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orinposner's review against another edition
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
Nice and quick murder mystery with a lesbian detective, office drama, confrontations with racism, and a good pinch of romance.
LAPD Detective Kate Delafield is investigating the murder of a terrible boss that everyone hated, killed in his office in the early morning. Kate wades through office politics, performs thorough questioning and tests, becomes friendly with some employees - all while still getting over a recent personal loss. We end up learning a lot about this company and its people, except, of course, what business they actually do...
Beyond the murder mystery, issues of race, sexuality and gender abound. This is Los Angeles in the 80s after all, so perhaps realistically our detective is virtually surrounded by bigots - and since she's in the process of an investigation, Kate mostly listens to the spouting of slurs in a kind of resigned irony, though it's relatively clear she does not agree.
Most enjoyable is how lesbians are everywhere in this novel, discreetly but happily having relationships, recognizing one another, leading comfortable lives even while dealing with a variety of difficulties.
The two POV characters - detective Kate and the main witness, Ellen - are both lesbians, which is great on its own but also immediately made me think a romance between them is inevitable, and I ended up really enjoying that aspect of the novel. The POV shifts often happen mid-chapter and even mid-interaction between these two, which is disorientating at times but manageable.
*
A note about my copy of this book:
During a trip to London several years ago, I visited the Feminist Library, which is occasionally opened as a bookshop where you can buy books, zines, art etc. - including old library books that had been removed from their catalogue - and this is where I found and bought this book. So as an added bonus, I can tell you that this book was checked out from the Feminist Library around thirty times between 1986 and 1999.
LAPD Detective Kate Delafield is investigating the murder of a terrible boss that everyone hated, killed in his office in the early morning. Kate wades through office politics, performs thorough questioning and tests, becomes friendly with some employees - all while still getting over a recent personal loss. We end up learning a lot about this company and its people, except, of course, what business they actually do...
Beyond the murder mystery, issues of race, sexuality and gender abound. This is Los Angeles in the 80s after all, so perhaps realistically our detective is virtually surrounded by bigots - and since she's in the process of an investigation, Kate mostly listens to the spouting of slurs in a kind of resigned irony, though it's relatively clear she does not agree.
Most enjoyable is how lesbians are everywhere in this novel, discreetly but happily having relationships, recognizing one another, leading comfortable lives even while dealing with a variety of difficulties.
The two POV characters - detective Kate and the main witness, Ellen - are both lesbians, which is great on its own but also immediately made me think a romance between them is inevitable, and I ended up really enjoying that aspect of the novel. The POV shifts often happen mid-chapter and even mid-interaction between these two, which is disorientating at times but manageable.
*
A note about my copy of this book:
During a trip to London several years ago, I visited the Feminist Library, which is occasionally opened as a bookshop where you can buy books, zines, art etc. - including old library books that had been removed from their catalogue - and this is where I found and bought this book. So as an added bonus, I can tell you that this book was checked out from the Feminist Library around thirty times between 1986 and 1999.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Racial slurs
Moderate: Homophobia, Misogyny, Racism, and Rape