A review by esabel
Every Crooked Nanny by Kathy Hogan Trocheck, Mary Kay Andrews
2.0
I can't believe more people aren't talking about the awful and completely unnecessarily repeated use of the n-word in this book. It's truly disgusting. The fact that this book was published in 1992 with that included is shocking and the fact that it was rereleased in 2012 and they kept it in there is repugnant. It wasn't even necessary to the story! It's only purpose was to show how racist the character was, but holy shit there was other ways to do that. I would have rated this 4 stars if it weren't for that. I listened to it as an audiobook as well, so it was shocking to hear it repeatedly throughout the book.
By the way, the main character had a stronger reaction to the idea of corrupt politicians than she did to the n-word. Literally. She said the idea of corrupt politicians made her skin crawl, but when another character repeatedly used that word she brushed it off as 'just something that happens in Atlanta'. Disgusting.
Since I'm ranting here, I'll add some other things I didn't like about the book.
The epilogue also felt like poor writing. It was like when authors feel the need to over explain things when introducing characters. Like, 'Hi Sara, my younger sister who's in school for accounting. How are you?' type thing.
The timeline of the final chapter also felt off. Edna is kidnaped sometime before her 2 o'clock hair appointment but it isn't until after dark that Garrity catches up with them and the murderer is just then trying to kill Edna. Convenient. What was he doing with her up until then?
All of these things aren't too big a deal, but on top of the repulsive language used it just left a bad taste in my mouth.
By the way, the main character had a stronger reaction to the idea of corrupt politicians than she did to the n-word. Literally. She said the idea of corrupt politicians made her skin crawl, but when another character repeatedly used that word she brushed it off as 'just something that happens in Atlanta'. Disgusting.
Since I'm ranting here, I'll add some other things I didn't like about the book.
Spoiler
The main character spends the entire novel chasing after the wrong suspect, which is annoying. Her gut is telling her the wrong guy is the murderer so we the readers end up rooting for her to take this guy down, only to realize in the final chapter that he's not even the murderer. Then, after all that, it isn't even her detective work that puts that guy in jail. The Feds swoop in last minute and grab the guy for unrelated charges that she wasn't even investigating.The epilogue also felt like poor writing. It was like when authors feel the need to over explain things when introducing characters. Like, 'Hi Sara, my younger sister who's in school for accounting. How are you?' type thing.
The timeline of the final chapter also felt off. Edna is kidnaped sometime before her 2 o'clock hair appointment but it isn't until after dark that Garrity catches up with them and the murderer is just then trying to kill Edna. Convenient. What was he doing with her up until then?
All of these things aren't too big a deal, but on top of the repulsive language used it just left a bad taste in my mouth.