Warning that a solid 50% of the books feature sad gay murder victims but, on the other hand, everything is very queer all the time so this doesn't hit as much as it might.

To the point where, having read the first three Hilary Tamar novels in high school, I didn't even remember the sad gay murder victims until you mentioned them, although I would have given the stories overall high marks for casual queerness.

[edit] Does the fourth one have the saddest end of the series or the saddest end, full stop? I am thinking about reading it, but also thinking about not being depressed.