I enjoyed Foxe Tail quite a bit. I like gay fiction and I like mysteries and this was a good combination of the two, although much stronger on the gay aspect and a bit light on the mystery aspect, which was fine for what this book is, a good story about young gay adults and youth dealing with their sexuality. Although set in California, the book’s locale, a small city in the Inland Empire (called in the book “California’s Bible Belt”) is a bit more like the rest of middle America, albeit still in a state with non-discrimination laws and domestic partnerships.

The book’s protagonist, Skyler Foxe, is a gay high school teacher only about a decade older than his students, and although Skyler does get involved in a murder mystery, the book’s really more about Skyler’s coming to terms with who he wants to be as a young gay man. He didn’t come out himself in high school and, at 25, is still going through his gay adolescence, going out clubbing and hooking up, but he wants more in life.

The mystery aspect of the book is entertaining but probably a bit unrealistic, but the part of the story dealing with Skyler’s teaching rang true, including his passion for English literature and his desire to teach and mentor his students. Though the kids he teaches aren’t much younger than he is, times are changing quickly and despite Skyler’s not having come out himself in high school, now teenagers are, and Skyler has to think about choices in his own life he might want to make if he really wants to be a role model for his students.

The book is frank about what it’s like to be a young gay man (gay guys, including gay teachers, do hook up) and includes a graphic and hot sex scene. That shouldn’t prevent it from being suitable for older gay teens to read, though. As Skyler himself finds out in the book, teenagers aren’t as innocent as adults might like to think, and this book, because it’s entertaining and fun to read but still fairly true to life, would be a great resource for gay teens who are discovering what it means to be gay.