Review: The Next Girl (DI Gina Harte, #1) by Carla Kovach



Bookouture | 2018

Opening Hook: Dumpster baby.

Main Character: PTSD and inappropriate work places romance.

Plot Twisty-ness: Given away in the synopsis, because I guess why the hell not?

This was pretty enjoyable, I have to say. For a debut in a series it hit mostly all the right notes. But, at the same time, it was missing aspects that I look for to really make a procedural more than just the typical.

The story boils down to an abandoned baby, a woman who’s been missing for four years (who is the mother of that baby,) and one seasoned, but borderline PTSD, detective on the case.

You hear all of that and you think, yes gimme! It sounds like the perfect recipe. But I’m left feeling a little bit like Gordon Ramsey on Master Chef when someone brings up a beautiful looking dish and he tastes it, gets a funny look on his face and says: “It looks fantastic, but where’s the seasoning? Did you salt the fucking chicken?”

Carla Kovach forgot to salt the fucking chicken on this one.

It’s a minor mistake in the grand scheme of things, but it means something is off the whole time you’re eating.

I don’t know why I’m doing a food metaphor, honestly. I hate food metaphors. And I hate cooking. I had such a big lunch that I don’t even want to think about eating ever again.

gordon ramsey idiot GIF

What I’m really trying to get at using my food-coma sluggish brain, is this: the novel takes place in the UK. Where? Who knows, you’re never really told or I just never picked up on it. Whatever, OKAY JOSIE. YOU FUCKING KNOW IT ALL. I eventually got it because of the UK expressions.

What does the main character, DI Gina Harte, look like? Couldn’t even begin to tell you. I know she has hair because you are told she has hair. Typically a novel like this would take me 7+ hours to read, this one only took 5, just to give you a general idea of how much I feel could have been added to amp things up.

Where is all the in-between information that brings a story, a setting, an atmosphere, to life? Where are all the red herrings and clues and misdirection and “twists” (promised right on the cover) that are necessary when crafting a thriller crime story? Put up some fucking missing posters.

In terms of plot, this was pretty straightforward. Which most people will not care about, but I’m a picky bitch.

The case DI Harte and her people are working on has no real surprises, or mid-point escalations and obstacles. It’s just A to Z, progress along as you would expect. Then they’ve caught the guy and wrapped it all up in a nice bow. I get that in real life, that’s usually how it works. I’ve watched enough The First 48 to understand reality, edited as it may be. But I’m not reading these books to be in reality, I’m reading them to escape it. To feel some heightened emotions, to tap into my empathy and outrage and gross-out factor. These crimes should be dialed up to 11. They should take you on a ride. An evil fucking ride.

That kind of tension is missing, the pulse-accelerating feeling you get as you move through a story that is hitting the gas on suspense and thrills. See: Meg Gardiner.

I guess you could say this was very British.

Perhaps Kovach was looking to create something that was more subtle in its realness, and had more emphasis on the personal side of DI Harte. And I need to say, I’m all about the personal aspect of a character taking, basically, equal time in a crime fiction novel as long as it’s interesting. I want to know the characters, especially in a series. What drives them? Why do they feel compelled to do this job? How are their relationships affected? Give me that depth! Those elements come down to much more than just hair colour (even though that’s a nice picture to subtly paint, as well.)

Where this book really excels in my opinion, is in the main character of Gina Harte. Kovach did an excellent job in crafting DI Harte as a full person. Her past, her relationship with her daughter, her dedication to the job. I felt like I really understood where this character was coming from, even if I didn’t get a physical picture of her.

I loved the juxtaposition that was created between Gina’s past and present. Her marriage to her former abusive asshole husband ended when he died after a fall down the stairs. Did she push him? Did she push him just a little, to be sure he was really falling? Did she just not attempt to save him? Is there a difference?

She’s a cop who has dedicated her life to solving homicides and she’s not even sure if she committed one herself. THAT is brilliant plotting.

But truthfully, without DI Harte being as strong in characterization as she was, this book would be a dud. The crime everything revolved around was too linear, too much of a flat-liner on a vital signs monitor. But because of her, I’ll be back for the next one in the series.


She thought he’d come to save her. She was wrong. 



The newborn belongs to Deborah. She’s still alive.

book source: Bookouture via NetGalley in exchange for a review.

2 thoughts on “Review: The Next Girl (DI Gina Harte, #1) by Carla Kovach

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