epic_recs | The Pleiades by astraplain (hard R)

Title: The Pleiades by astraplain
Fandom: Gorgeous Carat
Pairing: Florian/Ray
Categories: mystery, angst, hurt/comfort, BDSM
Length: Epic (~51,000 words)
Warnings: non-explicit references to pre-story rape; some encoding errors (not a ton, but noticeable)

Author on LJ: n/a?
Website: n/a

Review:
When Ray drags Florian and Laila to Brussels ~~to steal some sapphires~~ for a "working vacation", it sounds like a fun way to recover from the last ~~gem theft~~ "business trip". Instead it turns into a trip of horrors, with an overbearing Countess trying to marry off Florian (or Ray. She's not picky), Noir-imposters stealing gems left right and center (and, to Ray's indignation, without a *hint* of class), various attempts on Florian's life, and (most bizarrely) money and sapphires being thrown randomly at Florian (in some cases literally).

Epic, well-written, intricately plotted Gorgeous Carat fic doesn't come along every day, so I was thrilled to discover this mystery story. The mystery itself is layered and engaging, with lots of twists and turns (and gemstones). You also have great characterizations that seems very much inline with what (little) I know of canon. Ray and Florian's relationship is especially well done -- I'm not usually a fan of BDSM relationships, but canonically it makes a lot of sense and it works in this fic. Frankly, the fact that astraplain keeps the BDSM in the bedroom probably makes this fic less kinky than the actual canon.

If you like long, interesting mysteries and have any knowledge of or interest in Gorgeous Carat, you'll enjoy this fic.

The Pleiades