The Woman Who Married a Bear

[cornerofmadness]

The Woman Who Married a Bear by John Straley

My rating: 2 of 5 stars


As for the overall mystery it wasn't half bad but I just disliked all the characters fairly intensely. Cecil is an addict (mostly alcohol but he won't turn down drugs) and is a) content in it b) doesn't feel quite right somehow. I think maybe if Cecil (since he's our point of view character) were more fleshed out it would have worked. As it is we know his dad was a judge, his sister was a high powered lawyer turned professor at Yale law and he's the odd man out, getting schooled in literature and religious studies but not much is done with this. There are hints of a strained relationship but that's just it, hints.

Cecil rubs almost everyone the wrong way which you'd think would make his job harder. All the cops except one seem to be corrupt (according to Cecil we barely see any other than the paragon cop) About the only character remotely likable for as briefly as we see him is Todd who is developmentally challenged and living in Cecil's care (about the one redeeming factor Cecil has)

He takes on a solved case for an old Indigenous woman. The murder of her son was 'solved' and a schizophrenic man who was in a fight with him on the hunting trip was jailed. She doesn't buy it but Cecil finds that the man's family is content to not having him dig into this. He finds it equally suspicious the pregnant teenager who might have been able to speak for the defendant was found dead in an apparent suicide before she could testify.

Like I said, the mystery part of it isn't bad at all. Cecil's former lover is as obnoxious as he is and she figures heavily into a third of this so there's that. I would have liked a little more respect shown the indigenous people in this by at least anyone. Cecil isn't particularly disrespectful but still seeing as they are key to this story (as is their folk lore) it would have been nice to see more of them.



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