A Bad Day's Work: A Novel (A Lilly Hawkins Mystery)
Photojournalist Lilly Hawkins’ bad day begins when she maneuvers her way past a police line to shoot a murder scene. When the tape she has just shot turns out to be blank, it seems like another of the recent screwups that are threatening a potential promotion and even her job as the only TV camerawoman in Bakersfield, California. But those prospects pale when she faces bodily harm or worse at the hands of crooked cops and the vicious leader of a local gang, all of whom are after the tape. Seeking redemption, Lilly pursues the murder story, calling on her somewhat disreputable uncle Bud for help after colleagues she considered friends sell her out. Amid nonstop action, she vacillates between two potential suitors, a detective known as Handsome Homicide and telegenic reporter Rod Strong. Former Bakersfield camerawoman McFarland clearly knows her technical stuff in this first of a projected trilogy, but the convoluted plotline can be confusing, and Lilly’s repeated self-analysis gets tiring. Still, McFarland has an appealingly flawed protagonist here, and fans of Julie Kramer’s Minneapolis TV reporter, Riley Spatz, will likely take to Lilly, too. --Michele Leber