2-3-4 Challenge Book Discussions #1 discussion

Sarah and Frank don’t think much of each other throughout most of the story, her because of the police inaction in finding her husband’s murderer and him primarily because she’s a woman. How did their opinions of each other change by the end of the story?

I think Frank's poor opinion of Sarah had more to do with her profession and the role it played in his wife's death. They are both reminders to the other of a deep loss and that colors their perceptions of each other. I think they come to a place of reluctant respect by the end of the book.

All throughout the early part of the story his narrative was all about her not behaving like a normal woman. When I learned at the end he blamed a midwife for his wife's death, I wasn't certain how much of that tainted his opinions of women. I think you're right though, Veronica. That bit of information caught me off guard and has me rethinking their early interactions.

I think in the end, Sarah has a grudging respect for Frank because of this case but they have a long way to go to get to warmth:)

I think Sarah had a good reason to be wary of the police. She assumed Frank was just another corrupt cop that she would have to pay to actually investigate the murder. I believe she changed her mind when he told her that his boss had pulled him off of Alicia's case, but he wanted to continue with her help.

I agree that Frank's opinion of Sarah was colored by the fact that she was a midwife. He also didn't expect a woman to come up with the kind of information that Sarah seemed to be able to dig up.

Yeah, I'm not sure that an outspoken, opinionated woman is necessarily a surprise to Frank considering that his mother doesn't seem to be any shrinking violet herself, lol. And maybe his relationship with his mother, who he may view as a bit of a nag(?), also plays into his initial expectations of who he thought Sarah would be.

I agree with all the points made. They definitely develop a grudging respect for one another.

@Veronica - a "nag" is a nice way of putting what she is, lol!

Haha!

I agree with everything that's been said.

[To be honest, I was a bit afraid after their first meeting that seemed quite romance novel-ish (them butting heads for no apparent reason, noticing over and over each other's physical appearance...), but I'm glad I was just overreacting and the book kept the focus on the mystery, developing the characters on the side.]

I feel like both of the characters started to slowly show respect for each other. I think she saw that he did more than she expect a police officer to do even after he was told to stop investigating. He realize that she actually help him.

At first I thought it was his disdain for her profession but as I got further into it I decided it was both her profession and that she was a woman. I was able to understand her animosity towards him based on how the police operated back then but I thought his attitude towards her felt a bit extreme. It did make sense at the end of it all and I liked that they came to an unspoken truce by the end of the book. They made a decent team and I hope he makes more appearances in future books.

I think that even if it started out with a lot of prejudices about each other it definitely got better towards the end. However I think that at some points he especially is still very suspisious of her, and doesn't always think her capable, but a lot of it made sense towards the end given what happened to his wife.