These books feature Pharoah Love, a sexy, sassy African-American police detective working in Manhattan. Baxt, who has written many other novels, including a series of mysteries starring historical characters such as Dorothy Parker, Tallulah Bankhead and Noel Coward, apparently began this series in the 1960s, as a trilogy. This series began with A Queer Kind of Death, continued with Swing Low, Sweet Harriet, and concluded with Topsy and Evil. Then in the 1980s the books were reissued, and Baxt wrote the two "Queer" sequels below.
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A Queer Kind of Love 
Simon & Schuster 1994 St. Martin's 1995 This book has a light, sassy tone full of puns and wisecracks, but I just didn't believe it. It was too zany and too flaky, the characters all stereotypes. I didn't believe in any of them (though there were occasional moments when Pharoah himself tugged at my emotions) and while the puzzle was decent, in the end I just didn't care. |
A Queer Kind of Umbrella
Simon & Schuster 1995
Swing Low Sweet Harriet
International Polygonics 1987
After reading A Queer Kind of Love, I tried to get into this book, but it seemed to have all the flaws of the later book and none of its good features. Pharoah himself seems hardly a character, and I couldn't stand Sweet Harriet from the moment she tap-danced around the corner.
A Queer Kind of Death
This new is a new edition of what I believe was Baxt's first book about Pharoah. I haven't been able to find publication information on it or on Topsy and Evil, the third in the original trilogy.
