JKR isn’t perfect and a lot of her faults are on display in this book. There’s some heavy-handed treatment of social issues, some over description, and a lot of casual misogyny. This last point is particularly felt in her obsessive need to describe every character in terms of their attractiveness and comparing the female characters against each other. She doesn’t just describe what they look like, but explicitly explains whether they’re attractive to men or not. Male characters are constantly ogling female characters. Con-stant-ly. And the main female character, while I like her quite a lot, is a stereotype of a 50’s attractive, efficient secretary who never speaks up for herself even when she’s being treated horribly.

HOWEVER, JKR’s strengths are also on full display. This is a well-plotted mystery with many reveals and interesting characters.

I think JKR has 3 main strengths: world building, characters, and whodunit plotting. Let’s examine these in order.

1) World building. While this is set in the real world, it’s in a noir version of this world. The London in this book feels alive and real. The private detective office is evocative. She inverts some of the tropes of the noir detective genre while leaning in to certain other aspects which I really liked. There are some moments that are so noiry I literally squealed.

2) Characters. JKR has a particular talent for creating characters that feel like they might exist in the real world. OK, the secondary characters feel a bit cartoonish, which is normal for JKR. And I have a problem with how every character is either beautiful or ugly, no inbetween. However, the two main characters are likeable but complicated with flaws and details that hint at interesting backstories. I like both of them a lot and want to see where they go. This book is a great set-up for a series. I want to know more about these characters’ backgrounds and want to follow them as their relationship develops.

3) Plot. If you’ve read Harry Potter (if you haven’t we can’t be friends) you know that JKR can write the hell out of a mystery. Does that sound like a weird thing to say? Well, I think that many of the HP books are essentially mysteries. At least they kept me turning page after page to find out who was behind everything, was it Voldemort? Omg how is Voldemort pulling that off? It IS Voldemort! OMG no one believes Harry that Voldemort’s back!!! How will he prove it!?!?? etc., etc. JKR is expert at planting clues and introducing red herrings and sucking you in to the story. There were several reveals in this book that kept me going through the parts I found objectionable. I was genuinely invested in the story and how the characters were going to crack the case. I did guess who the bad guy was near the end but I don’t consider that a failure for a mystery. A good mystery should give you the chance of being able to guess. It’s a balance between making it too obvious and making it impossible. I guessed it but I didn’t figure out all the details by far. It’s one thing to guess who the killer is and another to figure out how their entire plot worked. There were many details to this mystery, which made the ending enticing.

Overall I’m giving it 3.5 stars. I really enjoyed the story and the characters and will read the next book. It’s just that I kept getting upset at the negatives. This book deals with racism, mental illness, suicide, addiction, fame, classism, and disability, and JKR gives her usual clumsy “progressive” treatment to most of them. I just wish she would consult people who are actually affected by these issues before she wrote about them because she comes across as a well-meaning but oblivious white person in everything she does. I can’t speak to the issues of racism, classism, fame, or disability (point me to reviews from people who do experience these issues), but as someone with a mental illness I found the representation to be well-meaning but inaccurate. She seems to use it more as a plot device than anything. Even though it’s really important to the whole story! And, Jesus Christ!, the treatment of women! The old-fashioned gender roles. The obsession with every character’s looks. The murder victim is the most beautiful person in the world and the murderer is super ugly with hamster teeth and blotchy skin. JKR clearly has some internalised misogyny she hasn’t dealt with. But that’s all I’m going to say about that.

Just. It’s an OK book and I’m hooked. Shrug emoji.