A Secret Woman: A Mystery

Perhaps best known for her award-winning SF/F novels, Rachel Pollack continues to push the envelope of genre in this book. As in her SF/F writing, this new mystery challenges both the genre and us as readers to expand and allow ourselves to see things differently.Pollack turns her magical pen to the mystery genre with a multi-faceted plot, and a change to a sparer, more grounded writing style appropriate to the change in genre. This reveals Pollack to be an even more versatile writer than we may have previously suspected. The style is both appropriate to a mystery novel whose protagonist is a cop, and a challenging way to present the emotionally charged material of the story. The author brings us a novel that not only crackles with suspense of an unsolved murder but explores the perhaps greater mysteries of gender identity and sexuality. Telling more would give away plot twists best left to be discovered by the reader. Suffice it to say that this novel is sure to extend Rachel Pollack's reputation as one of the more fascinating novelists of our time.

For several days now, my husband has only seen the top of my head; at last I have finished Ms. Pollack's gripping murder mystery which also tells the story of one woman'ssearch for her identity. The characterizations are dense and multilayered. The dialogue is natural and witty. The interlaced plots move at a near perfect pace. The ending was certainly a surprise. What more could a girl ask out of a book?

I've been reading mysteries for 45 of my 60 years, and can usually see the end coming long before I get to it, but this one was a surprise. Actually two surprises :-) The explanatory parts woven into the story in part 2 that the editorial reviewer objected to I found necessary to make sense of the characters as this information was largely missing from my knowledge base.This sounds to me like a first in a series and I am eagerly waiting to see how Simon Goltree's personality and detecting techniques carry over and develop in subsequent books.

Essex City, New York Homicide Detectives Simon Goldtree and Frank Garrowey investigate the brutal murder of insurance executive Martin Stanstead when they find a tenuous link to local crime boss Alvin Landowski. However, the case abruptly ends when a smalltime punk confesses to killing Stanstead. Still, Simon's ability to empathetically determine the truth from lies tells him that this is a clever cover up. Not taking any chances that the media darling Simon and his old fashion grind them out investigative partner continue with the inquiries, Landowski uncovers damaging information about the former. Landowski places Simon under a media microscope as he reveals that the squeaky clean Simon is a transsexual thinking of undergoing a sex change operation. Though he knows his career is over, Simon refuses to allow public and departmental pressure from stopping him from completing his investigation into the truth. Though the unexpected is the norm from Rachel Pollack, the classic police procedural takes quite a surprising twist even for this daring author in A SECRET WOMAN. Fans of the investigative tale need to understand that one-third to a half of the story line involves the subplot focusing on Simon's "secret" moral dilemma. Though fascinating and ultimately tying back to the prime case, the mystery feels like a stepchild to this deep arc. Though not for the purists. this extremely complex and powerful novel containing a believable cast is a deep character study.Harriet Klausner