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Final Session
When a prosperous, unethical psychotherapist is found murdered in her office, San Antonio police detective Lucia Ramos must deal with a t'ai chi instructor, the head of the licensing board and ethics committe, a client who accused the therapist of sexualmisconduct charges, and other suspects in order to find the killer
225 pages, Paperback
First published June 1, 1991
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
January 18, 2018
This is utterly ridiculous but so enjoyable. Full of lesbian culture references, some angst, and over the top sex scenes Lucia Ramos is the 1990s latinx version of Olivia Benson I didn't know I needed. I'm going to be looking for more books in this series.
August 2, 2013
For almost two-thirds of Mary Morell’s Final Session, I couldn’t imagine giving the book more than two stars, largely because of the writing. It’s pretty awkward, for the most part, and the dialogue makes me think Morell turns a deaf ear whenever real people are talking. It was surprising to learn that it won Spinster Book Co(now Spinsters Ink)‘s, fiction contest. This was, of course, before Katherine V. Forrest came on board at Spinsters. Maybe the standards were different, or maybe there just weren’t that many entries. Seriously, folks, parts of it almost read like something from Rising Tide Press, though at least the word yoni is never used.
Maybe the writing got better over the last 70 pages. Maybe I just became resigned to it. More likely, as we get nearer the end, the reader is more focused on the plot than the prose. There’s a lovely, evocative passage beginning around page 130 which simply exposes how “meh” the rest is. In any case, by the end, my overall estimation was more positive and had I raised my opinion to two and a half stars, In such cases, the new kinder, gentler me now rounds up, so three stars it is.
The actual story is a pretty entertaining murder mystery, and our curiosity is piqued right away because the police have so much trouble finding any pertinent info about the vic, even her home address. Neither her office, -- she's a pshrink -- purse nor car have any personal information, and no patient files are in evidence, either.
The phone co., insurance and credit cards providers, all use her office address. Curiouser and curiouser.
There are few plot twists, so the investigation is pretty straightforward, but there are more than enough suspects to make things interesting. Seems the good doctor Elizabeth Freeman slept with anything that moved, regardless of gender, including her patients. One quibble related to the mystery, though: seems to me that introducing an absolutely vital clue 95 percent of the way through a mystery is a bit disingenuous.
Frankly, I didn’t really care for the main character, Officer Lucia Ramos. She’s bad-tempered, prone to jump to conclusions and to overreact, and, for a cop, very easily distracted. It’s okay if the protag isn’t your favorite character, but, if she ranks number five or six, and most of those others are only present for a page or two, that’s a problem. Her eventual lover, Amy, is, on the other hand, much more engaging.
There are some important psychological discussions throughout, and mention of incest. Though the book has a decided feminist slant it never crams it down your throat. On the other hand, since I’ve already mentioned Forrest, Morell does have a tendency to make the majority of the male characters as unlikable as possible; that’s KVF’s only weakness, in my opinion, and, with Morell, it’s noticeable enough to be annoying.
As I write this, it seems like it's much more a two-star review than three, but, I‘ll stick with my original rating because the story is enjoyable and entertaining despite the negatives. Not sure I’ll follow up with the other Locia Ramos novel, Final Rest, though.
Maybe the writing got better over the last 70 pages. Maybe I just became resigned to it. More likely, as we get nearer the end, the reader is more focused on the plot than the prose. There’s a lovely, evocative passage beginning around page 130 which simply exposes how “meh” the rest is. In any case, by the end, my overall estimation was more positive and had I raised my opinion to two and a half stars, In such cases, the new kinder, gentler me now rounds up, so three stars it is.
The actual story is a pretty entertaining murder mystery, and our curiosity is piqued right away because the police have so much trouble finding any pertinent info about the vic, even her home address. Neither her office, -- she's a pshrink -- purse nor car have any personal information, and no patient files are in evidence, either.
The phone co., insurance and credit cards providers, all use her office address. Curiouser and curiouser.
There are few plot twists, so the investigation is pretty straightforward, but there are more than enough suspects to make things interesting. Seems the good doctor Elizabeth Freeman slept with anything that moved, regardless of gender, including her patients. One quibble related to the mystery, though: seems to me that introducing an absolutely vital clue 95 percent of the way through a mystery is a bit disingenuous.
Frankly, I didn’t really care for the main character, Officer Lucia Ramos. She’s bad-tempered, prone to jump to conclusions and to overreact, and, for a cop, very easily distracted. It’s okay if the protag isn’t your favorite character, but, if she ranks number five or six, and most of those others are only present for a page or two, that’s a problem. Her eventual lover, Amy, is, on the other hand, much more engaging.
There are some important psychological discussions throughout, and mention of incest. Though the book has a decided feminist slant it never crams it down your throat. On the other hand, since I’ve already mentioned Forrest, Morell does have a tendency to make the majority of the male characters as unlikable as possible; that’s KVF’s only weakness, in my opinion, and, with Morell, it’s noticeable enough to be annoying.
As I write this, it seems like it's much more a two-star review than three, but, I‘ll stick with my original rating because the story is enjoyable and entertaining despite the negatives. Not sure I’ll follow up with the other Locia Ramos novel, Final Rest, though.
September 9, 2011
It was hard to decide on a rating for this. It's a good story, I liked the characters, and it covers subjects that set it apart from most novels (and most lesbian fiction). There are moments of awkward writing, though, and the author has a tin ear for dialogue.
Overall I'd recommend it, though. Some lovely moments and some important writing. I'm glad I found it. Three and a half stars?
Overall I'd recommend it, though. Some lovely moments and some important writing. I'm glad I found it. Three and a half stars?
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews