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Moon Over Soho (Peter Grant, #2)
by Ben Aaronovitch (Goodreads Author)
by Ben Aaronovitch (Goodreads Author)
sage's review
bookshelves: crime, disability, glbt-interest, fiction, sff, reviewed, mystery
Jul 06, 11
bookshelves: crime, disability, glbt-interest, fiction, sff, reviewed, mystery
Read in July, 2011
** spoiler alert **
Not as good as Book 1, but still mostly satisfying.
I liked that only a short time had passed between the end of Book 1 and the opening of Book 2, and the loose threads had plenty of consequences. Sadly, this meant that Lesley (spelled Leslie in this edition -- maybe I got the UK edition of the first one? I don't know) was out of the picture for most of it. She is grossly disfigured and the ending gives her the start of a great arc.
The whole plot of this book centers on Peter having lots and lots of sex, which mostly isn't terribly graphic but did get a little tiresome...mostly because I tend to read pure erotica when I want to read sex scenes. I expect mysteries to have more mystery in them.
I was a little disappointed at how transparent the case was, but the journey was fun and the romp through jazz history was lovely.
GLBT-interest tag for 2 queer minor characters, commentary on cruising, and implications that a major character was bi. The narrative voice is relentlessly politically correct (as a person of color) and usually ironic about the institutionalization of PC culture -- except when it comes to the historical use of "Black Magician", which he won't stand for and insists be called "ethically challenged magician" instead. It's both funny and a really wonderfully presented example of why it matters.
Gender politics took a blow in this book, though, since the Pale Lady with the vagina dentata was killed (accidentally, kind of) by our hero, AND the love interest (along with her sisters) committed suicide in lieu of dealing with having killed dozens of people over the decades -- just before our hero reached the scene.
Meanwhile, the male villain got away. One of his male minion-victims died, but the villain himself got away. (I wish I were surprised, but given the amount of time Peter spends having sex when he should be solving his case, I'm hardly surprised.)
Anyway, not as good as the first, but I can't help but read the first book as the pilot episode with this as the transitional episode immediately following. The next one has the potential to be much better. And to show Leslie to much better advantage. *hopes*
I liked that only a short time had passed between the end of Book 1 and the opening of Book 2, and the loose threads had plenty of consequences. Sadly, this meant that Lesley (spelled Leslie in this edition -- maybe I got the UK edition of the first one? I don't know) was out of the picture for most of it. She is grossly disfigured and the ending gives her the start of a great arc.
The whole plot of this book centers on Peter having lots and lots of sex, which mostly isn't terribly graphic but did get a little tiresome...mostly because I tend to read pure erotica when I want to read sex scenes. I expect mysteries to have more mystery in them.
I was a little disappointed at how transparent the case was, but the journey was fun and the romp through jazz history was lovely.
GLBT-interest tag for 2 queer minor characters, commentary on cruising, and implications that a major character was bi. The narrative voice is relentlessly politically correct (as a person of color) and usually ironic about the institutionalization of PC culture -- except when it comes to the historical use of "Black Magician", which he won't stand for and insists be called "ethically challenged magician" instead. It's both funny and a really wonderfully presented example of why it matters.
Gender politics took a blow in this book, though, since the Pale Lady with the vagina dentata was killed (accidentally, kind of) by our hero, AND the love interest (along with her sisters) committed suicide in lieu of dealing with having killed dozens of people over the decades -- just before our hero reached the scene.
Meanwhile, the male villain got away. One of his male minion-victims died, but the villain himself got away. (I wish I were surprised, but given the amount of time Peter spends having sex when he should be solving his case, I'm hardly surprised.)
Anyway, not as good as the first, but I can't help but read the first book as the pilot episode with this as the transitional episode immediately following. The next one has the potential to be much better. And to show Leslie to much better advantage. *hopes*
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Um, if I remember right, the main female character (whose name escapes me) had had f/f flings in the past, and I remember one of the male crime victims and I think one witness he dealt with at some point was queer. Beyond that, I remember a passage where he was very laissez faire about being hit on by guys. I hope the next book is better. The author has the germ of a great idea here -- I just want the gender politics to be better.
Who was bi? I read it pretty fast (and late at night /o\) and I think I missed that.