La Chica del Calendario

Saz Martin #1

by Stella Duffy

Maggie has fallen for the girl with the Kelly McGillis body, a mysterious woman who can't commit herself. Meanwhile Saz Martin is hot on the trail of a woman known only as September, who commute between London and New York in a whirlwind of drug smuggling, gambling and high-class prostitution.

Genres: Fiction, LGBT, Lesbian, Crime, Mystery, Queer, Novels

263 pages, Paperback

First published June 1, 1994

About the author

Stella Duffy was born in London and grew up in New Zealand. She has lived and worked in London since the mid-1980s. She has written seventeen novels, over seventy short stories, and devised and/or written fourteen plays. The Room of Lost Things and State of Happiness were both longlisted for the Orange Prize, and she has twice won Stonewall Writer of the Year. She has twice won the CWA Short Story Dagger. Stella is the co-founder of the Fun Palaces campaign for cultural democracy. Her latest novel is Lullaby Beach (Virago).
She is also a yoga teacher, teaching workshops in yoga for writing, and a trainee Existential Psychotherapist, her ongoing doctoral research is in the embodied experience of being postmenopausal.

Reviews

[Toby · Rating 4 out of 5]

This Mask Noir title from the literary Serpent's Tail imprint has been sat in a pile of books I've intended to read for about half a decade and very nearly got donated to a book sale last week until I realised that it was written by THE Stella Duffy, was in fact a British feminist lesbian mystery novel written in the mid 90s and really sounded like the kind of book I should be reading after all. And yes, it served its purpose by being something to read at those times when the doorstop of the next Neal Stephenson book I was/am still reading was not appropriate to read, such as bedtime, but it was so damned good that I actually put down the Baroque book and then stayed up to finish it. This really shouldn't surprise anyone even vaguely familiar with the quality of Duffy's literary work, and I'm not talking about the kind of genre bollocks that the literary John Banville churns out as Benjamin Black either, Calendar Girl has a very interesting protagonist or three and a compelling narrative voice that drags you in to the mystery of September and The Girl With the Kelly McGillis body and spins a (forgive the colloquialism, I've been immersing myself in my adopted Aussie culture of late) ripping yarn filled with psychological insights, hot sex and strong female friendships. AND I just discovered there's four more of them. Happy days.

[Leah · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very well paced and plotted, with awkward as hell dialogue in parts; a very interesting examination of how little we can know the people we think we know intimately.

Maggie's first-person narration was chilling, if a little on the nose, and takes the reader through a gauntlet of certainties about her and The Woman with the Kelly McGillis Body, most of which end up being proved false in one sense or another. It's good noir, and good misdirection, and intertwines subtly with the main third-person private detective storyline.

I'm fairly new to the tart noir genre, but the similarities between Anabel Donald's Alex Tanner and Saz Martin are obvious: the eighties-nineties woman liked working out, liked having noticeable hair, and loved her answering machine. These are surface things, of course, but there's a likeness in spikiness, forcefulness, confidence and forwardness that links them indelibly.

[Jen Silver · Rating 4 out of 5]

I first read this almost twenty years ago. It was the author's first novel. I guess I must have liked it back then because I've kept it. Anyway second time around I enjoyed it again. It introduces a young lesbian private eye, Saz Martin and the case she gets involved in has her travelling between London and New York. She manages the two different voices very well. Saz's chapters are in the third person, whereas the other main character is in first person.

It's an unusual style but very readable and all in all a good mystery as well.

[Kin · Rating 1 out of 5]

ambiente lesbico.solite tirate alla scottolone.incasinato.noioso.

[Katie Morris · Rating 3 out of 5]

A slightly frivolous yet enjoyable lesbian detective story reeking of the late 90s. We follow two intertwining plots of Saz Martin, freelance detective and seeming heartthrob in the search for a girl she calls September and the surface domestic bliss of Maggie and 'the girl with the Kelly McGillis body' until the mystery girlfriend disappears without trace. The two plots inevitably meet, with the climax of September and unnamed girlfriend of Maggie being the same girl, following a plot of mistaken identity, drug smuggling, and a longing for a riskier life. Would I recommend it? If you're in need of a couple of quite good lesbian sex scenes and a general laugh at 90s gay tropes then go for it. If you want to feel like you're reading something worthwhile, with an engaging plot best avoid in search of better things.

[Analeise · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked this book even if I was a bit unsure because of the opening line but it made itself better

It was obvious, the storyline, but I liked how it was intertwined between the two povs. It was a bit bizarre that it changed perspectives from first to third pov but I still enjoyed it

The only reason I wouldn’t give it five stars is because it is set in the 90s and it loses that relatability, even though it was still written from quite a modern perspective lmao lmao

Glad I found this book though :)))

[Valentina Villafaña · Rating 4 out of 5]

Me gustó. No es un libro que cambie tu vida, pero es entretenido dentro de lo que un thriller puede ser, los personajes son interesantes, el ambiente de chicas lesbianas que se conocen unas con otras tiene un aire a the l word y eso lo encontré entretenido también, más aún considerando que su publicación fue en el 2001, te hace pensar que algunos ambientes no cambian demasiado, la lectura es rápida y muy fluida, insisto, no es un libro que te cambie la vida, pero si que te atrapa las horas que tardes en acabarlo. Si encuentro algo más d esa saga de Saz Martin, la leería. :)

[Kylie · Rating 4 out of 5]

It took a little bit to get into this, with alternating narrators, (1st and 3rd person), that were so jarringly different. But once I settled in, this was excellent.

Saz is a great character, I look forward to reading her in more books.

[Tanis · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not bad at all, I wasn't paying proper attention at the start so didn't realise there were two narrators until I was about three chapters in. Embarrassing. A good story well told, I think the last few pages in the cemetery were a bit too schmaltzy and would be better left out.

[Berenice Arenas · Rating 2 out of 5]

Es un poco aburrido, me costo leerlo y no me atrapo mucho, sentía cierta curiosidad por el final pero no fue nada sorpresivo, de hecho es bastante predecible.
Me gustaron los personajes fueron bastante definidos y tiene una narrativa muy bonita pero en general al trama le faltó intensidad.

[Aaliyah Zaph · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really enjoyed the fast, hard, blunt tone of this novel. Filled with fascinating, likeable yet distinctly different characters that I was itching to know more about, made even more exciting by the sordid, tense crime plot lines. Lo recommend!

[Max · Rating 2 out of 5]

Una specie di Philip Marlowe al femminile in una Londra gremita da lesbiche, per un intreccio accettabile, non fosse che già a metà romanzo si intuisce lo scioglimento. Mancano l'intensità e il colpo di scena.

[Varrunamitra · Rating 4 out of 5]

alternative chapters, saz investigates september girl

[Dane Divine · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this when I read it. Great story.

[Wera Limon · Rating 5 out of 5]

Increíble novela detectivesca lésbica, me atrapó de principio a fin. Altamente recomendable

[Hartley Blaze · Rating 4 out of 5]

Loved it. I couldn't put it down.

[Jenna Main · Rating 2 out of 5]

Really don’t like the style of writing... wanted to like it but just couldn’t get my head around it and the story was all a bit far fetched. Not my bag.

[Jane · Rating 4 out of 5]

Randomly picked up this book and I was not disappointed. There is mystery and lesbians, what more could you ask for?

[Megan]

Because of the author’s popularity, evidenced by the relatively high numbers of reviews she has received, I was expecting more from this book. It has a creative structure, to be sure, with alternating chapters from the point of view of the detective, Saz Martin, and Maggie Simpson, a comedian who figures heavily in the story. But once the reader sees the way the wind blows—after less than a third of the novel—it becomes obvious that the author is drawing out the story in order for the two parts to come together. This doesn’t happen in a book crafted in the traditional way, and maybe this is the reason. It is a rare case of an innovative device actually detracting from the novel.

Another thing that detracts is the fact that neither Saz nor Maggie are well drawn. Saz is likable enough, but has little personality, Maggie has more, but it is a cross between a clever-boots blogger and a crazed ax murderer, of which she is neither. Do readers not care whether a book’s characters seem real or not? Well, I do. If Maggie is a successful comedian, let us have a scene where she gives us her routine. Give Saz and Maggie enough backstory to make us feel like we know them. Likewise the character of the victim. I simply do not believe that she does the things she does nor do I believe her when she tells us the reason why. Another clever idea that, when the end of the book looms, the author has to scramble to explain everything. This happens way too often in this genre—and probably in any genre. But that doesn’t mean it’s okay.

All in all, this novel is readable. I suspect that in further Saz Martin novels, Duffy has refined her voice and technique. I will have to wait for someone else to review the next one.

An additional note to the publisher. Although most of the Saz Martin books are priced reasonably, there is entirely too much extraneous matter in the first several pages of the book, which cuts down significantly on the pages of the actual story available for sampling. I purchased this one, but in many instances the lack of a proper sample has caused me to pass by a book I otherwise might have purchased, if not enjoyed.

Note: I read the e-book publication of this novel that was available in February, 2014 .

Another Note: This review is included in my book The Art of the Lesbian Mystery Novel, along with information on over 930 other lesbian mysteries by over 310 authors.

[Wayne Spiceland · Rating 3 out of 5]

Intriguing mystery and format. Two parallel stories unfold, but, as parallel lines meet in infinity, here, they draw closer much faster. London detective Saz Martin is hired to find mystery woman "September" by a man with whom she (the mystery woman)has dinner every other Friday, but whose name he doesn't even know. Meanwhile, comedienne Maggie has an on again/off again relationship with "the girl with the Kelly McGillis body," who has some major secrets as well. The two stories become more and more closely entwined, eventually merging in whatis definitely not a "happily ever after" ending. The writing is sassy and insightful, wry and hip, at times, introspective and moody. It's Raymond Chandler, updated a few decades, and with 2 x chromosomes. And, while the conclusion may be a bit of a downer, it's a helluva a lot of fun getting there. The romantic in me wonders if, after Maggie has enough time to mourn here late lover, she might hook up with Saz. Not too likely, I know. Just sayin'...Definitely recommended.

[Ruth · Rating 2 out of 5]

c1994. FWFTB: comic, mysterious, prostitution, drugs, PI. This was a recommendation from a reference book regarding crime fiction. I had high hopes especially as The Times felt that it is "Fast, witty and clever..with cracking dialogue and exuberant characters.". Not for the first time, I wonder at the reviewers at The Times. I can't agree with any of the hyperbole. The pace is fast with 2 differing POVs but really..who could not guess what was going to happen? The San Francisco Examiner even goes so far as to say "The downbeat denouement packs an unexpected, morbid wallop." Say, what?? There are some disturbing relationships and I found the plot to be rather mundane. There are some typos which should have been found before issuing the book. Not recommended to the normal crew. Once it was in there, it had to drive much further in until it could be finally drawn out the other side and the wound cleaned to heal."

[Kirsty Darbyshire]

I'm back at the beginning of the Saz Martin series finding out where Saz started (avoiding her Enterprise Allowance officer mainly). If my memory serves me correctly the storytelling here is similar to that in Beneath the Blonde which I read years back. Saz's story is interspersed with another story told in the first person that relates to what Saz is investigating but we only discover how exactly it relates as the book unfolds. The dual viewpoint means that the reader is ahead of Saz in the investigation and I think this works pretty well. It removes the possibility of over the top suspense whilst keeping the mystery.

[ClaudiaBiEnne · Rating 4 out of 5]

La trama è in sé e per sé abbastanza banale: a pagina 72 avevo già capito esattamente come si sarebbe sviluppata la vincenda e anche la rivelazione del vero nome di Settembre all'ultima pagina non mi pare una trovata particolarmente brillante.
Però narrato con etrema grazia e con delle espressioni di una potenza narrativa notevole (mi è rimasta impressa la descrizione del dolore come une bolla di grasso che esplode quando si affonda il coltello nell'arrosto). Il tutto accompagnato da un erotismo gradevole e mai volgare.
Si, mi è piaciuto.

[GloriaGloom · Rating 3 out of 5]

Stella Duffy è una talentuosa scrittrice britannica dotata di verve, leggerezza e ironia; eppure scrive noir. . .Saz Martin, la protagonista del suo libro è una sgangherata p.i. lesbica che si muove in un altrettanto gaia ambientazione dove sono lesbiche persino le poliziotte di scotland yard, io sono un lettore maschio e stupidamente eterosessuale. Questi tre elementi danno vita a un noir di deliziosa fattura.

[Max✨ · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked this novel well enough, and will look for Duffy's other novels. I wish the characters were developed a bit further, however. "September," the main character of intrigue, felt very flat, even when the mystery was solved-her character still felt uneven and two-dimensional. Although, I have complained about the flat feeling characters of all the books I have read recently so perhaps it's just me. I enjoyed the intertwining narrative and the mystery wraps up pretty neatly at the end.

[Carol Jean · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting reading, though I didn't think the shifting point of view approach worked. Some of the techniques her sleuth Saz uses to solve the case are a bit iffy and there's too much coincidence, really.

[Pam]

11/29 rec via pbs

[Lucy · Rating 2 out of 5]

an entertaining way to spend a few hours, but i wish ms duffy would get a better editor to fix the needless grammar errors.

[Kerry · Rating 3 out of 5]

Read it again 06/02/16.

[Gayle · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a fun, quirky read! Will be looking out for more from this writer.