I cannot think of a mystery protagonist who harbors more secrets or confronts more ethical challenges than Detective Catrina “Cat” Kinsella. In her first adventure, Sweet Little Lies, Cat investigated a case in which her father figured prominently and perhaps not entirely innocently. Cat knows the whole story now, but she has been remarkably stingy about sharing the details with anyone, least of all her superiors at the London Metropolitan Police. In Caz Frear’s sequel, Stone Cold Heart, the parallels to Cat’s previous case are unmistakable: a charismatic yet somehow sinister suspect; a pair of killings years apart with similarities worth noting; and a cast comprised of members of an extraordinarily dysfunctional family, each with ample reason to shift blame onto the unlikable suspect. As Cat delves into the investigation, she begins to believe that the suspect may be the victim of an elaborate frame. On the other hand, said suspect is a seriously bad guy (even if not a murderer), so why should she exercise extreme measures to release this predator into the wild again? You will guess who did it, but you will be wrong.
Valiant Women is a vital and engrossing attempt to correct the record and rightfully celebrate the achievements of female veterans of World War II.
