Review: Killing Time in LA by Victor J. Banis

Title: Killing Time in LA

Series: Tom and Stanley: Book Three

Author: Victor J. Banis

Length: 200 Pages

Category: Gay Fiction, Murder Mystery

At a Glance: Victor J. Banis certainly delivers another great mystery in the Tom and Stanley series, and I’ll be looking forward to another installment.

Reviewed By: Maryann

Blurb: No matter how Stanley tries, he and Tom can’t seem to get away from bodies.

On vacation in LA, Stanley’s visit with a friend at a popular Mexican restaurant owned by La Paloma, the flamenco dancer, leads to meeting a couple from Mexico. When the woman is found dead, Tom and Stanley work with LAPD Detective Betts—a recovering alcoholic who lost his son to a child murderer—to find the young man. The bodies pile up as Tom, Stanley, and Betts race to solve the puzzle of a Russian agent, drug smuggling, illegal immigrants, and police corruption.

Stanley might hate bodies, but Tom can’t resist a mystery. While killing time in LA, will a killer set his sights on Stanley?

Continues the Deadly Mysteries Series published with MLR Press.

Review: Stanley Korski and Tom Danzel finally have some vacation time to spend in LA. It gives Stanley a chance to show Tom some of the great sights, but Tom isn’t so impressed. All he sees is that Olvera Street is just another tourist trap, but it also just so happens to be in the vicinity of La Comida, where Stanley is meeting up with an old friend for dinner, and where they can catch a great dancer named La Paloma, who also owns the restaurant.

Besides meeting his friend Eleana Corby, who has an accident at La Comida and gives Stanley a lighter to give to a mysterious stranger, Tom and Stanley meet two young people—Deme Costa and his friend Lisa—to whom they give a business card. Then Tom gets a call from one of his old friends, Bob Hansen, who used to work homicide with him, to ask Tom if he’ll come and observe a murder scene. This is where they also meet Carl Betts, Hansen’s partner. Knowing how much Tom loves a good murder mystery, poor Stanley goes along…but it would be so much better without the dead bodies. Stanley and Tom will have to use their top-notch investigative skills as they dig deeper into this conundrum of a mystery.

Victor J. Banis certainly delivers another great mystery in the Tom and Stanley series, and I’ll be looking forward to another installment. I have to say, this plot is filled with suspense, mysterious suspects, and corruption. I didn’t mention some of the goings-on, because I don’t want to give away the story, but there’s also a mystique to Killing Time in LA, involving Deme Costa’s abduction, which also gives a new twist to the series. As for the secondary characters, I really liked Carl Betts. He’s had some rough times, suffers the guilt of a tragedy, the loss of a lover, and deals with alcoholism and feeling useless. But, Tom and Stanley give him something to be proud of.

As far as Stanley and Tom’s relationship goes, it hasn’t changed. I appreciate how the author keeps things subtle, which keeps the romance interesting. There’s always temptation there, but they believe in the commitment they have made to one another.

You can buy Killing Time in LA here:
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