A Detective in Love

Rating:
Summary: delightful police procedural
Review: Barbara "Bubbles" Xingara is the media darling of the tennis world and is expected to win at Wimbledon, but she never gets the chance because somebody murders her on her own estate. Detective Superintendent Harriet Martens is known in the media as The Hard Detective because of her tough stance on criminals and because she never gives up until she catches the perpetrator she is after.

The Leven Vale police chief specifically requests that Harriet is assigned as the lead in the case. When she arrives on the crime scene she meets Detective Inspector Anselm Brent and immediately falls into lust. Harriet fights her feelings for the man while she is working on the case with him. This turns into a difficult scenario even for as gifted a person as The Hard Detective.

The use of the first person narrative allows the reader to feel the protagonist's emotions and this leads to readers empathizing with her struggle to be faithful to her husband. The who-done-it is solved by good old-fashioned police work but the heart of this tale lies with the internal battle Harriet wages to do what is right.

Harriet Klausner

Rating:
Summary: delightful police procedural
Review: Barbara "Bubbles" Xingara is the media darling of the tennis world and is expected to win at Wimbledon, but she never gets the chance because somebody murders her on her own estate. Detective Superintendent Harriet Martens is known in the media as The Hard Detective because of her tough stance on criminals and because she never gives up until she catches the perpetrator she is after.

The Leven Vale police chief specifically requests that Harriet is assigned as the lead in the case. When she arrives on the crime scene she meets Detective Inspector Anselm Brent and immediately falls into lust. Harriet fights her feelings for the man while she is working on the case with him. This turns into a difficult scenario even for as gifted a person as The Hard Detective.

The use of the first person narrative allows the reader to feel the protagonist's emotions and this leads to readers empathizing with her struggle to be faithful to her husband. The who-done-it is solved by good old-fashioned police work but the heart of this tale lies with the internal battle Harriet wages to do what is right.

Harriet Klausner

Rating:
Summary: Lustful thoughts distract from mystery
Review: When beautiful tennis star Barbara (Bubbles) Xingara is found murdered, the rural police force calls in Detective Superintendent Harriet Martens for help. Harriet has earned a reputation as the 'hard detective,' but she falls fast for a younger Detective Inspector Brent. An affair would definitely complicate Harriet's marriage, not to mention both of their police careers, but she can hardly keep her hands to herself from the moment she first sees him. Fortunately, or unfortunately, all of the early leads generate nothing but trouble, giving Harriet and Brent time together to fuel the attraction.

After the strong THE HARD DETECTIVE, A DETECTIVE IN LOVE is something of a disappointment. Harriet's instant love is not exactly unbelievable, but it seems motivated by author H. R. F. Keating's desire to show how lust and love can strike instantly than by something coming from the characters themselves. Harriet's long lustful thoughts don't deliver enough detail to be titillating, but do distract from the mystery. Possibly this is just as well as the mystery seems disjointed rather than progressing in a story arc.

I've read enough Keating to look forward to his next novel, but this one is best for real fans.