Conference-ville

Dennis Altman’s new novel, Death in the Sauna, begins with, yes, a death in a sauna. The respected virologist Pomfrey Lister is found lifeless in a London gay venue, days before a major AIDS conference that he is chairing. His naked corpse is transported home and a death certificate pronouncing natural causes is produced. This hasty denouement is ostensibly aimed at concealing the salacious nature of Lister’s demise, which might overshadow both the conference and his legacy.

As it happens, the hastiness raises suspicions that the scientist might have been murdered. There are any number of suspects. They include his colleagues Spencer and Alejandro, the latter of whom regarded Lister as an obstacle to his research; Lister’s secret lover, Noel; a disgruntled former student, Rahid; and Lister’s wife, Mary, who attributes her suspicions about her husband’s sexuality to ‘her own developing dislike of homosexuals’, and who has for some time overseen a program of gay conversion therapy.