Looking For a Good Book

This was a new experience in reading for me for a couple of reasons. But first, the story:

Blair Huntingdon and Proctor Gamble are detectives with the Rainbow Detective Agency. They argue a lot and they can’t seem to agree on most things, but they also can’t keep their hands off each other. Yes, they are the rainbow Detective Agency because they are gay partners as well as business partners.

Their newest client is Alonzo Albertini – a gorgeous hunk of man. Well, maybe he’s a man and maybe not. He claims to be an Italian fairy with magical powers. Not surprisingly, Blair and Proctor can’t agree – Proctor thinks the man is a nut but Blair believes him. Their differences could mean disaster as their investigation will take them to interacting with a dark order of magicians, have them in touch with a chalice stolen from the Vatican, and a whole web of magical intrigue and magic.

Part of what makes this book a new experience for me is because of the blend of story and sex. I’ve had plenty of discussions with like-minded readers about the difference between erotica and general or popular fiction with sex. I’ve definitely read some mainstream fiction with some very explicit sex scenes and I’ve read some fiction listed as erotica with plenty of story. Where is that line drawn?

Wherever that line is drawn, I’m pretty sure this crosses it. I didn’t log it, but it wouldn’t surprise me if half of this book is taken up with some very explicit sex. Entire chapters of it. (And by ‘explicit’ I mean that the sexual ‘acts’ are describe in graphic detail.) The first time it occurred I shrugged my shoulders. We get this kind of thing in lots of books. But when it happened again and again, I realized I was reading erotica with a detective theme.

The other thing that was new for me was reading gay erotica (masquerading as a mainstream mystery). I’ve always said I’ll read anything and perhaps now I’ve lived up to that. This was not my cup of tea, but I did think that author Ryan Field wrote it well – descriptions, moods, excitement … it was as good as some of the better heterosexual erotica I’ve read.

But still, I feel a bit bamboozled. I thought I was going to read a detective mystery with a bit of a fantasy twist with a pair of gay detectives, but really what I read was gay erotica about a pair of gay detectives who do a little investigating (and more sexual romping) with a fantasy twist whispering around their bedroom door.

Looking for a good book? As gay erotica, The Case of the Magic Man by Ryan Field is a delight. But as a mainstream detective story, the book is disappointing because of how far it leans into the constant sex.

I received a digital copy of this book from the publisher, through Netgalley, in exchange for an honest review.

3-1/2 stars (rounded down)

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The Case of the Magic Man

author:Ryan Field

series: The Rainbow Detective Agency #2

publisher: Riverdale Avenue Books

ISBN: 9781626017528

paperback, 140 pages