I so wish it said something on the cover about this book being yet another Holly mystery for Finders Keepers. I wouldn’t have even bothered with it after the absolute disappointment that was the previous Holly book.

I sighed, put on my reader cap and started trudging through this 400+ page monolith of a book which takes time to describe the fish and tartar sauce order, the cinema outings, each inane conversation between Holly and her friends.

The plot is pretty straightforward. A killer announces he will kill 13 innocent people and one guilty one and the police and Finders Keepers pet search agency come together to find the murderer. It’s not even a murder-mystery as the first chapter starts with the killer’s name (Trig) and his exit from an AA meeting. The rest of the book is filled with his one-off murders of people in the park, all tied to a jury which convicted a paedophile which was later proven innocent.

What I hated most about this book was the women’s rights movements pushed in our faces, the COVID references (which I hated in the previous book as well) and the lack of horror!

“Woman Power!”
“Woman Power!” the audience roars back.
“You can do better! Let me hear you, Omaha!”
“WOMAN POWER!” the crowd bellows. Most of it, anyway.
“Good, that’s good,” Kate says. She’s moving around. Pacing. Brilliant red pants suit that matches the hat. Corrie found it for her in Fashion Freak. “That’s great. Go on and sit down. I need to testify, Omaha. I feel the spirit strong in me tonight, so sit.”

All righty, feminism is at the heart of this book, and while admirable in its attempt to pay homage, it felt like a less exuberant return to his early 90s, bad man chase strong woman, female character-centered self. Let’s be honest, it felt like an old man’s take on progressive feminism.

The killer also has some unresolved daddy issues and mommy issues. He goes crazier as the story unfolds until he’s a walking stereotype of a killer with issues of any kind.

Holly and the gang do the Scooby doo and save the day at the last moment – but not before allowing King to talk about abortion once more.

The morning shows really are zoos, but Kate excels at the high-pressure banter these shock jocks specialize in. When one female caller (the morning shows also specialize in callers-in) accuses Kate of putting her own audiences at risk, Kate says, “Maybe they’d rather risk back-alley abortions? Risk their kids getting suspended from school because they come in wearing hightop fades or Mohawks? Risk having books the fundamentalist God-botherers don’t like banned? Maybe let them decide what’s risky, what do you think, caller?” And when the caller ventures the opinion that Kate is a high-riding bitch, Kate ventures her own opinion that the caller should put on her big-girl underpants and quit making decisions for other people.
In other words, it’s all Kate, all the time.