I did not choose this book—it was picked by my RL book club as our March selection. It is a legal mystery/thriller which is a genre which I studiously avoid. In the interest of group discussion, I gave it the old college try, but facing it each day was destroying my joy in reading. I compromised: I read the first 30% and the last few chapters. My rating reflects my personal bias. Your mileage may vary.
I wanted to like this book. The author is local and she used many details of our city into her unnamed city setting. She herself was a lawyer here, hence her choice of topics. My youngest sister was a legal assistant for a number of years and she loves legal mysteries. Me, not so much. I find them boring. Wright adds in a political campaign that her main character volunteers for. Also something that I care nothing about. Too many arrogant men with too much money and too little empathy. When Evie goes to a gala and her newest client introduces his wife Marianne, it becomes obvious that she finds her husband and his business as absolutely boring as I did. Marianne was my spirit animal in this novel.
I know I skipped a lot of the story, but if I'm interpreting things correctly, Wright includes a strong feminist theme, regarding powerful men taking women for granted. For example the hyper organized women who run political campaigns on a volunteer basis or the supportive wives who run households without input from their husbands, providing him more time to pursue power. When I was working full time, I often said I didn't need a husband but I could sure use a wife.
I will be interested to see what my book clubbers think of this. We always have a wide variety of opinions, so I'm sure it will have at least one champion. I hope it does, but it will not be me.
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