I like political mysteries; they make a nice change from courtroom thrillers and straight romance. However, this one was neither exciting nor different, and I found it very run-of-the-mill.

Sharon Hays is a hard-working, semi-famous attorney and single mother to Melanie. When Congressman Will John Benedict is accused of murdering the young intern with whom he was having an affair, Sharon’s boss takes the case and asks her to help defend Benedict. Despite an ugly and painful history with Will John Benedict’s father, Paul, Sharon heads to Washington to help out.

This is not romantic suspense. I assumed since this one was sent to AAR to review that it was, but we know what happens when we assume, hmm? Instead, it focuses on Sharon and how she figures things out. She’s definitely a smart woman, and a survivor as well. She’s generally likable, but the author endows her with some speech patterns that are annoying, such as calling herself Sharon Dummy or referring to herself in the third person. She seems to be a pretty good mom to a bratty daughter with annoying speech habits of her own (calls her parents Mommy Roo or Daddy Poop or Big Freaking Liar).

The very dysfunctional Benedict family is the other major character. Will John is a wuss. Paul is a psycho. Mattie Ruth, the matriarch, and a senator, is semi-oblivious. These are people I’d never want to be around in real life. I didn’t care if Will John had murdered a woman because nothing about his personality evoked any sympathy with this reviewer.

As Sharon investigates the case, she uncovers the usual twisted trail to some very, uh, unsavory activities and even more unlikable characters, including witnesses and prosecutors who are only out to make their reputations. Yet, as unsavory as the activities were, they are somewhat expected in this type of novel.

Aside from the average plot line, another big problem with Capitol Scandal was the author’s writing style. For example, Sharon didn’t “turn right,” she made a “column-right.” Because Sharon’s boss Russ is from Texas, his speech takes on a sterotypically Texas twang. His speech does not reflect his years of education and powerful position. Instead, he drops his “g’s” at the end of many words, and uses “idn” and “you got to” repeatedly. As a Texan, I take exception to authors who attempt to portray a Texas accent in their writing, but that may not bother others.

Despite annoying writing characteristics and characters who were often difficult to like, I found myself compelled to keep turning the pages – I wanted to find out whodunit. Eventually, however, the lack of depth in all the characters save Sharon wore me down. And, even though Sharon seemed three-dimensional, she ultimately seemed very isolated for a couple of reasons, the first being that none of the other characters seemed real. The second reason she seemed isolated was her lack of connection to other people, however one-dimensional they were. Even Sharon’s daughter made only brief appearances.

I have since found out that Sharon Hays is the main character in a series (other titles include In Self-Defense, The Best Defense, and Public Trust), so Gregory gets points for not making the reader feel as if she’s missed out on any character history. I don’t think I’ll be hunting those others down, though.

A smoother writing style, more well-developed characters and deeper relationships would have pushed this book into the range of one I could recommend. I would be willing to give Gregory another try, but I think I’ll wait awhile.