Private Lies by Cynthia St. Aubin review

Private lIes by Cynthia Jane avery review

My Funny Thriller entry in the reading challenge 

Imagine if VI Warshawski or Kinsey Milhone moved to Denver and would've had a daughter, a potty-mouthed 28-year-old, who just graduated from Law School—almost valedictorian if not for her archrival.
Private Lies starts at a graduation ceremony; Jane Avery, by accident, grabs the dean by his private parts. Immediately she checks the audience for the mother's Alexis reaction. Only to see an empty chair. Her mother would never miss this milestone. * the diploma, not the dick grab. Jane knows something is wrong.  Concerned she returns to her mother's apartment, to be attacked by two goons, and protected by fellow PI Paul Gladstone a man claiming to be her mother's lover.
Now Jane doesn't need any protection and soon she's running around trying to figure out where her mom disappeared to. Her mother's latest client was an architect/billionaire, the very shady Archard Everett Valentine.



I started with Vicki and Kinsey because lately, I feel there are not enough women detective running around the crime genre. Jessica Jones sure, but in books? So, does Jane Avery fill that gap?
Depends on what you expect. I have to admit being thrown by this book. At first, I thought Jane would be younger, based on the cover, and that's why I picked it up, looking for something more YA'ish. When Jane wasn't, I hoped I stumbled upon a complicated, surly, intelligent female sleuth.
Instead, I soon found myself in a Fifty Shades of Grey kind of situation, when Jane visits this Valentine dude, not ideal. Strangely without really getting to the sex part.  All the other men Jane encounters are dangerous, mean-spirited, dominant and she digs it. I did not.
Jane has one mode, the book is one big wisecracking bonanza, Jane never stops with the comebacks and witty banter. It's at times hilarious, light, fluffy but also tiring.

It was too one-sided for me; I wish Jane would have paused one sec so that we could get a little more characterization.  The plot is somewhat underwhelming. I am puzzled by this book; There was not enough romance for chick-lit readers, no follow through for the Christian Grey lovers, it was too light for real thriller fans. The thing that comes closest is Janet Evanovich  Stephanie Plum, but lighter still.
 It would have been great if Jane was a whole lot younger and the skeevy men would have been scrapped to go more in the YA direction. Sometimes you get into a book without the right information and stumble through without getting your bearings. Not the book for me, but if you are looking for something snappy and bubblegumish Private Lies is a safe bet.