i'm gonna be honest and say i mostly skimmed through the book to see if the SoS case was gaining speed (it wasn't) and read the parts i thought might be interesting (also got let down) and the ending, and. i need this author to stop using the same scheme to start and end every book. the SoS mystery (which the readers are actually here for!) could've been nicely wrapped up in book 2 at latest, but the author chose to drag it out and sideline it in favor of a shitty relationship and uninteresting cases.