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Winter 2008
David Hunt
Berkley Books
The Magician's Tale is the first novel William Bayer wrote under the pseudonym of David Hunt. It was originally published by Putnam in 1997 and won the Lambda Literary Award for "Best Mystery." This is one of two books written about Kay Farrow who sees the world differently than almost everyone else.
Kay is a photographer working on a book of which the subject started out to be capturing the beauty in black and white of the shadiest part of San Francisco, hustler's row. Spending time in the 'Gulch', she'd made friends with her favorite model to photograph, Tim. He was a street hustler until he was brutally murdered and butchered. His head and limbs were found in a dumpster in a dark alleyway. His torso was found later. All clues deliberately point to a serial killer from several years back that was never caught.
Being nosy as a photographer already, and ballsy enough to hang around a most unsavory area of the city, she commences to snoop around where people don't want her to be. This begins the mystery and subsequent trouble she's headed for. But... Kay has a handicap. She is an achromat. It is the type of color-blindness that bright light can painfully blind her sensitive eyes like snow glare. She has to wear sunglasses when the sun is out. Her pursuers know of her weakness and can use it against her.
This tale has very graphic scenes of murder, prostitution, homosexuality, blackmail, some incest and maybe even a corrupt cop or two. The outcome was slightly predictable, but there was a bonus to make up for that; the unsolved case of the serial killer paralleled that of Tim's case and she ends up solving both. The imagery Hunt delivers of Kay's unique perception of the world in shades of gray is what makes this book a worthwhile read.
B- -Alesha Brunell
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