I'm tempted to give this four stars, but I think that's only because it was a lot better than [b:The Perfect Wife|42594568|The Perfect Wife (Jessie Hunt, #1)|Blake Pierce|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1540939545l/42594568._SY75_.jpg|66287674]. 3.5, 3 for Goodreads.

I did enjoy the structure of [b:If She Knew|41559688|If She Knew (Kate Wise, #1)|Blake Pierce|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1568830704l/41559688._SY75_.jpg|64848054] quite a bit. I haven't read a lot of mysteries where detectives or people other than your average layperson are investigating, and I enjoyed the perspective of a former top FBI agent who's seen it all. I liked the way Kate navigated through her life as a newly retired former agent and new grandmother while approaching the case. It definitely felt better handled than the last cozy mystery / amateur detective mystery I read.

I will admit I did compare this one a lot to [b:The Perfect Wife|42594568|The Perfect Wife (Jessie Hunt, #1)|Blake Pierce|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1540939545l/42594568._SY75_.jpg|66287674] by the same author while reading because that one was so lackluster for me. There were definitely still things that felt somewhat misogynistic to me in similar ways as the other book. For instance, I didn't like that DeMarco was only known as that in a professional sense when all of Kate's former, male partners are referred to by their first and last names, instead of just their first. As Kate and DeMarco grew closer, I did expect this gap to be bridged, especially since her male coworkers are referred to by full names or first names. At the very least, I expected a "you can call me Susan" or something from DeMarco, even if Kate had her own reasons for choosing not to. So I didn't like how this was handled.

Despite this with the names, one other aspect that I really enjoyed was the focus on women in [b:If She Knew|41559688|If She Knew (Kate Wise, #1)|Blake Pierce|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1568830704l/41559688._SY75_.jpg|64848054]. I liked that women are seen as just as capable in the FBI, and that Kate's achievements aren't strictly because she is a woman. I liked seeing the friendship between Kate and DeMarco as two women in the FBI, with neither having a forced expectation of romance, especially with any of the male FBI members they were coming into contact with. And I liked the exploration of retirement at a relatively younger after a full career (even if I could have done without the high school comparisons).

In addition, there was a lot that I did like in comparison to [b:The Perfect Wife|42594568|The Perfect Wife (Jessie Hunt, #1)|Blake Pierce|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1540939545l/42594568._SY75_.jpg|66287674]. As I said before, Kate being a former FBI member and having the knowledge, and the organization itself, behind her was a welcome difference from

Spoiler

the criminal psychology student who knew nothing about anything and was allowed to gain high-security access with virtually no credentials or knowledge

. I appreciated the way that Kate and even the less experienced DeMarco knew how to handle potentially violent criminals and suspects, as compared to

Spoiler

the maximum security prisoner who acted more like an old grandfather than a maximum security murderer

. What I find surprising is that these were published within months of each other, and with seemingly very different styles. I think that gives a lot of credence to the [a:Blake Pierce|14773558|Blake Pierce|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1484064043p2/14773558.jpg] collective ghostwriter theory I've seen mentioned on other reviews and other platforms.

While I still don't love [a:Blake Pierce|14773558|Blake Pierce|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1484064043p2/14773558.jpg]'s work (or fully trust that there's a single, hardworking author behind the books), I do have the second book in the series, so I could see myself deciding to read [b:If She Saw|42932554|If She Saw (Kate Wise, #2)|Blake Pierce|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1542924908l/42932554._SY75_.jpg|66715414] in the near future, or even reading some of the author's other work that I have. I'm happy to see that not all of them are as trashy as [b:The Perfect Wife|42594568|The Perfect Wife (Jessie Hunt, #1)|Blake Pierce|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1540939545l/42594568._SY75_.jpg|66287674].