They're popcorn books, without a  Deep Meaning but a largely entertaining cast and characters ticking all the boxes of the murder mystery/cop drama genre. Various books in the series have problematic language (possibly due to time of writing), such as comparing nonwhite character skin colors to food and slurs used such as

referring to characters as trannies and `mental defectives`

among others. I admire the author's ability to hit the beats and develop characters and show a fairly healthy relationship between the protagonist and her husband, but there's always something that makes me feel a bit uncomfortable when I read through. Potato chip books they are, but not without their flaws.