DoubleBlind
DETAILS: Series: Georgia Davis, #6 Publisher: The Red Herrings Press Publication Date: March 8, 2022 Format: eARC Length: 335 pg. Read Date: March 28-29, 2022
What’s DoubleBlind About?
I’m going to appropriate the description from Hellman’s website so I don’t slip up and say something she wouldn’t like me to reveal about the plot.
With little work during the pandemic, Chicago PI Georgia Davis agrees to help the best friend of fellow sleuth, Ellie Foreman. Susan Siler’s aunt died suddenly after her Covid booster, and Susan’s distraught mother wants the death investigated.
However, Georgia’s investigation is interrupted by a family trip to Nauvoo, Illinois, the one-time Mormon heartland. It’s there that her life unexpectedly intersects with the runaway spouse of a Mormon Fundamentalist. Back in Evanston, after Georgia is almost killed by a hit and run driver, she discovers that she and the escaped woman look remarkably alike.
Is someone trying to kill Georgia because of her death investigation case? Or is it a case of mistaken identity? And how can Georgia find her doppelganger before whoever wants them both dead tries again?
The Vaccination Storyline
I’m going to end up saying this at least a couple of times, but I thought it was a risky move to make the cornerstone of this novel a death that occurs right after the character receives a COVID-vaccination booster. It’s risky enough to try to get readers to invest in a COVID-era novel, but to center your plot on it—particularly vaccines right now? Hats off to her.
What’s more, there were a couple of times where I wondered if Hellman was on the verge of coming out pretty strongly anti-vaccination and other times I thought she was in danger of preaching the other direction—in the end, neither was true. There’s enough for everyone to like the way Georgia opines (and enough for everyone to dislike it, too). For Hellman’s sake, I hope her readers remember the views that are expressed by a fictional character do not necessarily match that of the author.
I thought the story wrapped up nicely, but I wish we’d gotten a little more time with it (and less of the Doppelgänger story).
The Doppelgänger Storyline
I’m of two minds about this storyline—I got really invested in Georgia’s doppelgänger. I’m not sure Hellman did the best job of depicting her story, but I really couldn’t get into everything surrounding her story—the reactions of those she left behind, Georgia’s involvement, the law enforcement angle…none of it seemed right.
If it stayed as a B-Plot to the Vaccine story, rather than taking over the book, I might have been better. If there’d been more nuance to the depiction of her husband—I’m not saying make him less of a clear-cut villain, just be more subtle about it’s shown.
Infodumps
Given the subject matter of the two storylines, a lot of research had to be done to make the details believable—and a good deal of the product of that research needed to be delivered to the readers, too. The trick comes in how that product is delivered. Hellman gets it right with one storyline, and less-right with the other.
When it comes to the vaccination storyline, Georgia has to dig in and find out more about the transportation of the vaccines and how things are supposed to go if there’s a problem with a patient post-vaccination. As Georgia does that research early on in the investigation, she has to think about what she learned and process it—this gives Hellman an opportunity to get that information in front of the readers in an organic way—even if it is an infodump.
On the other hand, Georgia and another character or two (being purposefully vague) need to be given information about Fundamentalist LDS culture and practices. Which results in some awkward infodumps—one that’s so far beyond awkward and ill-timed that I couldn’t suspend disbelief enough to handle the scene.
I’ve often heard authors in interviews talk about the temptation to use all their research in a novel, because it’s just so interesting. The infodumps about the Fundamentalist LDS felt like Hellman just had to share everything she learned.* Giving us the information in a smoother fashion, and only what was needed (at least explicitly, she could’ve alluded to more) would’ve worked better for the flow of the story—and might have provoked the reader to go read more on their own.
* “Felt like” is the key term there, she clearly could’ve gone more in-depth, but in the moment it seemed like she left it all on the page.
So, what did I think about DoubleBlind?
There’s some really strong storytelling at work here, with characters that Hellman’s clearly spent a lot of time crafting over the previous five novels.
I had some issues with some of the mechanics of writing—I thought that some of the dialogue needed another editing pass or two, some of it is best described as “clunky.” Not all of it—but enough that it stood out as a problem. The pacing could’ve been tighter in spots, there are the above comments about the infodumps (for both good and ill) and I don’t think Hellman prioritized the stronger storyline as she ought to have. Those detracted from and diluted the storytelling and characters—but not to the extent I wasn’t entertained by the novel or intrigued by the stories.
I’ll say it again, the way she incorporated COVID-19, the restrictions, and vaccinations was a gutsy move. I’m not wholly convinced it was the best way to approach it, but it was a pretty successful effort, and a nicely calculated risk.
Would I recommend this? Yeah, I would—maybe with a few reservations, but I don’t think they’re important enough to make me wave off a potential reader. Am I going to read Georgia Davis #7? I think it’s likely, I’m curious to see how Georgia moves from this point.
Georgia Davis is an intriguing character with a lot to commend her to your attention. Hellman’s a solid storyteller. That’s a combination I’m glad to recommend.
Disclaimer: I received this eARC from the author via Wiley Saichek and Saichek Publicity in exchange for this post—while I appreciate that, the opinions expressed are wholly mine.
