Hugh

Completely Wrong Performer -- don't bother

story is good, series is good, but Completely Wrong Performer -- don't bother

TG has produced some solid 4-star books in the Rizzoli series, but The addition of Isles has really set the series on a downward spiral.

I not even going to cover all the plot issues with this dog... Let's just say that a 9+ months pregnant and overdue police detective is usually placed on desk duty at least and typically mandatory maternity leave, not tackling offenders and other completely improbable activities.

This book is 2 stars at best. If this were a film, it would get two thumbs-down

TG has produced some solid 4-star books in this series, but "Body Double" does not step-up. The main characters are well developed, but the plot is just too improbable.

It starts off strong with a good plot hook, but then the improbabilities start to mount.

So this dog has our heroines running around the North East for days/weeks all while impervious to the jurisdictional boundaries that seem to thwart their colleagues... No one seems to oversee what they do, where they do it, how many resources are consumed or how they spend their time... All while remaining real women w/ needs and endlessly obsessing over life's insecurities...

Our heroines are probing the murder of (wait for it) a previously-unknown twin sister via the intersection of a convicted psychopathic mass-murderer, an un-discovered serial killer and a victim... Well, you don't see this everyday...

Oh, btw one of them is 8+ months pregnant and somehow has avoided mandatory desk duty while freewheeling around across state lines on active duty -- with firearms... Don't you love those fiction-only interstate carry permits for local law enforcement?

Of course, the heroines will capture the most prolific serial killing team in history (about 300-500 victims, depending on how you do the math) and generally save humanity as we know it --- all without colleagues, subpoenas, search warrants, jurisdiction.... or a phallus. But they do have an unlimited forensics budget, instant access to any test result/report/etc they want, FBI computer databases w/ custom searches and any other equally-improbable capability they may desire. I just love the latest ground penetrating radar available for instant access in remote Maine...

I'm really confused by folks who give dogs like this 4/5 stars - just how much can a reader be expected to suspend belief?

I realize that there is a fair amount of publisher's salt and friend's reviews built into Audible’s system (plus you start with 1 star out of the gate), but for something like this to have an average of 4.5 stars highlights the flaws in Amazon's review system.

This book is 2-3 stars at best. If this were a film, it would get one thumb-up and one thumb-down...

Completely Wrong Performer

don't bother, seriously... I've got the complete series and it's good -- but skip this one...