DEVIL’S CHEW TOY

A Hayden & Friends Mystery, Book One

2023 BEST FIRST NOVEL FINALIST

  • Anthony Award
  • Macavity Award
  • Agatha Award
  • Lefty Award

2022 Best of Lists:

  • Crime Reads Traditional Mystery
  • BOLO Books Review Top Reads–Debut
  • PopSugar
  • Book Riot

Gay, twenty-something school teacher and part-time blogger Hayden McCall is in trouble. The night’s date is missing, and the police think he has something to do with it. With help from new friends—Hollister, a what-you-see-is- what-you-got-a-problem? Black lesbian, and Burley, a stoner-baker giant—Hayden searches for the truth and the missing guy. But just staying alive is a tricky business when the enemy plays to kill.

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Rob Osler’s debut cozy — or “Quozy” — brings a rainbow of characters into the cozy universe with a lot of snap and even more style. I loved it!  
Catriona McPherson / multi-award-winning author of the Last Ditch Motel mysteries
Charming and diverse characters—both human and canine—fill the pages of Rob Osler’s delightfully humorous cozy.
Gigi Pandian / USA Today Bestselling & Agatha- and Anthony Award-Winning Author
A fresh new take on the gay mystery… A welcome new voice. 
Kirkus
Readers will hope Hayden and company will be back soon. 
Publishers Weekly
Cozy, queer, so much fun! 
Raquel V. Reyes / award-winning author of the Caribbean Kitchen Mystery series

A rollicking romp … Readers will be having so much fun following this gang’s escapades they will forget how radical the pairing of the gay male experience and the typically conservative cozy style truly is.

Kristopher Zgorski / The BOLO Books Review

For readers looking for a fun escape, a mystery to try and solve, and a lovely tale about an unlikely friendship, Devil’s Chew Toy is a definite must-read.

Seattle Gay News
A rollicking romp . . . Readers will be delighted.
Deadly Pleasures
A skillfully crafted and impressively original suspense thriller.
Midwest Book Review
A clever sleuth [main character, Hayden McCall] is always fun to read about, but it was his kindness that made him easy to root for.  
BookRiot: Queer Book Characters Who Had Me Beyond Obsessed
Congratulations to Osler for creating a mystery set in the LGBTQ community that is both compelling and heartfelt. Bring on the next installment!  
Brian Kenney / First Clue
This nail-biter of a book is gut-bustingly funny, endlessly entertaining, and little bit scary.
Hart Hanson / author of The Driver
An out and proud crime story loaded with charm, warmth and good humor, DEVIL’S CHEW TOY introduces an engaging new voice with a fresh perspective on the sorts of stories a 21st century mystery novel can tell.  
Charles Ardai / award-winning author of Nice Guys
What a wonderful read! From the knockout opening, through every unexpected twist, to the perfect–but not too perfect–ending, Rob Osler takes us on a great ride!  
Nikki Knight / author of the Vermont Radio mysteries
Rob Osler’s debut has everything cozy mystery readers will love, plus the inclusiveness of an LGBTQ main character who is charming and likable
Elizabeth Breck / 2022 MWA Sue Grafton-nominated author of the Madison Kelly mysteries

Hayden’s blog on the ups, downs, and in betweens of gay dating

“Out there, you’re on your own. But here, we got each other.”
– Hayden McCall

Check it out

Several times throughout Hayden’s adventure in Devil’s Chew Toy, fictional “new country” artist Stanley Kellogg’s latest hit plays on the radio. My wonderful friend, Ben Davis, and I wrote the lyrics to bring the entire song to life. The music is all Ben! The vocals are really Ben, too. Love ya, Ben!

Listen now: