The Monkey’s Mask by Dorothy Porter

Like Sam Spade, the archetypal hero of Dashiell Hammett’s classic Maltese Falcon (1930), Jill Fitzpatrick, the lesbian private eye of Porter’s mystery novel-in-verse, is torn between passionate love and professional ethics. On the trail of the murderer of Mickey Norris, a university coed and would-be poet, Jill falls hopelessly in love with Professor Diana Maitland, one of Mickey’s former tutors-and a crucial piece of the puzzle. While sleuthing, Jill uncovers the hypocrisy of the poetry scene in Sydney, Australia, likening herself to a Medusa who will “turn those fraud poets/to marble.” Porter (The Witch Number, International Specialized Bk. Svcs., 1993) writes short verse in a staccato, telegraphic style accented by salty language and graphic Australian slang, for which she provides a delightful glossary. A highly readable addition to larger poetry collections.