|
[ Home ]
[ About | Reviews | Search | Submit ]
Beth Bowman is a private investigator in Canal Lakes, Florida whose business is uneven to say the least and she finds herself, now in the third novel of this series, still needing to listen to every job offer that comes her way. When Police Chief Elston asks her to take on an unusual and potentially dangerous assignment for not much money (she'll be working for the local police department) Beth immediately wants to turn it down but holds off and takes time to consider it.
The assignment will be a sort of undercover one, as it involves her being flaunted publicly by City Councilman Roger Adamson at all kinds of functions over what could turn into months while actually acting as his personal bodyguard. Adamson faces certain prison time for the sheer sleaze with which he has lined his pockets while in office but has intimated that he will testify against some of those drug kingpins who are supplying dealers in Canal Lakes. However, he insists that he be protected from them until and after he testifies. Beth knows that the fight against drugs is never-ending and that if they can put some of the major players behind bars they will be replaced almost immediately - still, putting a dent, even a small one, in the traffic in drugs appeals to her sense of right. She agrees tentatively, withholding a firm decision until after she can discuss the project with the man she is involved with, Dr. David Rasmussen. Although he hates the idea of staying away from her for the duration - she has to appear to be Adamson's new fling - and is uneasy about the amount of danger Beth will be in, he agrees that it is something that she should do. So she signs up.
Boom! Boom! Boom! Roger Adamson is shot to death by a sniper while standing right beside Beth at a business opening. A second shot kills one of the musicians but was probably meant for Beth who lurched out of the way suddenly. And Dr David decides that he has changed his mind and doesn't understand why Beth won't quit right this minute.
This is not a particularly brainy mystery and not very well thought through. Beth's posse of choice is actually a gang of homeless people who are basically "invisible" to most of society, true, but not a stable group in terms of make-up or behavior. The fact that Dr. David is horrified by the number of overdose cases that flow relentlessly through his hospital doors and the death or permanent damage they can represent is commendable, but he doesn't seem to bat an eye at the fact that Beth's posse of choice for investigations is a random (and often changing) gang of homeless persons who really have her back. How could he miss the idea that some of Beth's helpers are sometimes high on who-knows-what and that a fair percentage of them may be incapacitated by mental illness? Why doesn't Beth take pains to protect herself from assault?
And how is it heartwarming or attractive to have a protagonist who is so intent on proving that she is just as tough as the guys that she mouths off to everyone, even people she has just met? She manages to sound foolish and rather consistently rude.
What happens to her is often her own fault for being open to it and the fact that things keep working out in her favor doesn't go nearly far enough to cover up the fact that she tries to help victims without making sure that she does not become a victim herself and add to the load.
Everything does manage to tie together in the end, but I am not convinced that Beth Bowman is bright enough to be an investigator or to choose a lover or to gather trustworthy and effective associates.
§ Diana Borse is retired from teaching English at Texas A&M University-Kingsville and savoring the chance to read as much as she always wanted to.
Reviewed by Diana Borse, April 2016
[ Top ]
QUICK SEARCH:
Contact: Yvonne Klein (ymk@reviewingtheevidence.com)
[ About | Reviews | Search | Submit ]
[ Home ]
| 
