Review: Can't Miss Her (Emily Slate #5) by Alex Sigmore

                                                          

Print Length: 252 pages

Publisher: Eric Warren Author, LLC (October 31, 2022) 

From Goodreads.com: A shot rings out, piercing the night…

Following her return from a case that has turned her world upside down, Special Agent Emily Slate finds herself sidelined once more because of circumstances beyond her control. Instead of focusing on the investigation that could lead to the woman who killed her husband, Emily is ordered to keep her distance, and assigned a murder in a small Chesapeake town.

But when Emily arrives with newly-minted Special Agent Coll, they find themselves in the middle of a power struggle between two law enforcement departments, both accusing the other of improper conduct. And in the middle of it, a body that seems to have no answers.

As Emily and Agent Coll examine what on the surface looks to be a random killing, they soon find dark desires are driving their killer. And when a second body is found, Emily realizes nothing about this case is by chance. But when she discovers a new revelation about her husband, Emily will find herself ripped between her duty to her job and her duty to the man she still loves.

The killer is out there, and they haven’t missed their target yet.

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My Rating: 2 stars out of 5

Just once, I would like to read a story by this author that doesn't include a misogynistic character in an authoritative role.  Seriously, it's getting old. Especially when once again its a small town sheriff, only this one goes above and beyond several times saying and doing things that could cost him said job. I get it, these things happen, but at this point I'm seriously starting to wonder if something happened to the author or their family that has put such a large chip on their shoulder. 

I had a few issues with this one, which I will lay out for you hopefully without giving away too much. To begin with the absolute pissing contest between Sheriff Black and Sheriff Quaker was so over the top that it was laughable. Neither character was likeable, and while I'm sure that was done intentionally so that the reader would be suspicious of both of them, I found their over the top reactions (both to each other and to Agent Slate) to be more tiresome than anything else. 

Another off point for me was the one chapter we got that was randomly dedicated to Agent Foley working a side investigation into the business partner of Agent Slate's deceased ex-husband. She manages to track down his location, knows how high-tech the equipment would have been needed in order to pull off the deception, and yet she doesn't think to request back up? You know, other agents who could have at least remained outside on the exit's in case their suspect took off? Had she done that, they might have gotten some answers instead of ending up with more questions. 

Then there was the absolutely unnecessary blink and you'll miss it attempt at romance between Emily and Liam. I get it, they are attracted to each other. They have a chemistry, but the way that Emily just seemed to use him to relieve the stress and frustration of the day, just to shut things down at the end by saying she's not ready to potentially lose someone else she cares about just made the whole experience seem cheap. Emily has known from the start that she is not mentally or emotionally ready for a relationship, so they fact that she willingly used Liam made me see her in a whole different light. 

And finally, there was the way that things were wrapped up without anything really being wrapped up. Yes, we got snippets of a conversation Emily overheard between two people (and how she expects any of that to hold up in court when one suspect was dead rendering the conversation a case of he said/she said I will never know) and later on she tells Liam what happened, but none of it made any kind of sense when you look at the scope of the murders. I can't even fathom why one suspect would even help the other knowing what they were (and the way they played off the supposed explanation was just so far fetched I think I might have sprained my eyes from rolling them as hard as I did). 

However, once again this author ended the book on another cliffhanger as relates to the over-arching story of just who killed Agent Slate's husband and why. And because I have seen the potential this author has to write good stories, I will continue on with this series at least for a little while longer. On the plus side, the books are all short taking me roughly a day and a half to finish, so they have that going for them.