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Heart of the Matter
Police procedural in the search for a possible murder.
327 pages, ebook
Published December 9, 2015
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
December 10, 2015
See Naples and Die
James Greer’s “Heart of the Matter” is a police procedural with the added depth of the chief character being a homicide detective complicated by the discovery that she’s pregnant. (Her fiancé is a totally loving and committed airline pilot.)
This does NOT start out as a mystery-romance, although there’s a very positive, realistic relationship with her man; it DOES dwell extensively with Det. Karen Sorenson’s concern over motherhood, balancing marriage with work, and settling relationships with friends and family. We see solid friendships develop with others on the Collier County Sheriff’s force, including a strong tie to her trainer and mentor John Wallace. A few nasty police adversaries working alongside are also well-developed. Trouble comes when Wallace, who is orienting Karen Sorenson to her new job, disappears and one of his body parts is found floating in the bay off Naples, Florida. A shark tooth embedded in the man’s arm leads investigators to conclude the poor man probably killed himself in remorse over an upcoming divorce from a cold, calculating wife.
Karen doubts that it was suicide, and the detective’s wife Becky shares her strong suspicion that it was murder. Becky becomes a strong character in the form of a brilliant physicist who figures into the conclusive battle as well as a love interest with Sorenson’s husband’s cousin/
But at the point we see a possible homicide become clear, Karen gets bigger and bigger with her pregnancy, there are long discussions about motherhood, and existential questioning about parenting and career. All quite nicely written and insightful counterpoint to her under-the-radar investigation, but the plot is effectively sidetracked.
It seems there are two story lines going together here for two different audience interests. Are we talking murder or motherhood, hmmm? Mr. Greer, as well written as this is, I was distracted.
Greer has located his mystery to Naples, Florida, transplanting Karen Sorenson from his last novel, “Parasol in a Hurricane,” where he placed her in Wisconsin. He does for Naples what Carl Hiaasen does for the Sunshine State, evoking lushness fraught with murder. And no one does mayhem better than our heroine trying to save a wounded officer when both are pinned down by remote control fire guided by high technology satellite. The tension is palpable and plot invention smoothly unfolds, making Sorenson a latter-day superhero in uniform with beauty, brains and a touching humility. Take note if you travel: there’s truth in the saying, “See Naples and die.”
Full disclosure: My publisher, Wild Child, asked me to review an ARC of “Heart of the Matter,” which I was happy to do, inasmuch as I reviewed an earlier Greer book, “Parasol in a Hurricane”
James Greer’s “Heart of the Matter” is a police procedural with the added depth of the chief character being a homicide detective complicated by the discovery that she’s pregnant. (Her fiancé is a totally loving and committed airline pilot.)
This does NOT start out as a mystery-romance, although there’s a very positive, realistic relationship with her man; it DOES dwell extensively with Det. Karen Sorenson’s concern over motherhood, balancing marriage with work, and settling relationships with friends and family. We see solid friendships develop with others on the Collier County Sheriff’s force, including a strong tie to her trainer and mentor John Wallace. A few nasty police adversaries working alongside are also well-developed. Trouble comes when Wallace, who is orienting Karen Sorenson to her new job, disappears and one of his body parts is found floating in the bay off Naples, Florida. A shark tooth embedded in the man’s arm leads investigators to conclude the poor man probably killed himself in remorse over an upcoming divorce from a cold, calculating wife.
Karen doubts that it was suicide, and the detective’s wife Becky shares her strong suspicion that it was murder. Becky becomes a strong character in the form of a brilliant physicist who figures into the conclusive battle as well as a love interest with Sorenson’s husband’s cousin/
But at the point we see a possible homicide become clear, Karen gets bigger and bigger with her pregnancy, there are long discussions about motherhood, and existential questioning about parenting and career. All quite nicely written and insightful counterpoint to her under-the-radar investigation, but the plot is effectively sidetracked.
It seems there are two story lines going together here for two different audience interests. Are we talking murder or motherhood, hmmm? Mr. Greer, as well written as this is, I was distracted.
Greer has located his mystery to Naples, Florida, transplanting Karen Sorenson from his last novel, “Parasol in a Hurricane,” where he placed her in Wisconsin. He does for Naples what Carl Hiaasen does for the Sunshine State, evoking lushness fraught with murder. And no one does mayhem better than our heroine trying to save a wounded officer when both are pinned down by remote control fire guided by high technology satellite. The tension is palpable and plot invention smoothly unfolds, making Sorenson a latter-day superhero in uniform with beauty, brains and a touching humility. Take note if you travel: there’s truth in the saying, “See Naples and die.”
Full disclosure: My publisher, Wild Child, asked me to review an ARC of “Heart of the Matter,” which I was happy to do, inasmuch as I reviewed an earlier Greer book, “Parasol in a Hurricane”
January 9, 2017
I first discovered Greer’s work with his short "A Parasol in a Hurricane" where he introduces Karen O’Neil (now Sorenson in Heart), an ethical, badass, female cop dealing with an unethical, abusive asshole of a husband. I fell in love with her immediately, wanted to be her best friend, and didn’t want the story to end.
Karen became my she-ro. (grin)
Luckily for me, he has written two more books with Karen as the heroine, Heart being one of them. In this installment of Karen’s story, we step into her life when she has moved with her new husband to Florida, is becoming a first time mom (unplanned), and has joined a small town police force. We follow her through the trials that all officers face when they join a department new to them, except, as a woman, she has to prove herself even more. She knows what to expect. This isn’t her first rodeo as the new policewoman. She expects to have to prove herself and deal with prejudice. But she’s also dedicated to her job and really good at it. Oh, and she isn’t going to let some Neanderthal prevent her from doing her job. (See why I love this woman? Er, fictional character… LOL)
Now, we kind of expect harassment from a few male policemen to happen. We also expect there to be stereotypes in a book, especially when male authors write female protagonists. Not with Greer’s books. You can relax and know he’s going to do women justice. The complexity and humanness of his characters speaks to the research he obviously does to tell a “truthful” fictional story. I imagine he must interview his fellow co-workers (his biography states he’s been in the police force for a few decades now) in order to create such rich, true-to-life characters.
Karen isn’t perfect, she isn’t always sure of the choices she makes, and she makes bad decisions. She struggles with doing the right thing even though she knows it will alienate one of her fellow police officers and make life harder for her. Her frustration of being stuck on desk duty once the department discovers she’s pregnant shines through. She loves the growing child, but doesn’t always like being pregnant. (Been there, done that.) Her desire to be treated as an equal and not just as a baby-making machine is something many women have experienced, or are experiencing. Her determination, grit, and loyalty to her partners are something all of us aspire to.
The story is well thought out, gripping, and fast-paced. Matter of fact, you’ll wonder how you sailed through the 80-90,000 words so quickly (and wish you hadn’t).
Although this is Karen’s third installment, each title stands alone. You don’t have to read the other two, but you might _want_ to after reading this one.
Karen became my she-ro. (grin)
Luckily for me, he has written two more books with Karen as the heroine, Heart being one of them. In this installment of Karen’s story, we step into her life when she has moved with her new husband to Florida, is becoming a first time mom (unplanned), and has joined a small town police force. We follow her through the trials that all officers face when they join a department new to them, except, as a woman, she has to prove herself even more. She knows what to expect. This isn’t her first rodeo as the new policewoman. She expects to have to prove herself and deal with prejudice. But she’s also dedicated to her job and really good at it. Oh, and she isn’t going to let some Neanderthal prevent her from doing her job. (See why I love this woman? Er, fictional character… LOL)
Now, we kind of expect harassment from a few male policemen to happen. We also expect there to be stereotypes in a book, especially when male authors write female protagonists. Not with Greer’s books. You can relax and know he’s going to do women justice. The complexity and humanness of his characters speaks to the research he obviously does to tell a “truthful” fictional story. I imagine he must interview his fellow co-workers (his biography states he’s been in the police force for a few decades now) in order to create such rich, true-to-life characters.
Karen isn’t perfect, she isn’t always sure of the choices she makes, and she makes bad decisions. She struggles with doing the right thing even though she knows it will alienate one of her fellow police officers and make life harder for her. Her frustration of being stuck on desk duty once the department discovers she’s pregnant shines through. She loves the growing child, but doesn’t always like being pregnant. (Been there, done that.) Her desire to be treated as an equal and not just as a baby-making machine is something many women have experienced, or are experiencing. Her determination, grit, and loyalty to her partners are something all of us aspire to.
The story is well thought out, gripping, and fast-paced. Matter of fact, you’ll wonder how you sailed through the 80-90,000 words so quickly (and wish you hadn’t).
Although this is Karen’s third installment, each title stands alone. You don’t have to read the other two, but you might _want_ to after reading this one.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews