Rubdown
Leigh Redhead
Allen and Unwin. 302 pages. $29.95

Oh dear. The crime fiction genre has definitely been soaked in massage oil with stripper-turned-author Leigh Redhead’s second instalment of the misadventures of Simone Kirsch, stripper-turned-private investigator.

This book is not for the faint-hearted but definitely for the prurient. After 302 pages of writing that hides absolutely nothing, you might need to take a Bex and have a good lie down, like this easily shocked and sheltered reviewer.

The seedy side of life in Melbourne is again explored by the character who is investigating the murder of a young prostitute. There’s plenty of death, details of activities not suitable for publication in a family newspaper like this and, of course, an absurd love triangle between the lead character and two police officers.

To be fair to the author, whose inside knowledge of the various activities shines – like a tawdry neon sign in a less than salubrious part of town – through, her writing spins along like a crazed pole dancer giving it her all.

You have been warned.

– David Sibley