Just a Little Lie: An Alison Kaine Mystery

This is a great read! Kate Allen's mysteries have it all - suspense, sexual activity that's exciting but not too raw -and I love her characters. All of her books are good, this one is especially excellent.As a lover of lesbian mystery, I almost overlooked Kate Allen because her books aren't easy to find in stores etc...which is sad, because she's a good, solid, exciting author. I highly recommend you read this one -and you'll love and relate to Alison Kaine and her compadres! You'll want to read the whole series.

The fourth mystery about Denver Cop Alison, her lover Stacy and their various friends is also sizzling with dominatrix Stacy's efforts to run a Leather and S/M conference for lesbians. Unlike the previous novels which have all focused around murder, this one appears to be about blackmail. But where Alison is, as Stacy points out, the bodies will follow, even if they're not recognised as murder for most of the novel.As ever the characterisation is excellent; the women really live off the page and you either love them or loathe them. The changing nature of Alison and Stacy's relationship also plays a large role seeming both tremendously strong and terribly fragile coping with Stacy's tantrums, Alison's fibromyalgia syndrome, flirtatious femmes and interfering friends. The issue of FMS is dealt with particularly well, as we not only see Alison's fears of being rejected by Stacy if she tells her, but also that Stacy is feeling rejected by Alison by keeping the FMS a secret from her.As ever various lesbian taboos are raised; Leather and S/M are the base line for the community depicted in the novel and abusive relationships are as prevalent in the lesbian community as anywhere else. While not as side-splittingly funny as "It takes one to know one" it felt great to hang out with Alison and the gals again; my only whine is that Michelle was barely in it! Star Trek:TNG and Kinsey references are spot on as usual, but aren't the girls enjoying Captain Janeway and Seven of Nine by now?I was sad to read that Kate Allen is abandoning Alison and Co. for a while, but I'll happily read anything she puts in print, from her shopping list onwards!

Kate Allen is outstanding as a crime writer and as an observer of lesbian life. This series (which sadly seems to be ending) is consistently excellent and I enjoyed the finale enormously. You owe it to yourself - it's better than chocolate, honestly