sscs's review against another edition
5.0
By the time I was halfway through, I'd sent a copy to a friend. This clever book reads like a roman a clef to anyone who has ever been to a nerdy convention of any sort and I'm confident that many if not most of my friends would enjoy it for Antoniou's sheer ability to capture a subculture.
I have a nitpick or two with the mystery itself, thought it is better thought-out than many I've read. Also, as a Washingtonian, I have to point out that the "Organization with an acronym that spells something dirty/silly" joke is WAY old. The sex is sexy enough, but there's a scene where someone is getting a pair of shoes shined that did it for me almost more. But while the sex scenes and the mystery plot itself aren't in any sense neglected, this is fundamentally a comic novel and it works as one.
Good book.
I have a nitpick or two with the mystery itself, thought it is better thought-out than many I've read. Also, as a Washingtonian, I have to point out that the "Organization with an acronym that spells something dirty/silly" joke is WAY old. The sex is sexy enough, but there's a scene where someone is getting a pair of shoes shined that did it for me almost more. But while the sex scenes and the mystery plot itself aren't in any sense neglected, this is fundamentally a comic novel and it works as one.
Good book.
crystalisreading's review against another edition
4.0
This book was a fun read. I've been reading a lot about the BDSM lifestyle and community in the past few years, and this was another fun glimpse at a much different world than I live in. It read like a spoof, but a loving spoof, with a good mystery, that kept me guessing til the very end. I admit that keeping some of the characters, especially the judges and contestants, separate could be challenging at times (Kelly? George? Blade? who knows?). But other characters were vivid and fairly likable, like the police detectives on the job and the two Jacks. there was some sweet romance (Binky!) and plenty of kinkery, all told with an affectionate light handed touch. the cast was relatively diverse in age, ethnicity, sexuality, gender, religion, and kink/ lack thereof. I started reading this while at a (work) conference--while they were much different experiences, it was a good setting for putting myself in that conference mindset. I would definitely give this author another try, especially if she wrote more mysteries, and recommend this for an enjoyable, interesting fun read.
mtoddweb's review
5.0
Antoniou is well known for her Marketplace series, which mixes serious emotional drama with hardcore BDSM porn. This, her first mystery novel, is an affectionate and hilarious satire of the real-world BDSM subculture, with a plethora of eccentric characters and very little sex. The detective is a sober, no-nonsense vanilla lesbian who's assigned a new partner for the case, a younger black man from the South. If you're a member of any fannish subculture--such as Doctor Who or Star Trek--you'll get enough of the jokes in this story to laugh out loud, as I did.
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