As a detective story, Compromising Positions functions well as a "straight" story and as a gentle spoof of the genre. The straightforward plot centers on the question: "Who murdered Bruce Fleckstein, the Long Island periodontist whose income was greatly enhanced by blackmail and pornography?" The spoof focuses on the same question so, depending on whether one reads for the superficial plot, or chooses to stop to laugh at the witty barbs that pepper the novel, it can be either or both. The title, which derives from the "compromising positions" of many of Fleckstein's photographed paramours, underscores the humorous thrust of the novel and, at a deeper, more serious level, points to the moral dilemma of its heroine. In her use of a double plot — the detective story and the heroine's quest for fulfillment — Isaacs avoids the trap of having produced a shallow, best seller page-turner; by...