Agenda-driven Focus Spoils A Decent Procedural

There is a scene in this book where DCI Jane Tennison's common-law husband ('Peter') notes that her work personality - aggressive, perpetually angry, entitled, overly-sensitive & defensive.. a never-ending victim of "The Patriarchy" - is incongruous with the quiet loving, giving, somewhat insecure woman who desperately wants to be liked by his son (by another marriage). Peter doesn't like "Work Jane".

That makes two of us.

In fact, the character goes beyond "unlikable". Tennison is DESPICABLE. It's a baffling characterization choice when you're writing a Mystery-Procedural (you want your readers/listeners to cheer on the good guys in their pursuit of the bad guys). I frankly kind of hoped that the killer would get away with it and that DCI Tennison would get fired.
Lynda LaPlante justifies her character's worldview by populating the story with victim-blamers (the woman killed was a prostitute - a "disease-ridden slag" according to witnesses), stereotype-buyers ("He couldn't have done it. He's too handsome to have used a prostitute"), and cartoonishly misogynist colleagues, supervisors, and general public (subordinate police officers call Jane "Luv"; family members scream that they "WON'T HAVE A WOMAN ON THE CASE!!"). The ridiculous portrayal of society at-large and Law Enforcement feeding rabid feminism actually ruins the enjoyability of the book
..which is a shame. The vocabulary/prose is capable, the crime is gritty & consequential, the investigation is twisty-turny, the surprises are delivered at a captivating pace, and the uncertainty keeps readers guessing.

The performance from Rachel Atkins is pitch perfect and definitely improves the entertainment value of the book. Her delivery of the text is marked by professional (great but unspectacular) diction, timbre, cadence, tone, and pacing - but Atkins's voice-acting is particularly praiseworthy. Despite admittedly pretty weak interpretations of male characters, she captures the schizophrenic personality of Tennison *perfectly*: alternately quiet, subdued, and syrupy towards loved ones and loud, obstreporous, and combative towards work colleagues & witnesses. Atkins clearly understands what LaPlante intended.

This book likely rates 4/10 stars at most - annoyingly disappointing given the cleverness of the crime & investigation - but far above-average presentation boosts it to 6 stars. If you are given the choice between this audiobook version and a text iteration, take this one everyday and twice on Sunday.
If you can get it as a 'Plus' selection (included with your subscription), it's definitely not crazy to spend the time on it.. but if they ask for a Credit, better options beckon (even from LaPlante).

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