I’ve finally figured out what the problem is with Katherine Forrest’s Kate Delafield mysteries, the problem is Kate herself. Her personality varies almost completely from one book to another so it doesn’t even seem like she’s the same person. Kate Delafield has a personality disorder and I wish Katherine Forrest would help her fix that – and fix it so we always see the Kate Delafield who was in Liberty Square (and Sleeping Bones) and not the Kate Delafield who was in Hancock Park.
The entire Vietnam veterans storyline often feels tired and over done but in Liberty Square I never found myself annoyed with the characters for rehashing the problems with Vietnam the way I have with other books. I liked every single one of the characters. I liked the way Forrest covered the problem with being gay in the military, now and then. Even the sappy ending with everyone visiting The Wall felt like it fit and wasn’t forced.
Finally, a reason to like Detective Delafield (and her g/f) again.