Satin Doll (Jana Lane Mystery #3)

The year is 1983. Jana Lane is a former child star and now a bankable Hollywood actress who shadows a female senator in preparation for filming her upcoming movie. While in Washington DC with her family, she is exposed to political lobbying in Congress, scandal and murder. She teams up with Detective Bove in order to find out who the murderer is lest she and her family become the next victims.

The plot is no different from other political thrillers where there is murder, scandal, and intrigue. One is also given a glimpse of the difficulties same sex-couples face when adopting children in a time where the conservatives dominate the political landscape. However, the chapters do not exactly propel the story forward. The dialogue between two male characters made one think that they were more like petulant juveniles than adult. Jana’s continuous stream of thought after almost every scene detracted from the flow of the story. There was also more description about what she or the other characters wore than how the investigation was proceeding. It would appear that while the author wanted to highlight the mood of that time and the issues that society had to face, such as the rights of gay couples and the rise of those suffering from anorexia nervosa, there was, unfortunately no depth to the story. It would have been a more interesting read if the stream of consciousness was used sparingly and that there was more attention paid to solving the murder. 

MP Ceja