The triple-entendre of its title is representative of the quality of Lev Raphael’s literate new Nick Hoffman mystery, Hot Rocks. Unlike many gay detective novels, Hot Rocks has a believable plot, well-developed characters, and skillfully composed prose. Personal trainer Vlado Zamaria turns up dead in the steam room of the Michigan Muscle health club, and English professor Nick Hoffmann, aided by his flashy colleague Juno Dromgoole, puzzles out the solution to the murder. Along the way, the novel is filled with references to politics, literature, music, and contemporary culture, as well as a sophisticated vocabulary (“exiguously” or “anchorite” or “epigone,” anyone?) unusual for its genre. However, the breadth of author Raphael’s interests and vocabulary never comes off as pretentious or pedantic. In fact, the only complaints I can make about Hot Rocks are its unusual, even cartoonish character names (Juno Dromgoole? Alfred Aftergood? Merry Glinka?) and its complete lack of sex scenes. Professor-cum-detective Nick Hoffman spends a fair amount of time naked in the locker room and wet areas of Michigan Muscle, but unfortunately Raphael is much too tasteful to go any further than such sparkling clean nudity. Nonetheless, the intellectual pleasure derived from the gradually unfolding wordplay of the title Hot Rocks is more than enough to make even the most prurient reader overlook the dearth of sex scenes and eagerly anticipate the continued adventures of Nick Hoffman and company. ( )