Reviewed by Jess
TITLE: Out of Control
SERIES: A Gloria Morris Murder Mystery #1
AUTHOR: G.R. Browda
PUBLISHER: Wordwooze Publishing
LENGTH: 179 pages
RELEASE DATE: March 1, 2019
BLURB:
Gloria Morris is a respected private detective with an explosive sense of honor who cherishes frisky ladies, reads Poe and Twain, believes in justice, and kicks a lot of ass. Her investigation into the disappearance of a popular and notorious seductress, whose pervasive presence affects the lives of two compelling women, takes her to San Francisco’s sexual underground and the discovery of treasonous political intrigue. She is assisted by the missing woman’s roommate and lover, Clarissa, and together they engage in a cat and mouse scenario with a powerful femme fatale, who is Gloria’s chief suspect. It turns out that searching for the missing beauty is only one of the problems they encounter. During the course of her investigation, Gloria meets an astonishing lady and begins a life-changing romance. But will this new relationship benefit her work … or deliver her to danger?
REVIEW:
Whatever you’re expecting from this book, abandon it all at the door, because Out of Control will slap you in the face from page one. It’s a mystery in the clearest sense, but the protagonist wouldn’t be found in an Agatha Christie novel—instead, we get a smooth, sly butch PI with a taste for blood and little motivation to not pull the trigger. Gloria Morris is an antihero through and through, and every page with her is perfection.
Gloria Morris loves Chinese cuisine, martial arts, and catching crooks unprepared so she can put a bullet between their eyes. She’s no-nonsense on a job for her powerful lawyer boss on the streets of San Francisco, but she’s also a hapless flirt who makes every woman on the planet fall for her instantly. Is she a little two-dimensional, a little too perfect? Maybe. She’s careful and calculated, never missing a beat, but of course, all suave butches have their weakness—and Gloria’s is the aloof head of a prestigious accounting firm, Sparkle Napier.
While Gloria steals the show on frightening charisma and charming bloodlust alone, the plot is intense and easy to follow. Her boss’ wife, who used to be a call girl, asks Gloria to take on the case of Susie Mae, a vibrant escort who was the talk of the town before her disappearance. Susie Mae’s roommate and lover, Clarissa, wants revenge, knowing someone hurt Susie Mae, but Gloria takes it slow, eventually tracking down a sociopathic female John who wouldn’t think twice about taking down a mouthy call girl. The action is intense, the intel comes fast, and the story never becomes overly complex or outlandish. It’s just a damn good mystery.
I can tell the author, who makes their debut with this book, loves hardboiled detective stories and classic mysteries, and they infuse the language of tough PI’s and streetwise crooks into every page. I do wish the story took place in the 70’s or 80’s when the language would’ve made more sense, though—I actually thought this was a period piece until Gloria starting texting. I love Browda’s writing and their totally unique style and tone, but I do wish the story was grounded in a more sensical time.
Since this is a hard-edged little read, there are a few things to watch out for. The slang towards LGBT folks gets a little nasty, even out of the mouth of Gloria herself, and there’s a non-graphic murder of two trans women towards the end that is hard to swallow, even if it’s a small part of the story. There is also graphic violence and graphic depictions of intense fetishes, but I found it more appropriate to the gritty tone than offensive. Also, the only explicit sex scenes do not include Gloria and Sparkle, so while their interactions are wonderfully romantic, the smut pertains to other characters.
This book never pulls a punch—it’s bloody, bold, sexy, and totally different from anything else you’ll read this year. It won’t be for everyone, but I had a blast with it. And though the ending seems to tie things up perfectly, I’m definitely interested in reading more Gloria Morris mysteries.
RATING: 
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