Mirror, mirror on the wall, who's the fairest of them all?
Most coppers go home at night and forget about it. Not so easy when your partner is a leading criminal defence lawyer. As one fights to put them away, the other tries to get them off. ~ A priceless artefact is stolen en route from the Louvre to the Victoria & Albert Museum and now the mysterious Queenie wants The Hunstman to get it back. For Red the case is a distraction from the more pressing matters of hoodies terrorising the elderly on London estates.
But when Red's boss and mentor is targeted by The Hunstman things get personal. Very personal.
This was another of the many free books I acquired when I first got my kindle, so as usual, I had no expectations. It was a decent story with some likable characters. Cass [Red] Rose is a cop and her partner is a barrister who is in the process of divorcing her husband. Her three children are starting to build a relationship with Red. Criminals, stolen diamonds, death, gangs, bad family history and murder all add to the mix.
Police procedural with a Lesbian twist, but the thriller aspect was too predictable and too obviously set up. The professional relationship between the two female leads also failed in several respects as there are clear rules about personal involvement with witnesses.
It passed a few hours of commuting but I may miss the remainder of the series although the lead relationship is different from the run of the mill good hearted cop who is impossible to live with.
The plot for this novel revolves around two cases that Detective Inspector Cassandra Rose and her team are working on. The first involves a gang of ruffians who enjoy beating on old people and leaving a beret at the scene of the crime. The second—and more important—has to do with a stolen jewel called the pomme-rouge. Red apple—Snow White; get it? Almost every previous reviewer disliked something different about this novel—there is really no consensus on what is good or what is bad. So here’s my take on it.
Cassandra’s team is a good one, despite one of them being a homophobic sexist pig. I like the addition of Terri Miller, a 23-year-old constable-in-training from Texas although neither she, nor the others in the homicide team are fleshed out nearly enough. However, their briefings and bantering are well done, as is their attention to detail in the cases they are investigating.
Another good thing about the book—probably the best part, in fact—is Cass’s relationship with Philliipa (Pippa) Crichton-Ward, who is a brilliant barrister on the Queen’s Counsel. But even better than their relationship is Pippa herself. Her snooty upper-class fastidiousness is totally opposite from Cass’s more blue-collar nature and makes for a number of amusing scenes. Sure, Pippa is often almost over the top, but she’s funny. She has a horror of sch things as cooking, fast food, public transportation, or affordable-housing enclaves. When Cass suggests that they buy a used car for their au pair to use in chauffeuring Pippa’s three kids. Cass replies, “I won’t have some dilapidated old jalopy sitting outside my house. What would the neighbours think?” Pippa ends up buying the young woman a new Mercedes. The fact that Cass and Pippa are often on opposite sides of a case in the courtroom also affords us some interesting moments.
It took me a few chapters to get into the book, but when I did, I flowed along pretty smoothly until about three-quarters through. Then it fell apart so completely that what could have easily been a 4+ rating plummeted to about a 3. So what happened?
Well, everything started to go downhill when Cass realizes that she is acquainted with a man called The Huntsman—the murderer they are after—and doesn’t tell anybody. She doesn’t tell anybody even after he murders one of her best friends right in front of her. Even when she becomes aware that he is stalking Cass, Pippa, and their three children in an out-of-the-way vacation spot she doesn’t tell anyone or even call for backup. Even though she is unarmed and he has a pistol with a silencer. It’s as if she thinks to herself that maybe he’ll just go away. Oh, and by the way, the killer is Cass’s brother, who abused her as a child.
Oh, and by the way, how did the killer know where they were? How was he able to break in their cabin several times and leave clues, despite the fact that Cass was careful about locking up? He was even able to place a camera/projector unit in a sauna room so that his client could watch as he committed his crimes. It’s not that this author is the only one that devises ridiculous denouments; it almost seems to be a tradition is lesbian mystery writing. But just because others do it, doesn’t mean you should.
At the end, Cass becomes nearly a blubbering mess and has to be rescued by Pippa’s ex-husband and her 11-year-old son, who just happen to stumble onto the scene. There are very few lesbian readers that will be able to accept this—and hopefully, few straight readers either. Even the subplot of the gang of ruffians who prey on the elderly is solved off-camera, with Cass having nothing to do with their capture.
Now about the fairy tale business. The authors get a couple of tenths of a point for thinking about tying each of the crimes in this series to fairy tales. However, they lose double that for actually attempting it and botching is badly. References to Snow White and incredibly clumsy and totally unnecessary. Cass is called Red by her friends for absolutely no reason whatsoever except that the authors are trying to tie in with the Rose Red theme—which is an entirely different story from the Disney Snow White. It is a total mess. Even the rounding up of the gang of ruffians preying on the elderly is done off-camera.
Many manly things are not resolved. Will they be answered in the next volume? Maybe, but I won’t be reading the next volume.
Final Rating: 2.9
Note: I read the ebook version of this book that was available in June, 2019.
Another Note: This review is included in my book The Art of the Lesbian Mystery Novel, along with information on over 930 other lesbian mysteries by over 310 authors.
Meet Detective Inspector Cassandra Red Rose, the central character in the start of Saffina's new crime thriller series. This novel is awfully British and is written in the style of the long running television series called The Bill.
Snow White is a run of the mill police investigation with nothing new or really involved. There is a lot of detail about police procedures and the culture within police forces. Saffina handles the workplace culture between officers very well. Although Snow White is a crime thriller it is not just about a policewoman's job. Out of work, Cassandra Red Rose has a life, a life she shares with Philippa Crichton-Ward, QC. This means that Cassandra is a lesbian, who enjoys family life living with Philipa and her 3 children. Cassandra is very easy to relate to and have empathy for, regardless of the reader's gender or sexuality. Cassandra is a very likeable character. She is warm, kind, fun and has her feet firmly on the ground.
Snow White is an easy reading novel of some 440 KB that is split up into 121 chapters. These short chapters make this eBook easy to read in a series of short goes, in the same way that you can drop into a magazine. This style of publishing works well with people's busy lifestyles, when they can only snatch a few minutes of reading at a time. Snow White is an enjoyable read and the pace of the story is okay.
Snow White does have some lovely humour running through it. It pokes great fun at class, lifestyles and people's upbringing. Philipa is such a snob and the way she rants is very funny. For example: “Please don’t argue, Ella. It’s not lady-like. And nor is travelling on buses. I was just explaining to Deimante how you would much rather go by taxi.”
Overall there is a lovely banter between all the characters in this novel. This book does entertain but it does not stretch the reader. There is nothing to offend anyone and there is no explicit sex. Snow White is quite like a soap opera.
I found the motives of the criminals a little far fetched and the ending was okay. Snow White lacks the sharpness and detail of Sugar & Spice , Saffina's debut novel. Snow White does disappoint the reader simply because Sugar & Spice was so damn good.
I had read Sugar and Spice earlier, and was really excited about reading another book by this author. Actually, I think that put this book at a disadvantage. I thought Sugar and Spice was great and I was assuming this book would be just like it. Well, it isn't. Which doesn't make it bad, just different. For me, it was mildly interesting until about 60% into it. Then I became rivetted (like I was through-out all of S&S). I just wished this had happened sooner for me. However, I did become rivetted and the ending is a cliff-hanger, so I will be waiting for book 2 Repunzel, coming out in November.
An average read to pass the time rather than to enjoy. Characterization is poor and the lead characters as sketched are unlikeable. Red's lawyer lover is particularly unbelievable - and the interaction between these two is banal. The young daughter is the most well written character. The story wanders along into a fairly contrived climax, whilst the barely described police procedures appear to have been researched from watching cop shows. In fact the impression is given that perhaps the book has been written in the hope it might be picked up for televising. Two stars given because the author managed to keep me sufficiently interested to read it right through.
bought this book on a whim, it was causing a heated debate on the amazon forum, so that got me curious,the argument was about the amount of sex and violence in the book.to me i have read far worse than this, and i just thought the previous reviewer gave the author a damnning review.i would say read this book if your a fan of this author, but it's not a patch on sugar and spice.
bought this book on a whim, somebody actually got upset about the unsavoury content,so this made me take a look at it myself. i thought it had a good story line, good characters, and i thought it was quite a good read,but i do not think it is as good as "sugar and spice" which i enjoyed,but overall really good.
Intriguing. Wasn't the easiest book to get into, and I sure don't like Red's partner Pip, what a stuck up snotty madam she is, but it does lend an interesting twist with them being on opposite sides of the fence in the justice system. I get the impression that part if the story is going to take several books to unfold.