Nolon King

Female lead character, yet it fails the Bechdel test

And look, I understand that not every piece of reading or viewing entertainment out there needs to pass this simple test, but the lead character is a woman. You would think the author would be able to give her a female friend, and you would think that—as a cop—she could find things to discuss with that other female besides men. I’m not being nit picky here, and if you don’t know what the Bechdel test is, look it up.

We could argue about the specifics of the test: 1) The story needs two "featured" women (Chelsea Sullivan is the only featured one, even though her detective partner has a mom and ex girlfriend who make a brief appearance to be concerned about…the new girl in his life…), 2) Those "featured women" need to have at least one brief conversation (Chelsea's only brief conversation is with a librarian near the end of the story, and she's not a featured character), and 3) that conversation between two "featured" women has to be about anything other than a man (if we’re counting the partner's mom and ex girlfriend, well they’re discussing him and his love life, so—fail).

But hey, as detective thrillers go, this story was… okay. If you're a fan of TV shows like Bones, Castle, Big Sky, where there are two detective partners tracking down crime while flirting with the potential that they are meant for each other (by denying it at every turn), this story might be for you.… (mere)

This was my Amazon First Reads pick for April 2022--It was kind of a pick the least objectionable title month for me because none really grabbed me.

"Miserable Lies"
*Port's told many lies--some to himself, and some public. He concealed an affair. He concealed a note that his late partner received (the physical note may have burned up in the fire but it was not reported). I think most of all, he's lied about not liking the notoriety the case brought him.

*Cole's told lies of omission. He knows the real perpetrator of the crimes he's been imprisoned for but never tells. Well, except to Danica in a round-about way.

The characters all seemed kind of cardboard to me.… (mere)