Katherine V. Forrest is the only author with the dubious distinction of receiving a zero Rainbow Rating for her work. The absolutely awful lesbian sci-fi duo `Daughters of a Coral Dawn` and its sequel `Daughters of an Amber Noon` were so bad that they nearly had this reviewer in tears.

Nevertheless, Forrest probably couldn`t care less what we say about her work.

She has a formidable fan base and her publishers love her, so much so that they`ve just re-released a bunch of her books. The Kate Delafield detective series rolled out in 1984, and Alyson have now repackaged the first four titles.

Amateur City is the first in the series, and possibly one of the first lesbian mystery novels in the world. In this book Kate and her partner, Ed Taylor, investigate the murder of a businessman who was universally hated by his staff. The principal witness, the woman who found the body, soon starts to cause problems of her own.

The next book in the series is `Murder at the Nightwood Bar.` Kate and Ed investigate the murder of a young lesbian whose body is discovered in the carpark of a dyke bar in West Hollywood. Kate comes up against numerous obstacles, from uncooperative parents, to hostile lesbian punters, and her own relationship starts to hit the skids.

Forrest followed this book with `Murder by Tradition,` which explores the death of a successful gay restauranteur. Kate has to deal with her own fears of being outed whilst negotiating a "homosexual panic" case.

`The Beverley Malibu` also begins with a corpse. This time it`s the body of a retired film director who once destroyed countless careers when he handed over names to the House Un-American Activities Committee in the 1950s. The question is, which one of them is responsible for his death?

Readers will be relieved to know that Forrest`s detective writing is not as bad as her science fiction. The plots are interesting and the prose is competent. However, to this reviewer`s mind, these books are seriously dated. They could pass as vintage fiction in twenty years time, but for the moment they are just out of place. This begs the question of why Alyson are re-releasing these books instead of encouraging new work. Is it a cynical marketing ploy? I hope not. Hardened Forrest fans will eat these books up, but I would encourage new readers to maybe try something more up to date.

Amateur City, by Katherine V. Forrest
Published by: Alyson Publications
ISBN: 1555837182

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