What a negative view of life. How does she account for ghetto reared poets and literarti from impoverished parentage?

Cezanne Martin has just passed her Texas bar exams and is eager to resign from the Fort Worth Police Department and pursue her dream of becoming a district attorney. She scarcely has time to tell her partner the good news when he is accused of murder. So she must remain to clear his name. That’s the gist of the tale.

For no other reason than the nudity of the victim this is named the “Lady Godiva” murder. There is absolutely no reference to the legend - no horse, no long flowing tresses, no wager, no helping her people oppressed from taxation - or even the Peeping Tom tale. I wanted some rationale besides nudity for the designation.

Cezanne’s mother worked in an art museum and became so enamored with Impressionism that she named her twin daughters, Cezanne and Monet, and her son, Matisse. One of the running jokes is the mispronunciation of our heroine’s name. Yet if she is as tough as she seems one would expect her to demand correct pronunciation. She is content to have it mauled into variations of “Suzanne”. This seems inconsistent especially when she doesn’t hesitate to pursue her libido with little formality or concern for marital status. I did not like this protagonist.

She remained unappealing even when we met her mentally incompetent mother, a Holocaust survivor and learned of a childhood tragedy which led to her twin’s death. Perhaps such references were intended to make Cezanne more likable but her charms remained a mystery to me.

She indulges in adultery, sado-masochism, blackmail, threats, and brutality but since she is loyal and true to her friends all should be forgiven. Surely that’s not the Texas way. The author is herself as veteran police officer so perhaps she speaks truth although the Texas policemen I’ve met (and my sister is married to one) are not the crude, ruthless, backstabbing careerists Moore portrays.

The plot is full of holes. There are tangents not fully explicated. Innuendoes are not evidence. I do not believe that corruption is so wide-spread that the “ Brass” can cover-up crimes by those they like and incriminate their enemies. When Cezanne finds out the true murderer the ending is vague. Her partner, who never evolves into an actual person -just someone who’s been unjustly accused - takes the easy way out.

This was an unpleasant experience in many ways. The characters, the language, the plot were substandard. This was no tribute to the Lone Star State. Indeed that’s how I rate it for this review with a single star. The only time five stars will appear are in the name of its publisher.

--Jane Davis