Amateur City cover art

Amateur City

A Kate Delafield Mystery, Book 1

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Amateur City

By: Katherine V. Forrest
Narrated by: Kate Zane
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About this listen

Tough and demanding LAPD Detective Kate Delafield is the leader of the investigation into a high-rise office building murder. The case is intriguing but routine - until Kate interviews the only witness, Ellen O'Neil.

When Ellen O'Neil took her new job over the objections of her lover, she wasn't expecting to become embroiled in murder. The curiosity that Kate Delafield rouses is equally unexpected. But it is never far from Ellen's mind that she is merely a name on an interview sheet to the tight-lipped detective.

Kate's thin trail of clues are enough to convince her that she is looking for an amateur, and amateurs are notoriously unpredictable and dangerous. She finds her path increasingly intersecting with that of Ellen O'Neil, who is proving unpredictable and dangerous in a far more personal way.

©1984 Katherine V. Forrest (P)2022 Tantor Detective Fiction Literature & Fiction Mystery Mystery, Thriller & Suspense Police Procedural Women Sleuths Women's Fiction Crime Murder

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Most relevant
In this book we meet a tough LA cop. Kate Delafield. At the same time we meet this woman who has only recently lost her partner through a dreadful tragedy. Why is she back at work I thought? Then I realised what this book is about- it is about prejudice and that all prejudice is cruel, violent, terrible behaviour and how the different characters survive against it. The language of prejudice is violent and abusive and as a reader I smarted under it- but I am glad it is there / I have friends who are black, others who are gay as I am. It is good to be reminded what our brothers and sisters went through paving the way for a more accepting public.
Katherine V Forrest has created great and memorable characters- all so weak and so loveably human. The story is set mainly on the 16th floor of an office building- a floor of offices, office workers- where the imposition of disgusting power and depraved bullying has its consequences. I have read the series several times and each rereading gives me more to enjoy and think about.

The pain of Kate Delafield

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This is a really good listen. The story is original, and believeable and Iove a strong female lead.

Wonderful.

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It’s shocking what some people thought it was acceptable to say in relation to gender and race 40 years ago and when this book was first published. The author was clearly progressive. Not only is this a great mystery novel and lesbian fiction/romance but it is also a reminder of how far we’ve come when we lament how far we still have to go. The constant references to smoking was also quite a throwback.

1984

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Not bad, some of the descriptions were vague in places. The racist terms used totally made me uncomfortable and almost want to switch it off. It got there in the end and was a good education of the year it was set and the horrible things that people did in America not so long ago. Very thought provoking.

Not bad - be aware of the racist terms used

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Kate Dellafield gets the modern office equivalent of the country house murder case. A vicious sadistic psychological bully is murdered in his office. Kate is faced with the Orient Express possibility that everybody on the senior management team had motive for murder. Did they collude? The murderer seemed fortunate not to have been caught red handed. There are fabulous depictions of slimy male office politics and depravity. Then there there are some amazing female characters. Can Kate navigate the misogynist business world to find the killer and maintain objectivity when faced with alluring distraction?

Workplace meets summary justice

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