Phoenix and Dragon — Suz deMello

Tough, clever and beautiful, biracial detective Liza Bowman struggles with a San Francisco kidnapping case until she finds the victim's secret sex diary, which reveals that the young female vic went to a bar dressed in scanty red leather and read The Story of O. She hasn't been seen since.

Liza recklessly imitates the vic's last known activities and falls into the hands of James Li, the most notorious whoremaster in the city. Wealthy and handsome, James has already crossed paths with Liza -- when she dared to arrest him.

In James' view, reading a famous bondage novel in public is a blatant come-on, and he's eager and ready to give his nemesis what she wants.