glad now that I did, because not only have I been able to share some of my good finds with you, I've been blessed with the many fine suggestions you've given me.

This month I'd like to introduce you to Sue Grafton's work. For those who never read because they are too pretty and have other things to occupy their time, Sue Grafton is a famous mystery writer, specializing in the tough private-eye genre, with the twist that hers is a woman, Kinsey Milhone. Kinsey is the typical wise-cracking P.I. made famous by Raymond Chandler and continued by many others. Without checking, I believe that Sue Grafton was one of the first to place a woman in this role.

Now Sue Grafton hasn't written much with a transgender twist. But in a recent book, there is a lengthy, key scene where she betrays her open-mindedness. In "K Is For Killer", she has Kinsey investigating the death of Lorna Kepler, a beautiful flirtatious loner. Her death was a mystery which the cops couldn't seem to solve. Her mother hires Kinsey to look into it, and with little else to go on, she tracks down the cast and crew from a pornographic movie Lorna starred in years ago. Lorna's co-star in the movie, Russell Turpin, a man with an extremely large private appendage(of course), lives in San Francisco when Kinsey tracks him down. He apparently lives with a female roommate, Cheri Stanislaus. While Kinsey is waiting for Russell to come home, Cheri arrives first.

"The blonde coming up the stairs wore makeup so pale, the effect was ghostly. Her eyes were elaborately done up with thick false eyelashes, two shades of eye shadow, and a black pencil line on both her upper and lower lids. Her forehead was high, and her hair was teased upward at the crown, held back with a gaudy rhinestone clip. The rest of her hair was long and straight, splitting at the shoulder so that half extended down her back. A cluster of long curls tumbled over her breasts. Her long dangle earrings were shaped like elongated question marks. She wore a dark leotard on top and a slinky black skirt that was split up one side. Her hips were narrow, her stomach flat."

Cheri invites Kinsey in for a drink, and they talk. Cheri is abrupt, but not unfriendly. They move back to the bedroom where Cherri starts to get more comfortable, taking off her girdle and pantyhose. Then she begins taking off her makeup, talking about Lorna's pretty skin and how much she envied it. Then she casually removes her wig, revealing a wig cap and Russell's baritone. There is no apology, just a matter of fact revelation, and Kinsey apparently takes it in stride. But she is fascinated by the transformation, and quizzes Russell about his predilection. Kinsey is not judgemental, and in response to Russell's query, even tells him that she likes Cherri better. Russell agrees, showing a preference I'm sure we can all identify with.

Grafton shows remarkable sensitivity in this revealing scene, and has displayed this in other episodes involving unconventional lifestyles. And she does this with a character who suffers no fools, who in fact makes short work of those unfortunates who exhibit symptoms of the "demons of stupidity".


Grafton has one earlier book with a character who dons drag to pull off a crime. Unfortunately I can't go into detail as it would ruin the entire book. It is "D Is For Deadbeat", and I've actually blown it for you just by revealing its title in this context. But I can't exactly ask you to read the entire series(though I believe you would enjoy doing just that)!

In this book, there is little of the sensibility Kinsey is to display in Killer. But she is dealing with a murderer. Even then, however, she manages to exhibit understanding of the person, not the crime. The drag is not described in detail, and you will probably, like me, be disgusted with the apparent ease with which the killer pulls off a convincing female impersonation with no prior practice. Grafton attempts to explain this away by hinting that the victim might have been aware of the disguise and allowed the crime to happen as a means of atonement. Sounds weak to me. But I do believe you will enjoy this early book of Grafton's, and I apologize if I've said too much.


Since I haven't given you the usual blockbuster this month, I thought I'd tell you about a book which is about a very strange transgendered character. The book is "Exchange Alley", by Michael Walsh.

It starts out with the murder of a Danish diplomat named Egil Ekdahl. The opening sequence is intriguiging as we find out the Egil keeps his body totally shaved and is a spy of some sort. But during the opening sequence Egil is shot and castrated. NYPD Homicide Lieutenant Francis Byrne is assigned the case and while examining the corpse discovers a photograph of two women, one of whom seems to be a younger version of Byrne's mother. Byrne is nonplussed and steals the photo, inappropriate behavior for a Homicide Detective. He investigates Egil's background, beginning with the Danish consulate. At the consulate he meets sexy Ingrid, the epitome of a stereotypical Mata Hari, who seduces him and introduces him to the seamy side of Manhattan club life. At one club in particular, we meet the denizens who provide our interest in this book. It turns out that Egil was one of the prettiest drag customers the club had. We don't get much more than that, but the proprietor is also a very attractive transvestite, and we get a lot of interaction with her.

The rest of the book develops into a bizarre net of plots, involving Egil's Oedipus complex, and even the assassination of John F. Kennedy. The effect is like Silence of the Lambs meets JFK. In all, I quite enjoyed the book due to the transgender spice, though I hated myself afterward.


Bibliography

Grafton, Sue, "'D' Is For Deadbeat", Henry Holt and Company, Inc., 1987, ISBN: 0805002480 (Hardback)

Grafton, Sue, "'D' Is For Deadbeat", Crime Line, 1988, ISBN: 0553271636 (Paperback)

Grafton, Sue, "'K' Is For Killer", Fawcett Books, 199?, (Hardback)

Grafton, Sue, "'K' Is For Killer", Fawcett Books, 1995, ISBN: 0449221504 (Paperback)

Walsh, Michael, "Exchange Alley", Warner Books, 1997, ISBN: 0446520691 (Hardback)

TGF's Home Page