All Acts of Pleasure: Book Two of the Miranda Trilogy [Paperback]

This second book in the Miranda Trilogy never slows down and never gives in to being anything but first class mystery.

We are taken, in this book, deeper into the relationships between Rowan, his wife Felicity and the friends they have on the police force. This book has much interplay between the characters, filling in some history, some background and laying the foundation for some real gut wrenching moments.

I want to say something here about "details". If you are a fan of mystery and detective novels like I am, you will notice that there is a good deal of details offered in this book. Once upon a time all you needed was a good main character who could bully his way into solving most crimes. Today, we are challenging modern mystery writing by insisting they offer us more than just a "chair, light and an all night grilling" that used to comprise most of the older mystery novels.

Here Sellars presents us with some intriguing information that he builds his case on, and then educates the reader, giving the reader the background in order to understand what is going on and be amazed by the amount of time Sellars has put into this series. From DNA research, to research on Voudon practices and magic that is NOT hearsay or gossip, to modern day police practices and a sneak peek into the shadowy world of BDS&M, Sellars presents us with facts, carefully researched and presented in an intelligent manner. Sellars does not take the readers to be dummies and entertains us on an intellectual level.

Sellars also ties us emotionally to the main characters in this book. All magics aside, Sellars gives us some very touching and emotionally charged dialogue between the characters, developing them further than most of the other mystery series out there. You become attached to the Gant family, you feel their pain, and I can hear you suck in your breath and see you nod your head each time something happens to them. You love the good cops, and I hear you hissing at the bad cops.

Sellars is going beyond the cheap paperback detective stories, and is presenting us with some very realistic characters who could be you or me. He gets the reader involved with them on many different levels. And that, kids, is entertainment!

Sellars is going for a winner here with this trilogy. I am not happy that I have to wait till next October for the ending, MR, but... you know I will! A great presentation and one I think the readers will appreciate. boudica

All Acts of Pleasure is book two in the Miranda trilogy and book seven in the RGI (Rowan Gant Investigator) series. The stage was set for us in Love Is the Bond and events already were spiraling out of control and into a macabre horror filled ride into the mind of a sadistic serial killer. The story starts out with Rowan's wife Felicity being arrested for a string of S/M style ritual killings. This puts a huge strain on Rowan's relationship with Ben as he's the one who came bearing the arrest and search warrants. After having his life literally turned upside down, it is up to Rowan to find out who ore what is driving this killer. The storyline unfolds quickly with him in a rush against the clock to save Felicity from not only being convicted, but from losing her own sanity.

This installment poses questions of whether or not Ben and Rowan be able to mend their relationship enough to save Felicity in time? Is the serial killer being controlled by outside paranormal forces greater than Rowan has experienced before?

Again, this was another book that I devoured in a day. Mr. Sellars grabs you from the word go and it doesn't let go of you. I am just glad I had a copy of The End of Desire here or I would have probably been pulling my hair out! I really enjoy the whole Voodoo ritualistic aspect to the story, even though the killings are a bit over the top for me, I found that as always the other elements really held it together and kept my interest.

Reviewed at Bitten by Books Paranormal Fiction Review Site by Rachel

Summary:
All Acts of Pleasure is the second entry into the Felicity Trilogy and the Seventh book in the Rowan Gant Investigation series by M. R. Sellars.

Synopsis:
The book begins with the arrest of Felicity O'Brian, wife of title character Rowan Gant, on suspicion of multiple horrific murders. Although her husband remains faithfully convinced of her innocence, Felicity herself begins to doubt both her innocence an her sanity as circumstantial and forensic evidenice piles up against her. Meanwhile, Rowan Gant must contend with the betrayal he feels at having his best friend, Detective Ben Storm, involved in Felicities arrest, and how to deal with his wife's escallating detachment.
The book comes to it's thrilling climax when, soon after Felicity is released after the discovery of mysterious evidence, is once again etherally hijacked by Miranda, the mysterious Lwa at the center of the murders and the mystery.
What follows is a decent into madness as Felicity begins to redouble her doubt in her own sanity, as Rowan tries to offer support to Felicity, patch up faltering friendship with Benjamin Storm, and deal with in-laws who believe Rowan to be a sinister influence leading their daughter into murder and insanity.

Review:
Seven is one of the most magickal numbers, and M. R. Sellars doesn't disappoint his fans with this seventh entry into the Rowan Gant Investigation series. All Acts of Pleasure overflows with the same urgent, real-time flow of the previous books in the series, while also deviating from structure of previous books in the series.
While the supernatural is still an ever-present influence for the St. Louis pagans, The second book in the Felicity Trilogy focuses more mundane (but no less dramatic) aspects of Rowan and Felicity's involvement with the mysterious Serial Killer, Miranda.
This more psychological style is a welcome change from Sellars' previous works, and takes full advantage of knack for writing the characters internal monologue. The nearly caustic realism causes the characters struggles to be reflected in the reader.
This book has a small number of characters relative to many of the previous novels in the series, which allows the author to give more depth to previously one and two dimensional characters.
Potential readers should keep in mind however that this book is the middle part of a trilogy, and as such should not be read alone. Although Sellars has done an excellent job of including just enough back story to keep readers who have not recently read Love is the Bond, the first book of the trilogy, up to date, many aspects of the story will be unintelligable to those who have not read this book. For maximum enjoyment of this book, I recommend reading the entire series in order.
All Acts of Pleasure is a heart-pounding supernatural mystery that shouldn't be missed by any fan of the series.

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