This is my first book in the Djinn series. The book was fun. Yasmin was a great character who was fast. The characters are cute. The worlds Emma creates are rich and interesting. The Djinn world is full of magic and twists.

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I can make this review brief: If you’re already reading Emma Holly’s Tales of the Djinn series, you may (may!) like this latest instalment, The Lady Detective. If you’re not, for heaven’s sake don’t start here – and I include this review in that statement. I cannot review this book without spoiling the entire series so far.

Ready? Okay.

Yasmin used to be one of the djinniya (female djinn) in the harem of sultan Iskander, but when he fell in love with both a male and female consort, he released the harem. I assume that was in book one. Yasmin has been close to the eunuch Joseph the Magician for years. When an evil empress plotted to destroy the kingdom, a plan involving body doubles left Joseph restored in his… well, his manhood. Maybe that happened in book two. Now that she’s on her own, Yasmin has opened a detective agency, and her old harem-mate Safiye hires her to investigate a powerful djinn named Steven who is about to propose to her. (Yes, I find it amusing that the women in this series are named Yasmin and Safiye, and the men are Joseph and Steven). As she accompanies Safiye to Steven’s house party, she discovers that Joseph is there with an agenda of his own.

Here’s what doesn’t work, and I think you can infer it from the previous paragraph: too much has happened in this series so far. Although I liked the setting and thought interesting things could happen here, it’s hard to be motivated to go backwards and read the previous books when I already know what happens.

If you’re already reading the series, does this book work? In many ways, probably. For instance, if you’ve been following Joseph and Yasmin, it’s probably nice to see them finally get together. The setting is interesting, and while I don’t fully understand the powers and limits of the djinn, a scene set in a magical wilderness called the In-Betweens is interesting and original. On the other hand, the djinn seem to worship a Creator and Creatoress, so why is there a Temple of Demeter, and why does Joseph say both “Jesus” and “Christ” to indicate enjoying sex?

They aren’t the only examples of self-pub-itis. Two long sections jump narrators and are told in a really awkward recap form. Dialogue tags are excessive (“Good Lord,” Joseph said, shocked by this.) Yasmin has a mythical internal hymen, which I guess could be a djinn thing, but after trying to convince myself that Joseph had picked up human swears while visiting our world, I was tired of trying to do the author’s work for her. In addition, the villain’s villainy was magically underexplained (‘magic cakes’ are involved) and Yasmin’s detecting was also not a huge character component.

If you have started this series, this entry might rate a B. I’m not telling you not to start the series, because there’s some stuff here that might be good. But if you like the sound of The Lady Detective, I’d definitely suggest going back to the beginning.

This is the first time that I have read Emma Holly and she is a great author. This was a book full of great characters that made this some much fun to read.

It's been a few years since I've read anything by Emma Holly, and after reading this, I remembered why I enjoyed her books so much! Her world-building is entertaining as are her characters, and who doesn't need a touch of magic in their lives? This book wasn't nearly as racy as some of her previous efforts, and was still quite interesting! I will have to start looking at Holly's backlist and see which other books I've missed in this series! A good read!

This is my first book in the Djinn series. The book was fun. Yasmin was a great character who was quick on her feet as the lady detective. I enjoyed the building relationship between her and Joseph the magician. Her family and her brother were a delight also.

Title: The Lady Detective (Book Six of Tales of the Djinn)
Author/Publisher: Emma Holly
Pages: 170pp
Price: $11.99 (paperback) / $3.99 (ebook)

Yasmin, a former member of the Sultan’s disbanded harem, is a private investigator. She is, in fact, the only female private investigator in the entire djinn world. In a male-dominated society, she is an oddity, to say the least. Then Safiye, once a member of the harem like herself, comes to Yasmin with a problem: a wealthy djinn lord has proposed marriage to Safiye, and she wants Yasmin to make sure that the lord is all that he appears to be. Simple enough, right? Well, no … which Yasmin realizes when the Sultan’s most powerful sorcerer, Joseph the Magician, appears and starts trying to block her investigation …. Oh, did I mention the zombies?

I have read several of Holly’s erotic novels and novellas in the past, but none of the Tales of the Djinn series. Despite The Lady Detective being the sixth book, I had no trouble following along.

First, I love the world. The djinn are magical beings; their divine/magical spark allows them to cast a wide variety of spells and even transform into a being of smoke. This is a polytheistic society; most djinn worship an unnamed God and Goddess, who are honored as the creators of the djinn; but there are also temples to a wide variety of other named Deities, most notably Demeter. Many of the items which humans have created through technology (trains, tablet computers, et cetera) the djinn have like-wise created, but with magic. The world itself is also, literally, flat and it comes to a very abrupt and dangerous end; beyond the edge of the world lies the In-Betweens, a misty unending realm-between-the-realms with no gravity, no color, no sun. Anyone who falls into the mists is lost forever.

Yasmin herself is a terrific character: she is savvy, well-educated, fierce, and devout. She prays frequently to her Goddess, trusting in the divine to lead the way — but she is also independent enough to make her own way, to fight what society considers acceptable for a woman; in so doing, she finds where she truly belongs (not to mention a niche business that no one else had previously considered).

As most of the story is told from Yasmin’s third person point of view, it takes a bit longer to get a feel for Joseph. The Sultan’s most powerful and trusted sorcerer, Joseph has a secret which he only reluctantly shares with Yasmin and which he is terrified will put the Sultan and the whole djinn world in danger (no, I’m not going to spoil it). Joseph is also different from so many other male djinn in that he respects and admires Yasmin for her intelligence and independence; he trusts her to make the right choices.

The Lady Detective is a fun, fast, and sexy read. Unlike so many erotic novels, there is an actual plot; the story is not overwhelmed by the sex scenes. Definitely recommended to fans of erotic fantasy, as well as fans of Zoe Archer, Kay Danella, Delilah Devlin, Joey W Hill, and Shauna Aura Knight.