Small g: a Summer Idyll

Small g: a Summer Idyll (1995) is the final novel by American crime writer Patricia Highsmith before her death in 1995; it was published posthumously. It concerns the messy personal lives of a group of gay and lesbian patrons of a bar-cafe known locally as the "Small g".

Plot

Rickie Markwelder, an HIV-positive artist living in Zurich, struggles to keep his life together after the murder of his lover, Peter, a crime for which he eventually becomes a suspect. Worsening his dilemma are a spate of rumours concerning his relationship with a teenaged boy, for whom Rickie harbors an unrequited affection, which damage his standing with his friends and family.

The novels of Patricia Highsmith

Strangers on a Train (1950) • The Price of Salt (as Claire Morgan) (1952) • The Blunderer (1954) • The Talented Mr. Ripley (1955) • Deep Water (1957) • A Game for the Living (1958) • This Sweet Sickness (1960) • The Cry of the Owl (1962) • The Two Faces of January (1964) The Glass Cell (1964) • A Suspension of Mercy (1965) • Those Who Walk Away (1967) • The Tremor of Forgery (1969) • Ripley Under Ground (1970) • A Dog's Ransom (1972) • Ripley's Game (1974) • Edith's Diary (1977) • The Boy Who Followed Ripley (1980) • People Who Knock on the Door (1983) • Found in the Street (1987) • Ripley Under Water (1991) • Small g: a Summer Idyll (1995)