Renee Ballard is a detective who got punished after filing a sexual harassment charge against her superior.
That's really is the wrong message.
Her complaint didn't got through because her partner refused to back her up. But sexual harassment charge does not need another person to back it up. Why would she needed that in the first place.
Second, it is wrong to have the department treating her differently after the complaint didn't get through. That's sent the wrong message to other sexual harassment victims in the police force. Not that it wouldn't happened in real life. But in real life, she would be on the Tonight Show to talk about this.
Second problem with it is that she got kidnapped too easily. How the hell the bad guy get the drop on her.
The way she "use her female charm" is saying that she lack detective skills. Another bad thing.
The case she is trying to solve involve a transgender woman. The clue is a brass knuckles. The solving of the case is not really adding up to the main story, which involved a shooting at a bar.
It still got 4 stars because I still enjoy reading it. The frustration is there. But it is still readable.
Michael Connelly is one of my favorite writers. He is just not as good with female characters.