{"id":670,"date":"2012-02-07T06:37:51","date_gmt":"2012-02-07T12:37:51","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.glbtrt.ala.org\/reviews\/?p=670"},"modified":"2012-02-05T06:47:43","modified_gmt":"2012-02-05T12:47:43","slug":"the-affair-of-the-porcelain-dog","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.glbtrt.ala.org\/reviews\/the-affair-of-the-porcelain-dog\/","title":{"rendered":"The Affair of the Porcelain Dog"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Cover<\/a>Faraday, Jess. The Affair of the Porcelain Dog<\/em>. Valley Falls, NY: Bold Strokes Books, 2011. Paperback. 236p. $16.95. ISBN: 978-1-60282-230-6.<\/a>
\nThe summer of 1889 finds Ira Adler is living in luxury as the kept boy and confidential secretary to London crime lord Dr. Cain Goddard. Born and raised in the slums of Whitechapel, 25-yearold Ira is trying to decide whether he
\nloves Cain or merely the luxurious life Cain provides him.<\/p>\n

Cain\u2018s life is in danger of unraveling, however, due to the theft of a porcelain dog that contains details of the risqu\u00e9 life that led to his dismissal from a teaching position at Cambridge. Sent to retrieve the porcelain dog from a pawn shop, Ira is interrupted by Cain\u2018s rival\u2018s lover, Dr. Timothy Lazarus, who is, as chance would have it, Ira\u2018s ex. After a struggle, Ira gains possession of the dog only to have it stolen by a nimblefingered yet surprisingly strong prostitute.<\/p>\n

Feeling the need to redeem himself, Ira sets out to track the dog down in the complex and dangerous underworld of London.<\/p>\n

Help appears in the form of Cain\u2018s rival, Andrew St. Andrews. He, too, is being blackmailed with evidence hidden in the dog. Unexpectedly, Ira\u2018s childhood friend Nate appears with information both useful and confusing.<\/p>\n

Opium, a gay brothel, an Afghan war hero, martial arts, and a men-only restaurant all play a part in the mystery.
\nAlong the way Ira discovers things about himself and his relationship with Cain.<\/p>\n

The Affair of the Porcelain Dog<\/em> is an excellent mystery. The characters are complex and in general not what\u00a0they seem on first sight. Many unexpected twists and turns keep the novel intriguing right up to the end. The historical setting of late Victorian London is portrayed accurately.<\/p>\n

It is recommended for mystery collections at public libraries, especially those in gay- and lesbian-friendly areas, and college and university collections.<\/p>\n

Jess Faraday has written several short stories and translated three books. This is her first novel. It is also\u00a0available in Kindle and Nook editions and as an eBook from the publisher.<\/p>\n

Reviewed by Paul Hubbard<\/strong>
\nRetired Public Reference Librarian<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Faraday, Jess. The Affair of the Porcelain Dog. Valley Falls, NY: Bold Strokes Books, 2011. Paperback. 236p. $16.95. ISBN: 978-1-60282-230-6. The summer of 1889 finds Ira Adler is living in luxury as the kept boy and confidential secretary to London crime lord Dr. Cain Goddard. Born and raised in the slums of Whitechapel, 25-yearold Ira […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1164,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[27,18],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.glbtrt.ala.org\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/670"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.glbtrt.ala.org\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.glbtrt.ala.org\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.glbtrt.ala.org\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1164"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.glbtrt.ala.org\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=670"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.glbtrt.ala.org\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/670\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.glbtrt.ala.org\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=670"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.glbtrt.ala.org\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=670"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.glbtrt.ala.org\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=670"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}