The Bruno Mysteries are aimed at intelligent readers of mystery novels who like characters who they can identify with rather than slick Bond-types. Particular aspects of this series are the move away from the ‘gritty Glasgow’ genre, which has become predictable, and the faithful reflection of the strategic use of dialect in different social situations – which many readers (Scots or not) will recognise.
"The Bruno Benedetti Mysteries", rather than just a form of escapism, allows reflection on 'real life' as the main characters are multi-faceted and develop as they learn from experience and each other, a development started in "Tricks of the Mind" and continued in "The Lovers", "Shades of the Sun", "Qismet" and "Tìr nam Bàn".
The Bruno Benedetti Mysteries
The Marrying Maiden
by Alan Ahrens-McManus
Series: The Bruno Benedetti Mysteries, Book 7.
Price:
$2.99 USD.
Words: 43,490.
Language:
British English.
Published: June 27, 2023
by
Alan McManus.
Categories:
Fiction » Mystery & detective » Historical, Fiction » LGBTQ+ » Gay
A summer holiday with friends and family in an old cottage in Pencarden village, in the grounds of the Police College where Bruno is teaching the vibes. A faded photo of a Victorian lady in muslin, with a Chinese parasol, draws his attention. As his students react in unexpected ways, the past seeps into the present, as does she. The I-Ching and Imogen force Bruno to face truth he has long avoided.
Transits of Terror
by Alan Ahrens-McManus
Series: The Bruno Benedetti Mysteries, Book 6.
Price:
$3.99 USD.
Words: 68,750.
Language:
British English.
Published: December 1, 2018
by
Alan McManus.
Categories:
Fiction » LGBTQ+ » Gay, Fiction » Romance » Paranormal » General
Has Bruno’s gay lover been deceiving him for years? Rising anxiety means he’s missing time and waking up in strange places. Bruno diverts his mind with the astrological transits that augur good fortune for a child but are a ticking time bomb for a local landmark. As the clock counts down to terror, unable to trust his instincts, how can Bruno save dignitaries, at the wrong place at the wrong time?
Tir nam Ban
by Alan Ahrens-McManus
Series: The Bruno Benedetti Mysteries, Book 5.
Price:
$3.99 USD.
Words: 67,860.
Language:
British English.
Published: December 11, 2016
by
Alan McManus.
Categories:
Fiction » LGBTQ+ » Gay, Fiction » Thriller & suspense » Supernatural
What could possibly go wrong when Bruno and friends take a school trip to a Scottish Hebridean paradise? A mysterious prophecy just seems part of the charm of Tìr nam Bàn and with the beauty of the island (and of his athletic boyfriend) Bruno doesn't see the significance of the lights to the north-east of the island. But there is evil in paradise and stopping slavery means paying a terrible price.
Qismet
by Alan Ahrens-McManus
Series: The Bruno Benedetti Mysteries, Book 4.
Price:
$3.99 USD.
Words: 67,840.
Language:
English.
Published: February 14, 2016
by
Alan McManus.
Categories:
Fiction » Thriller & suspense » Supernatural
Clara’s inheritance makes Bruno’s wish to open a small school suddenly possible. But the scandal of her great-aunt's lesbian relationship isn’t the only secret from the past. As things go bump in the night and day, the line between quick and dead is crossed. Bruno becomes an unwitting pawn of a force he cannot control, believing that a better world is possible – at the cost of this one.
Shades of the Sun
by Alan Ahrens-McManus
Series: The Bruno Benedetti Mysteries, Book 3.
Price:
$3.99 USD.
Words: 81,580.
Language:
British English.
Published: February 13, 2015
by
Alan McManus.
Categories:
Fiction » LGBTQ+ » Gay, Fiction » Thriller & suspense » Psychological thriller
All’s fun (but very weird) at a mystery winter weekend at Corpington Manor until Bruno, Justin and Imogen lose a night and Clara, back home, diagnoses PTSD. The Scooby-Doo type adventure stops being comic when stress and a sinister hiker traumatise them till a Midsummer healing retreat leads Bruno to a bloodstained body on a Glasgow street, to let go of his past and try to live with the mystery.
The Lovers
by Alan Ahrens-McManus
Series: The Bruno Benedetti Mysteries, Book 2.
Price:
$1.99 USD.
Words: 47,970.
Language:
British English.
Published: January 24, 2015
by
Alan McManus.
Categories:
Fiction » LGBTQ+ » Gay, Fiction » Romance » Suspense
Neither an unusually hot Scottish summer nor Justin’s habitual strip-teasing can take Bruno's mind off the slow ebbtide of his dad's dementia. Justin’s suggestion of going to a Psychic Fayre leads to Bruno overhearing a tarot card reading for Bernadette, not just the lonely and intelligent nurse that she seems, as the cards on the table lead them into deadly confrontation with crony capitalism.
Tricks of the Mind
by Alan Ahrens-McManus
Series: The Bruno Benedetti Mysteries, Book 1.
Price:
Free!
Words: 44,790.
Language:
British English.
Published: January 23, 2015
by
Alan McManus.
Categories:
Fiction » LGBTQ+ » Gay, Fiction » Inspirational
In the Westend of Glasgow, during the tension preceding the second Gulf War, Bruno walks in on Justin exercising and gives in to his pleading to massage taut muscles. As Justin groans in pleasure, Bruno reads him a strange astrological dream which begins to echo eerily in various narratives of family and friends as the dream turns to nightmare and Bruno is forced to confront monsters from the Id.