Seven Suspects

August 7, 2017
The past weighs heavily on Bobbi Logan in James’s third outing for the transgender Chicago hairdresser (after 2016’s A Kind of Justice), to the detriment of the book as a self-contained mystery. As Bobbi navigates her uneasy recovery from brutal past traumas and shaky lost loves, she starts feeling watched, then threatened, and finally under outright attack from an unknown assailant. As the brutality ratchets up, Bobbi bands her support network together, including former lover Phil, a Chicago policeman, and Cecelia, a retired investment banker who serves as her mentor and guidepost for her posttransition life. The stakes rise after someone trashes her hair salon and later her house. Though readers are sure to cheer for the brave, resolute Bobbi, her fixations on numerology and the need for seven suspects, as well as the clearly telegraphed identity of the stalker, make this a novel with a great protagonist in need of a better plot. Agent: Tina Schwartz, Purcell Agency.

October 1, 2017

Bobbi Logan is many things: a successful hair stylist with her own salon, a good friend, a transwoman, and a rape survivor. In James's third series outing (after A Kind of Justice), Bobbi is mostly recovered from her previous traumas, but she can't shake the feeling that someone is following her. Is it PTSD? The necessary cautions of being trans? Or does she have a stalker? As events escalate, Bobbi investigates potential enemies despite the risk of antagonizing them. At the same time, she's still trying to get over her breakup with Phil, a decent but conflicted man, while dealing with the beginnings of adolescent angst in Robbie, her young friend and surrogate daughter. Bobbi keeps pushing for the truth, refusing to be a passive victim. The Chicago setting and supporting characters are well drawn, while the glimpse into trans life is revelatory. VERDICT While the mystery wasn't that mysterious to this reviewer, Bobbi is an appealing character, funny, profane, and angry. Her obsession with appearances frequently blinds her, but the reader roots for her all the way.--Devon Thomas, Chelsea, MI

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