One Completely Annoying Book

I've read a great many good books lately-The Price of the Stars, Wolf Hall, A Duty to the Dead are all highly recommended. But I picked up Paula Gosling's Backlash because I had read other books by her and I thought I'd enjoy this one.

Did I enjoy it? Well, it was well-written, I'll give it that. And the plot was good, I'll give it that too. And the characters? Well...here's the problem. The main characters are fine. Intelligent, well-drawn and funny. They're cops, and good ones, who know what they're doing...except for one, and here's the one HUGE problem. So, the story is that there's a sniper killing cops in Boston. I would find it hard to believe that Gosling had ever visited Boston-the city in this book is so generic that it could have been set in just about any major Northern city. And the cops are like any big-city cops almost anywhere, until the FBI comes to call. And here's the issue-the FBI agent is a woman. And she is an idiot. I don't think Gosling did any research on the FBI before writing this book-this woman is an "investigator, not a proper policeman". Does Gosling know that FBI agents (and the word "agent" is NEVER used) are police officers? That they go through a four-month training course to become agents? That many of them come from a background in law enforcement or as lawyers? That it's actually very difficult to became one and that the FBI prides itself on this? How about finding out that you have to pass a marksmanship test to make it as an agent? Or that FBI agents are required to have their weapon on their person at all times, even off-duty? I was willing to cut her a little slack, as this book was written in 1991, but back then, it was far more difficult for a woman to become an agent than it is now, so I can't. There is no way an FBI agent would drive during a high-speed chase and fully take orders from a local cop-they usually HATE each other. And she had a good idea at the end and never shared it? Was never competitive and wanted to show she could do the job? Didn't have have her weapon on her at the end, when she went after the sniper in a cemetery? This book had so many lapses when it came to the "FBI Investigator:, that it was laughable. Not a proper policeman? Jesus, don't tell that to an FBI agent, they'd knock you on your ass so fast, you wouldn't know what happened. And you'd deserve it.