Two crime chick mysteries

Here’s another short and sweet book review. Not much of a review, really, just an appreciation.

Audible had the Stephanie Plum novels on sale last week, so I decided to take the plunge. I am usually reluctant to read series or novels that are a little too popular. The Stephanie Plum series seems very popular. In fact, I’ve seen its bright neon jackets on one of the Old Maids’ desk, and I can’t say that I generally share her taste in literature from the other covers I’ve seen. But, you know, don’t knock it ’til you’ve tried it and all that, and they were on sale. So I recently finished listening to Four to Score (1998).

And I liked it! Gimmicky, yes; caricatured, yes; subtle, no. Still, there’s nothing fundamentally objectionable with the plot and the characters are generally sympathetic. The sex scene was a little much (especially when you have to listen to it with a two-month-old at the end of your boob), but the rest was, dare I say, entertaining. I’ve got one more Stephanie Plum in my library, so I can get a better sense of the series, and I’m kind of looking forward to some more zany adventures.

However, I must admit that my judgment may have been clouded in favour of anything remotly well put together by the fact that I had just finished listening to the dreadful Dead Ex (2007) by Harley Jane Kozak. I had downloaded this one because the author had won a few awards (Agatha, Anthony, Macavity). From now on, I shall give no credit to award winners, ’cause Dead Ex is a ridiculous mess: there don’t seem to be any reason for some characters’ actions (let alone for their existence), too much of the plot relies on coïncidence and too many questions remain unanswered. The main plotline is pointless: Wollie, the main character, is trying to solve a murder because her best friend Joey appears to be a primary suspect. However, should she indeed solve the mystery, there doesn’t appear to be anything she could do about it.

But the most annoying part of the novel was the characters. Wollie is a moron and Joey hides things for no apparent reason (other than advancing the “plot”). And frankly, grown women who say things like “every woman loves to be called ‘little girl’ by a big strong man” need to be smacked. These bimboes make Carrie Bradshaw look like Babe Bennett. And the interaction between the “little girls” reminded me of the stories we used to make up with our Barbie dolls when we were 10. (We even gave them masculine names, too. Because that sounds cute. When you’re 10.) This one isn’t even worth a tag.