Review: Surprisingly good.
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 02 28, 2014
Crime isn't my usual reading haunt, and I'm kind of squeamish about fictional depictions of extreme gore, decomposing bodies, and the like ... so why I borrowed this set of books (through an e-book lending system) is kind of beyond me.That said, the writing was fantastic.  I thoroughly enjoyed Laura's character, with its slow but believable development; as with every other crime/detective novel I *have* read, the focus is more on the cases the detective has to solve, not the investigator themselves.  And that works fine in these novels.  Laura is omnipresent, but she doesn't detract from the mysteries with which she's faced; her emotional life runs parallel to the cases she's working on, but don't interfere with them.  All they do is to give her a more human aspect, which is actually quite necessary when you consider the kinds of gruesome things she faces.There's an undercurrent of uneasiness and suspicion throughout all three novels, and a habit Laura has of solving not one but two or three cases at once, that leaves you feeling unsettled and jumpy and possibly a little overwhelmed at times.  Yet Laura's own incisive intuition and the coolness with which she approaches each case clean the air a bit and allow you to breathe through each suspenseful tale.It's disheartening, I will admit.  I came away from reading these novels with a profound respect for the work of the real-life Laura Cardinals of the world, and yet a world in which such specialists are necessary is a very grim and dark place, and that did leave me depressed and disillusioned for a while.  People can be horrible creatures.  I guess we can only be thankful that there are those who fight for justice and truth on behalf of the voiceless and helpless, in the face of mistrust, suspicion, and condescension.  The world needs more people like that.