SophCie

An interesting premise and the chapters that focus on this premise are good. Unfortunately, the protagonist is a caricature of both the female cop stereotype and what sounds like the (male) author’s personal fantasy. She is six foot, attractive build but very strong, rides a motorbike, likes one night stands (the book actually says that men are thrilled by this no-strings-attached style, of course…), has a difficult past that means she’s hard, career driven, not interested in family etc and doesn’t show emotion. She has literally no vices except for smoking - does not drink at all and no drugs. The attempts to give character development begin and end at her dark past that leads her to enjoy BDSM sessions that don’t involve any sexual pleasure - other than this she is quite one dimensional. It’s the unfortunate trap that a lot of female protagonists fall into where certain authors think strong female character = no emotion at all, but unfortunately this means you can’t exactly like her. Please, can authors realise that strong female characters don’t always have to be an Amazonian, and can actually have vices, flaws, and friendships/relationships???? And sometimes, they can even have children!!! I promise!! I’ve seen it in real life! To be honest, most of the characters had very little development. Now, I did enjoy the main plot of ‘kill or be killed’, and at first there was some mystery as to who the killer was. However, due to the inclusion of diary-like entries in the book which were meant as subtle and cryptic breadcrumbs to the answer of ‘whodunnit?’, it became clear all to soon who the perp was. I won’t spoil it here, but essentially the breadcrumbs were more like bread slices, and I found myself waiting for the protagonist to catch on, which was tiresome. Once they did catch on and race to catch their killer, the wrapping up happens incredibly quickly, which is unsatisfying. There is no aftermath, there is a face off and the book just ends. It’s very abrupt and leaves you thinking ‘is that it?’, especially after 400 pages and, at times, a painfully slow build up. There is also an unfortunate inclusion of a slur for transgender individuals, and several occasions where a transgender victim is misgendered posthumously, and by our ‘cool girl’ protagonist no less. I was surprised when I checked and found this book was published within the last decade as it made it seem like the book was published much longer ago, before these things were as much in the public eye. The inclusion of slurs etc also doesn’t further the plot at all and seemingly has no purpose so not sure why M.J felt the need to include them. Overall, it was an okay jaunt to occupy my time, but I personally won’t be bothering to catch up with Helen Grace on her next adventure, primarily because she’s unlikable, but also because the constant inclusions of ‘everyone loves Helen and wants to be like her because she’s the coolest woman ever!!!!’ made me want to launch the book into the pool. Therefore, 2* for premise, -3* for everything else.