Blurred Lines

Sympathetic characters compensate for slow pacing in Williamson’s low-key contemporary. Kelli McCabe is a stubborn, foul-mouthed, intuitive Seattle police detective; Nora Whitmore, a top-notch surgeon, is so emotionally repressed that she’s known to her colleagues as “iceberg princess” and “Queen Mean.” They meet when Kelli and fellow cop Travis arrive at Seattle Memorial Hospital with gunshot wounds. After Nora’s skillful surgery saves Travis’s life, she spends some time with Kelli and the warm, congenial McCabe family. Though Nora is accustomed to behaving with absolute professionalism, she’s soon “flustered and exasperated” by Kelli’s playful banter, while the normally stoic Kelly surprises herself by opening up to Nora. Close third person narration offers both protagonists’ perspectives, along with extensive description and analysis of emotions: “Kelli was made up of rough, jagged pieces. In the past, they had cut into others, but oftentimes, they pierced her even more.” Subplots include a sexual harassment charge against Nora by two unethical colleagues, and an intervention for Kelli’s meth-addicted brother; however, Nora’s fear of intimacy provides the only real threat to a happy ending. (Feb.)