I used to follow a series of cozy mysteries whose hook was that the protagonist had "visions" that helped her solve the crimes, although they frequently just got in the way. Although I loved that series, it had a habit of including a few more typos than a regular book, as well as various stylistic choices and factual inadequacies that a better editor could've helped with. The worst of these errors was when a background character claimed the wrong history about the origins of the board game 'Clue.' I couldn't be sure if it was to show the character's incomplete knowledge or if it was just thrown in as a way to connect with a later plot point in the mystery.
That series kind of ended last year. While new books could come out later, the author has begun a new series with one of the supporting characters as the new main protagonist, although many of the rest of the cast is still around as well to pop in when needed. No visions, but the character has been showing a unique thinking process that wasn't seen previously. Unfortunately, the same editorial problems persist.
For example, one of the suspects brought in for the new mystery only goes by their first name, as a way to hide the ties to their father who is in prison. While everybody knows the man's name, no one mentions it. Even a news interview about the father's release from prison skips over the name entirely, at least in print. Oh, the name gets mentioned, but characters only react to it. The real name is never seen in the text. The technique makes it feel like the father is very famous and the author doesn't want to get sued for using it, ever though the character isn't real. You could have used a totally different name. Fictional people can't sue.
The factual mistakes might be worse. Based on the previous novel in the original series, where a baby is born and is celebrating their first birthday in the new book, it is late September/early October in New England. I guess that could be a good time to repot summer flowers, even if some could still be blooming. And a slightly rebellious older woman might choose to wear a white skirt to an event after Labor Day kind of makes sense. However, the third mistake almost made me want to stop reading.
Two men comment about the post-game show they heard on the radio while on their way to a dinner. Although the timing is sort of loose in the book, the dinner happened on a Thursday, meaning the show occurred in the late afternoon. It is very unlikely that the NFL would've have scheduled an afternoon game on a Thursday. There are only two possible scenarios this might happen. The first is if the start time had to be moved up to avoid a major weather event, such as a hurricane or other tropical system. Based on the time of year and the two teams involved, the Titans and the Patriots, this seems unlikely. The other scenarios is if this was an international game. Brazil would be likely, although London, England is also probable, although this meant the game ended around midnight locally. If the NFL was playing in Brazil on a Thursday, they would've started it slightly later for a great US viewership.
Now, I'm not saying it would be impossible for this game to be played at that time, but I had to stop reading for a while when I saw it. Fortunately, it was at the end of the chapter, but still. If the author needed to include a sporting event to be mentioned at that time, why not a baseball game? It would've made way more sense for a Thursday that time of year. I guess the author needed to include a tie back to Tennessee, for plot reasons that barely mattered. It just irks me whenever a small line like this almost ruins a book for me. I'm emotional enough as it is.
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