Eros at Zenith by Mike Resnick (1984, Hardcover)

Science Fiction can be dry and not interesting if you can't relate to anything in the book . If the characters , even though are far out, are enough like what we know, we can relate to them.

This book is quite different in that it can be called a mystery or science fiction. It includes far out worlds, a casino, a bordello and various interesting locations.
The characters are Black Pearl,a madam, Cupid, a near sentient computer, Andrew Jackson Crane, the detective, who must find the assassin before he kills again.

Well plotted, good characterizations and an exotic setting. The plot thickens. Nothing is as it seems and when something is revealed it leads to another mystery to solve