Laura Antoniou is no stranger to the world of BDSM, so recently discovered by the millions of readers engaged in the phenomenon of Fifty Shades of Grey, selling more copies than the Harry Potter books and sending the media into a frenzy. In fact, you could say Antoniou was writing the naughty tales of spanking and bondage way before the 50 Shades author even imagined such things; this year is the 20th anniversary of Antoniou’s 5-novel series, titled The Marketplace. And this year, along with The Inheritor (book 6), and No Safewords, a fan-written collection of stories set in the kinky, pansexual world she created, Antoniou has written her first mainstream novel – and it’s a comedy murder mystery set within the very community so completely lacking in the insular world of kinky Twilight – the venerable world of leather contests!
Perhaps no one but Laura Antoniou could have written this book – having judged too many contests to remember and even produced one twenty-one years ago, Antoniou is well acquainted with the crazy politics, social mores and of course, the spicy play and gossip in what was once a gay-only leather world. And she has taken her vast experience to pen a story that’s both amusing and salacious, poking affectionate fun at the world she lives in – a world much more recognizable than one filled with hard-bodies twenty-something billionaires and virginal college grads.
Here’s a glimpse at – The Killer Wore Leather
Mr. Global Leather has been murdered!
In the Grand Sterling Hotel of Midtown Manhattan, home of the huge annual leather/BDSM/fetish ball and contest, Mr. & Ms. Global Leather (and Bootblack), last year’s male winner lies dead in his suite, wearing only very frilly, bright yellow panties. Cormac “Mack” Steel made a lot of enemies in his year wearing the studded leather sash, not the least being his co-winner Mistress Ravenfyre. But she is not alone – there are over three thousand attendees at this year’s fetish-festooned event from all over the world, some of whom might have had some very personal issues with the corpse.
Enter Detective Rebecca Feldblum of the Midtown East Precinct. Assigned to this doozy of a case because, as one of NYC’s only out lesbian detectives, her Lieutenant seems to believe these are “her people.” Shocked, amazed and alternately puzzled and amused, Detective Feldblum must navigate a world of doms and subs, masters and mistresses, pups and trainers, leather, latex and lingerie, and discover who murdered the late Mack Steel – and hopefully do it before the weekend is over and everyone goes home. In the process, she will discover more about the sexual underworld than she ever really wanted to know, and more about her own past than she could have ever imagined.
Written in the classic spirit of Sharyn McCrumb’s Bimbos of the Death Sun, The Killer Wore Leather is both an engaging mystery and a humorous glimpse into the world of modern, pansexual international leather/BDSM contests and conferences.
Catch Laura Antoniou at the Fetish Flea Market in Providence, the weekend of February 15, or get your own autographed copies of The Killer Wore Leather at Mister Sister on Monday, February 18th at 6:00 p.m. Mister Sister is located 268 Wickenden Street. (401) 421-6969.
[From a News Release]
