"Sexy and satisfying murder mystery in easy, film-noir detective style from the 40s."

Erotica, in a smooth, sexy, sensual style. Written in an easy, film-noir detective style from the 40s, this murder mystery is a story worth savoring.

I think I "get" why the guy in the book has the same name as the author. It's kinda like the story actually happened to him, sort of like writing in Hyper-first-person. And I felt much more comfortable with Jay this time than I did in his previous book, RAVEN'S BLACK, ROBIN'S NOT, probably since this one has a much lower sleaze factor. No strippers, no drugs, no porn.

Sure as shootin', Jay winds up involved in a murder through no fault of his own. After all, he's just a newspaper editor, trying to take a class in computers so he can operate the ones in his office. How was he supposed to know that the teacher, Ann, was gonna turn out to be a babe and dig him the most? And who would've guessed that Lisa, that over-achiever in high school, would turn out to be a cop, the very one assigned to old Professor Davis' death investigation, and that she'd put the moves on him? And Carmen, the one he works with at the paper -- she was beggin' for it, too! How could a guy get so lucky? Obviously, his oral sex skills are par excellence. We are witness to many instances of that, as well as other coupling techniques with these three women. Night after night, and days as well, he is involved with all three women, much to his amazement. That's what was nice about this Jay. He was genuinely surprised to have three women after him at once, and he makes sure they all make it to the promised land, even if he doesn't! By Chapter 3, I am starting to find him attractive. He's got some semblance of good technique, and by Chapter 9 I'm daydreaming about what a session on top of a filing cabinet with him would really be like.

The murder mystery wasn't so complex that I felt like the only one who couldn't figure it out, even though I don't think anyone would guess the ending without flaw. (OK, OK -- so I DID have to read the last few pages a few times to figure out who he winds up with . . .) It percolates along slowly as he struggles with the three women, who are all interconnected with the murder, but none will let him in on any details of it. He's involved with three women at once, and they all know about the others, sort of, and they are competing for him, in a way. The sex is everywhere, with a low-key sizzle and smoke to it, but never with the sleazy or gratuitous feel of other erotica attempts. I read this over three days, trying to savor it fully before it ended. It really seemed to me to be, well . . . unusually sexy and satisfying! Chrissake, I found myself wanting a crack at him as well, ooooh, one of those s-l-o-w sessions like with Lisa! This is SO not my usual reaction to erotica. I am at a loss to explain, really, only that I didn't feel like the sex parts were put in to titillate, but were an integral part of this story.

Do I recommend this one? Let me just say I plan on reading it again, and maybe more than once!

Sex Tally: Regular sex, oral sex (and he's giving most of it -- woohoo!), anal (I think, but it is totally not clear that it is); Carmen asks to be tied to the bed with her pantyhose, and whipped with a switch (which he has to go outside and cut); racy stuff with Carmen, slow with Lisa, hot with Ann. One scene of Carmen doing herself, another mention of Carmen w/Plastic Toy. All the sex scenes are short, no overly descriptive phrases thrown in for good measure. No real romance, but he really does like Lisa the best.

Phrases We Weren't Familiar With:

1. "She was gonna get pasted tonight", "I pasted her again", "the only sure thing tonight was pastry with Lisa". Surely a neutral replacement for the F word, which appears (the real F word) regularly throughout the book. But why? Is this some sort of jargon used exclusively by newspaper editors?

2. Carmen was "company ink", I assume meaning she was an employee of the company. Is this an old newsie term as well?

Reviewed by Dana Dietrick
Courtesy Sensual Romance
Posted February 28, 2002