
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.
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.
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.
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

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:

Hayden & Friends Mystery Book 2
CIRQUE DU SLAY
Crooked Lane Books — Spring 2024
When Mysterium–a high-end, cirque-like show–comes to Seattle, Burley’s friend finds the performer dead in her hotel suite and becomes a “person of interest” in her murder. If Hayden and Hollister are to clear their friend’s name, they must find the real killer. But in a world of where trickery and deception are high art, can anyone be trusted?