Lady Slings the Booze

This one felt like two different novels.

The first two-thirds of the book was an occasionally funny, mildly-entertaining-if-politically-outrageously-incorrect private detective story set in a slightly fantastic whorehouse. It sets out to show the reader that one can imagine a world in which prostitution is a good thing (somewhat akin to Mike Resnick’s Eros Ascending).

The final third of the book morphed into something totally different and spectacularly awful. I regret that I can’t travel back in time and edit the past to save humanity from having to read the final third of this book. And I am a glutton for "pun"-ishment.

The very Heinleinesque "sex is good, sex is wholesome, let's all be healthy-minded and share it together, and talk and talk and TALK about it" got ... hard to take. And the puns were ubiquitous, and sometimes annoying (hint: if even the characters in the book can't stand it, just stop already). And the denouement was very gruesome. (Spider Robinson is good at gruesome.) And (Heinlein again) people kept lecturing at length. I wonder how many readers really enjoy wacky puns, bloody murder, and kinky (but healthy, oh so healthy) sex? This would be their book.

A two-part novel, of sorts, that revisits the best little whorehouse in the known universe, Lady Callahan's, where the fun, puns and naughty bits flow freely. This is told from the point of view of a Bogeyish private eye, Joe Quigley, who sports the best intuition and the worst luck of any gumshoe in the known universe. His luck changes, maybe for better, maybe for worse, when a high-up authority charges him with the job of solving a series of thefts at Lady Callahan's. As it turns out, he must work undercover by posing as one of her...artists. In quick succession he finds love, success and his usual jinx, and the unknown felon turns out to be somebody much darker and deadlier than he had thought. After solving the case, he learns Lady show more Callahan's secret, and joins forces with her to save the world from itself... which, as it happens, has about a 24-hour countdown. Depending on your tastes, the best or worst feature of the Callahan books has always been the puns, as witness the title of this book. And I got a very nice quotation from this book too, although it is not Robinson's: "The large print giveth, and the small print taketh away". That was worth the price of admission alone. show less

A decent continuation to the first Lady Callahan book, but not quite as good, IMHO. Still,at 4 stars, this book is a solid work by Spider Robinson that has plenty enough puns and jokes for fans of this series.

The second half of Robinson's two-book excursion into the brothel run by Lady Sally McGee . . . an offshoot of Callahan's Place both in the literal and figurative senses. Robinson is channeling the spirit of Robert Heinlein here, with an expansive and inclusive view of sex as a healthy and infinitely diverse part of the human experience. Being Robinson, there are also larger-than-life characters and spectacular puns . . . of which the title is only the beginning.

Like its predecessor, this one's not quite up to the best of the Callahan's series, but well worth reading anyway.

Back in the day I used to enjoy Spider Robinson's "Callahan" stories when they were first published in "Analog." This short novel reminded me of why I lost interest, as I just didn't care for the main character, the puns, or the Heinleinesque lecturing. The only reason I picked it up was for a book group and that's the only reason why I finished it. I'm not going to say it was bad, it just wasn't all that interesting. Who knows? You might like it better; though if you're looking for a comic treatment of the private detective in a science fiction scenario I'd recommend "The Plutonium Blonde." The more serious turn in the plot half-way through doesn't help either.

Interesting and amusing book about the shenanigans of a brothel where they also save the world from time to time.