The Blackmail Club by David Bishop
My rating: 1 of 5 stars
This is the first Jack McCall Mystery. Jack is retired CIA and now a private eye in Washington, D.C. with his partner Nora, an ex-cop. I got this on a free download and it was worth every penny. Do the math. The plot was preposterous, the characters one-dimensional (is it possible to have zero dimensions?), and the writing hackneyed. Bishop goes in for some character development though. Take Nora, for example. Here are some examples of his development of Nora:
“She reached inside her blouse to reposition a bra strap …”
“…crossed her arms, pushing her black bra and its mounded contents into sight…”
“…leaned in, her breasts and white bra showing…”
“… and more active breasts than Lauren Bacall…”
“…and crossed her arms, elevating her cleavage…”
Nora is quite developed, it seems, and likes to cross her arms a lot. She also owns many different bras. I’ve heard of breastworks but I thought that term referred only to military fortifications. It appears that it can also refer to bad novels. I’ve been known to dump on female mystery writers who spend half the book describing their heroine’s outfits. Bishop does the same thing with the undergarments … and their mounded contents. As a retired FBI agent, I can attest that Bishop knows zero about blackmail or law enforcement.