Normally I have to like at least one character or else the book ends up in the did-not-finish pile. Somehow I got interested enough to actually finish Bear is Broken (Leo Maxwell Mystery) despite the fact every single character was an immoral sleaze.
The scary thing is the (Leo Maxwell Mystery) part of the title. Does this mean we get more books starring this clueless, inept, morally bereft lawyer wannabe? Can you tell I was not impressed with character Leo? Let’s see. He falls for a girl whom he thinks might have shot his brother, or who might be shielding her brother. He drinks and drives while drunk, smokes dope, stumbles around looking for clues, and lusts after his brother’s ex-wife. Definitely not someone you want to spend time with.
So why did I even finish it? Good question. In a way it was well written. Dialogue was good, characters were consistent (repugnant but consistently repugnant), setting well drawn. On his Amazon page author Lachlan Smith, who is also a lawyer, says the realistic part of his book is “the drama of idealism colliding with the moral ambiguity of criminal law”. Maybe that’s why the book is compelling. The characters are nasty but we can also see hints there is far more going on than sex, booze, murder and drugs. Those are just the setting and the real story is the way Leo must come to grips with the fact he is now an adult – always hard – and that there is no pure black and pure white in his chosen profession.
On the other hand the plot was overly complex with at least three murder cases all circling around each other and with clueless Leo in the middle. I never learned what the title meant nor do we have any idea how the characters will play out their next acts, other than they will be miserable. And so will I be if I spend any more time thinking about this sad novel. Well done as it is, I shan’t be looking for more about Leo.
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