The Red Dahlia (Anna Travis Series #2) Book

This book had the potential to be interesting, at least in the first 150 pages or so. I was attracted to the grim descriptions of the autopsy reports and at first, the cops' diligence in tracking the killer as well as the copy-cat description of the crime scene with that of the Black Dahlia murder in the 1940s. After the name of the killer gets revealed, the book goes downhill, and the only thing I looked forward to were the one or two lines dedicated to describing what Anna Travis ate for dinner every "day" (the book is divided into days of investigation rather than chapters). Maybe I'm Hollywood glamorizing detective work, but once I know who the killer is, I want him carted off to jail awaiting trial. I don't want to deal with the complexities of trying to find a piece of evidence that will allow the cops to get a warrant, or eventually, to arrest him.

The book is in serious need of editing. I can't remember the last time I read a mystery novel over 350 pages (and that was Agatha Christie, the only mystery author that I'd allow to get away with something like that). This book is 432 pages long--unacceptable for a genre that's supposed to be quickly paced. The love story in the background also doesn't add a thing to the novel. I haven't read other LaPlante books, so I don't know the background behind Langton and Travis' relationship, but to me he is presented as a rude, aggressive, pushy man with alcoholic tendencies. In short, if he wasn't on the side of the "good guys" I would wonder if he was a baddie. The much more pleasant reporter gets shafted as a baddie because he writes about the case through Travis' notes. Why can't the reporter help uncover some secrets of his own? He's a much nicer character than Langton.

Going back to the point about needing editing, I'm a bit confused about the author herself. Is she English herself? Her backflap bio states that she resides in England, but if that's so, then why does she retain certain American words? She keeps using the word sweater instead of jumper; while I'm American, it seems weird that something written in an Englishwoman's perspective would call it an American term. It's not fanfiction, it's published work, and it must be edited accordingly.