Aisha DuQuesne, Soul Siren

Soul Siren

Aisha DuQuesne

Delta, Feb 2007, $13.00

ISBN: 0385340745

Personal assistant to R&B diva Erica Jones, Michelle Brown loves her work even the dirty aspects as she hero worships her employer as much as the singer's fans do. However, her job mostly is to eliminate or at least contain scandal; though it is not an easy job as Queen Erica who loves to sing as much as she loves sex. Known in the media as "R&B's angry young woman", Erica sleeps with anyone of either gender that touches her circle, which is how she began her rise to the top and now to maintain her seat on the royal R&B throne though she enjoys the activity.

The dynamics abruptly change when an unknown person begins killing Erica's lovers. Michelle does her best but the link to homicide is too strong to brush aside. To insure Erica's is not a victim like some of her industry's soulmates, former cop Jill Chandler is hired as a bodyguard. She believes the serial killer has to be part of Erica's most inner circle as some of the victims were not known until their deaths as lovers of the diva. Jill plans to uncover the identity of the culprit though that means placing herself in jeopardy especially if she becomes one of Erica's lovers.

Though none of the prime female trio is a likable individual as each goes after what they most desire without considering the costs to others, Soul Siren is an exciting erotic whodunit. The storyline is told in the first person by Mish so the audience sees Erica, to a lesser degree Jill and even less than that the support players through her Canadian eyes looking out mostly on the New York R&B scene. Fans of sex and murder will appreciate this solid drama.

Harriet Klausner