Louise Welsh won a lot of praise and a even more accollades for this book. Her first, it was applauded by British newspaper The Guardian as the year's best crime fiction when it debuted. It's on this praise that I bought the book. Based on a homosexual male auctioneer (that should have warned me off right there) it follows the plot of the main trying to figure out if some pictures he gets his paws on of an apparent snuff are real or fake. Why did I mention that the protagonist was gay? It shouldn't matter, you say? Well, Ms. Welsh doesn't let us forget the sexual orientation of the Auctioneer. The story is somewhat schizophrenic, jumping from his (numerous) sexual conquests and/or sexual desires, stereotypical private investigator reactions - car chases, drinking problems, little white lies to gain an advantage in the search, etc, etc, etc. - and less than informatiive meanderings that have nothing to do with the plot. Really, having a tough guy homosexual auctioneer with so much sensitivity seemed wrong. He's portrays more as a strong woman, which Ms. Welsh should have had as a lead instead. I don't read a lot of detective/crime/whodunits so maybe this is how they all play out but this novel doesn't rate very high for me. Actually, it was work just to finish the last 100 pages. The only thing I really know after reading this book is that Gin and Tonic is considered a woman's drink and I won't be reading another detective novel in the remaining 46 or so weeks. I bought it at the Bookware House on 4th. I may release it as a bookcrossing book close to there, too. Out of 5, it's a 1. (294 pages. Total for the year: 2706 pages)
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