Author John Morgan Wilson Talks Writing and the 25th Anniversary Reissue of His Mystery ‘Simple Justice’
An early standout in the gay mystery genre, author John Morgan Wilson is about to enjoy a resurgence in popularity with the 25th anniversary reissue of his first book in the Benjamin Justice series. Releasing today (September 15, 2020), the Edgar Award winning Simple Justice introduces us to Wilson’s protagonist, Benjamin Justice, a reporter for the Los Angeles Times who’s seen his career and his life crash following a scandal involving the Pulitzer Prize. I spoke with John about his career, his life in West Hollywood, and his partnership with ReQueered Tales to issue revised editions of all eight books in the Benjamin Justice series. Fasten your headphones and join us for a lively conversation.
John Morgan Wilson is an American journalist and author of crime fiction, notably the Benjamin Justice mystery novels. The books feature a reclusive ex-reporter, ruined by a Pulitzer scandal and haunted by personal loss, who operates out of West Hollywood, becoming enmeshed in murder investigations in and around Los Angeles.
Simple Justice led the series in 1996, winning the Mystery Writers of America Edgar Award for Best First Novel. Six of the eight Justice mysteries, including Simple Justice, were nominated for Lambda Literary Awards for Best Gay Men’s Mystery, three of them winning in that category. (Wikipedia)
“It’s 1994, an election year when violent crime is rampant, voters want action, and politicians smell blood. When a Latino teenager confesses to the murder of a pretty-boy cokehead outside a gay bar in L.A., the cops consider the case closed. But Benjamin Justice, a disgraced former reporter for the Los Angeles Times, sees something in the jailed boy others don’t. His former editor, Harry Brofsky, now toiling at the rival Los Angeles Sun, pries Justice from his alcoholic seclusion to help neophyte reporter Alexandra Templeton dig deeper into the story. But why would a seemingly decent kid confess to a brutal gang initiation killing if he wasn’t guilty? And how can Benjamin Justice possibly be trusted, given his central role in the Pulitzer scandal that destroyed his career? Snaking his way through shadowy neighborhoods and dubious suspects, he’s increasingly haunted by memories of his lover Jacques, whose death from AIDS six years earlier precipitated his fall from grace. As he unravels emotionally, Templeton attempts to solve the riddle of his dark past and ward off another meltdown as they race against a critical deadline to uncover and publish the truth.”
Coming up on the One Thing or Another Podcast
Book reviewer Terri Schlicenmeyer talks books for fall.
Humorist and author Fay Jacobs talks life in the funny (and not so funny) lane.
Matt Lubbers-Moore talks ReQueered Tales and the reissue of Grant Michaels’s ‘Time to Check Out’ (foreword by yours truly!)
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