The Lady Killer

My Rating:

☆☆☆

When I originally searched this title on Goodreads, the first edition to appear was the 1987 mass market paperback edition, with the description "an erotic suspense thriller" emblazoned on the cover. Course, I was putting in an inter-library loan request for the title and very much didn't want my coworkers to see that coming in for me, so I specifically requested the more recent Pushkin Vertigo edition (which I would've done anyway, visible "erotic suspense thriller" description or not). And then I promptly forgot about the erotic part, until actually began to read it. Sexuality was a major element of this novel, but it wasn't particularly graphic, so if you don't like that sort of thing, you'll be fine. It's just a constant theme throughout the narrative, which makes sense as sexuality really does drive the entire plot. 

The story itself fell pretty flat for me. Readers know from the beginning who the murderer is, and usually if you know who the culprit is, the mystery is in the how or the why. I found it relatively easy to determine the how, and again we know the why from the very beginning, so much of the story is following the lawyer as he meets with various people to sus out the who and why and how himself. Not much of a thriller, and not very suspenseful, either. 

Ultimately, the characters themselves were forgettable, and while there was a smidge of a surprise at the end, it was largely a predictable plot. What made me enjoy this novel, though, was how noir it all was. The descriptions and atmosphere were really on point, and the settings themselves were a lot clearer and more interesting than the characters; one Goodreads reviewer wrote, "my immediate reaction was style over substance but to be fair it was damn fine style".

I'm going to count this as my read for Pride Month as well, as according to most all internet sources and even Pushkin Vertigo's author profile of her: "Togawa went on to become a hugely successful author, while continuing to lead a colourful parallel life as a singer, actress, feminist, nightclub owner and gay icon." 

I've already put in a request for Togawa's debut novel, The Master Key, and can only hope it has as much style as this one did (and hopefully a bit more suspense)!