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A review by rjamieson4
Dead Man's Mistress by David Housewright
3.0
A bit of a let down when compared to previous entries. The main resolution was telegraphed within the first 50 pages, which led to the over reliance of MacGuffins to drive the plot and McKenzie away from what should have been a quick resolution.
I appreciated the author trying to be more proactive in making female characters more than just hysterical about men, but by the end (with the exception of one character) every new female character's arc was defined by their relationship to a man. While some of this fits within the framework of the plot and makes sense in the story, there were a few examples that this felt lazy (withholding details because of spoilers, but this relates to an art dealer, neighbor, ex-wife of a minor character, and secretary). I have not had this issue with previous McKenzie novel's and I found these issues more egregious due to the resolution of the climax.
I appreciated the author trying to be more proactive in making female characters more than just hysterical about men, but by the end (with the exception of one character) every new female character's arc was defined by their relationship to a man. While some of this fits within the framework of the plot and makes sense in the story, there were a few examples that this felt lazy (withholding details because of spoilers, but this relates to an art dealer, neighbor, ex-wife of a minor character, and secretary). I have not had this issue with previous McKenzie novel's and I found these issues more egregious due to the resolution of the climax.