not for me

I feel like I should give this a 4, because I've given much worse books a three, but I can't bring myself to, for much the same reason (I've given much better books a 4). This was solidly ok. The concept was great, the way the mystery was plotted was great, but the characters (the police, in particular) were one-dimensional, and they didn't actually DO much. The villains fared better, but not much. The protagonists, ugh. Emily's entire thing is that she has no social skills and is blunt/rude, but it seems like it's because she's supposed to be neurodivergent? (Which I'm not 100% ok with. How did being blunt and shockingly rude become shorthand for neurodivergence?) But then she can flip a switch and be the exact opposite when talking to a victim in an official capacity, so, I mean, maybe I'm reading too much into it and she was neurotypical but just ignorant? Who knows! The only other info we get is that she lost a baby in infancy, and that she has a flat chest. I'm not even joking. She was insufferable.
Then Alexis, is defined by her over-invested mother who calls all the time, and then her romance with one of the locals on the periphery of the case. And oh my gosh, the "love scenes" are cringey. And they added exactly nothing to the plot. I guess it was supposed to be character development, but there was no character to develop. We do learn, as she lusts after the new guy, that her previous partner died and she's still grieving, so... I don't know.
The scenes set in the past were compelling and often explicitly horrifying. Two thumbs up. But the scenes set in the present just didn't gell, and the writing drove me crazy. This is partly because I listened to the book.
The narrator had a voice that I did not care for, but for the most part, she did a professional job. Except the accents. Or lack there of. It was so weird and discordant. She had a Midwestern American accent. The book was translated into British English. It was weird. And then you had characters who were North American using British words and phrases, which is a HUGE pet peeve of mine. I find it so jarring. I found the writing in general a bit too romantic-suspense-y, but then with the lazy translation... yeah, not my thing.
Overall, it was a pretty good book with an excellent concept, I just wasn't a fan of its style.

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