Review - Mann Hunt by Peter E. Fenton
Mann Hunt
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Volume 1 of Declan Hunt Mysteries
Tags: Mystery Private Eyes
Posted in Book Reviews on December 28, 2025
Declan owns his own detective agency, which he started after leaving the Calgary police force over his sexuality. It’s just him and an aging office manager. When she announces an unexpected vacation, Declan hires Charlie as a temporary office manager. Charlie recently graduated with a computer science degree but hasn’t had any luck finding a full-time job and has had to move into his parent’s basement. When two of Declan’s cases turn out to be connected, Charlie gets more involved than he expected.
“Mann Hunt” is a classic private-eye mystery with a heavy LGBT bent. This is one of those mysteries that unfolds bit-by-bit. It isn’t overly complicated, but there are a few red herrings along the way. I like that this is the kind of story where you learn everything as the main characters do, and there aren’t really any surprise clues that turn the story around at the last minute. I had that rare but very satisfying feeling near the end of being right about my suspicions regarding one character.
The point of view jumps around a bit but mainly sticks with Declan and Charlie. Charlie seems to be a very likable young man. He clearly has a talent for putting people at ease. In some ways, Charlie seems almost to have too many skills, although a Canadian guy being good at ice hockey is not really much of a stretch, I guess.
Declan is also likable but more in a bad boy risk-taker kind of way. He’s very different from Charlie, but you can see why the two are attracted to each other, even if it takes them forever to act on it. This is the first book of a series built around Declan, so we’ll have to see how things develop.
“Mann Hunt” is available from Bookshop.org.