Seattle

THE DOG COLLAR MURDERS
Published under the name Barbara Wilson
Seal Press, 1989
ISBN-10: 1878067257
ISBN-13: 978-1878067258

From Publishers Weekly:
In this clever and illuminating third installment in a series, Wilson manipulates the detective/mystery genre to explore issues at the heart of feminist debate over sexuality, pornography, and violence against women. To Pam Nilsen, investigating crimes is merely a hobby—one she puts to good use when Loie Marsh, an anti-porn celebrity, is murdered during a sexuality/pornography conference. Pam's inside knowledge of the feminist community allows her access to information the police don't have, and enables her to question the suspects: Kimiko Lewis, who makes erotic lesbian videos that she claims are non-exploitive; Sonya Gustafson, from Christians Against Pornography; Nicky Kay, a sadomasochist whose dog collar was the murder weapon; Loie's embittered ex-lover, et al. Although Pam lacks a seasoned detective's finesse, her slipshod sleuthing is winsome, as are her attempts to come to terms with her lesbian lover and with her own feelings about the thorny issues surrounding pornography and censorship.

From Booklist:
The murder of an anti-porn crusader during a conference on sexuality galvanizes lesbian printer Pam Nilsen into turning sleuth for the third time. She quickly uncovers the victim's resentful ex-lover; her forgotten, maybe vengeful ex-husband; bad blood between her and her cousin; and several other suspects and suspicious secrets. Every clue touches upon the book's secondary preoccupation, the feminist debate on pornography. As in the previous Nilsen novels, Wilson folds feminist controversy adroitly into the whodunit recipe. She writes such intelligent, natural dialogue; creates such credible characters; and maintains the mystification so well that her unlikely mixture of feminist didacticism and detective thrills satisfies as both primer and mystery.