The Right Wrong Thing by Ellen Kirschman is a fast moving, suspense-filled book. It is an intense, thought-provoking storyline. The author has a strong knowledge of law enforcement & psychology. I gave it five stars.

"Randy Alderson Spelling looks more like a girl than a woman. So tiny she's almost lost in the cushions of my office couch." She is in the office of Dot Meyerhoff, the Department Psychologist, having her final interview before she can become a police officer of the Kenilworth Police Department.

"'And your family? How do they feel about your becoming a police officer?'

'They're all in law enforcement, except my mom. She worries about me, of course. But growing up with my brothers, she knows I can take care of myself.'"

I would like to thank the Ocean View Publishing & NetGalley for a complimentary kindle copy. That did not change my opinion for this review. ( )

Dot Meyerhoff, the main character of this book, should have her police psychologist license revoked. She seems quite incompetent, and stupidly inserts herself into the middle of active police murder investigations with little thought and even smaller consequences. The author does not do a good job with character development, and I found myself questioning the motives and actions of nearly all of the characters throughout. I'm surprised I finished the book - I question now why I did. ( )

The odd thing about The Right Wrong Thing by Eileen Kirschman is that I was more fascinated by Officer Randy Spelling than the main character, Dr. Dot Meyerhoff. I expected Dr. Dot Meyerhoff, the police psychologist to put herself into risky situations. Without doing that, how was there going to be a story? To round her character out she had a love interest, was well educated and had her own emotional problems from her past.

Randy Spelling, the new officer, fresh out of training is very petite. She always wanted to be in the police force to be like her dad and her brothers. She was so excited to begin her new job and then she makes a big mistake and no one will speak to her. Randy wants to please and to do good, and do the right thing. It is very clear that she needed expert psychological counseling but that was sideswiped. When she gets back on duty, she makes an even worse mistake and blames herself

She never did recover psychologically from her first mistake she was not prepared to return to duty. Randy's yearning for clouds her reason in puts her in danger. She can’t sleep, she can eat, and all she wants is to apologize to the family of the teenage pregnant girl that she shot by mistake. This was the worst thing that she could do.

From the first page, this book hooked into the story. The author, Ellen Kirschman explains PTSD and the chemical part of psychology. The story is narrated by the psychologist and the author was a police and public safety psychologist for a long time. That makes this story seem more real which I enjoyed.

I also enjoyed the entrance of another psychologist, Marvel Johnson. Marvel had a religious based training and too naïve and not really fit to be a psychologist. I liked this aspect of this book and enjoyed reading about the mess that she got herself in. Since I have degrees in psychology and counseling myself, I met people like her and it was poetic justice for me to see one get herself in a lot of trouble.

I would love to read the first book in this series and all the following ones.

I received the finished copy of The Right Wrong Thing from Partners in Crime but that in no way influenced the thoughts or feelings in my review. ( )

She’s seeking employment as a police officer with Kenilworth Police Department, a suburb of San Francisco. Randy’s father and brothers were cops. She even married a cop, Rich Spelling. Acting Chief Jay Pence was pushing to obtain more women on the force. Randy is so sure of herself and she passes every test – every test, that is, except the actual ‘on the job’ test. She fails to have her partner, Tom Rutger’s, back. She freezes and he gets hurt. Now, there’s a lot of anger toward her as well as distrust. Hubby tells her, “Get tough. Show ‘em what you can do. Beat the crap out of somebody so they’ll leave you alone.” Just a couple of days later, the headlines read, “Cop Shoots Pregnant Teen.”

Doctor Dot Meyerhoff is the department psychologist counseling Randy. When Randy pulled over Lakeisha Gibbs, she told the girl to get out of her car. Lakeisha reached over to her side and pulled up an item that at first site, Randy identified as a possible gun. She fatally shoots Lakeisha. The item? A cell phone.

This is Randy’s frightful story. It’s alarming and in some ways, could be read like tomorrow’s headlines. But, Randy is not the protagonist. Most of the chapters are told through Doc Meyerhoff’s point of view. One incident after another and counseling Randy and Lakeisha’s family become a full-time job for the Doc. However, the name of the protagonist didn’t appear until 8% of the way in. Readers of the first in the series would have known, but I felt a bit confused at the beginning. There are several places here and there that could have used editing. Several times, text seemed to be added where it was not applicable. The story line is so magnetic that it continues to pull the reader forward. The author, Ellen Kirschman, spent thirty years as a police psychologist so she definitely knows her material and she knows how to present the relationship between cops, their situations, and their need of counseling. Rating: 3 out of 5. ( )

The Right Wrong Thing is a great title and once you read the book, you will see how appropriate it is. Ellen Kirschman does a great job with this police procedural novel that tells Randy Spelling’s story, when she does The Right Wrong Thing.

The Kenilworth Police Department needed women officers and Randy Spelling fit the bill. She gets in deep from the getgo and I can see only bad things happening for her. The game of second guessing an officers actions and reactions has begun. Does it play a part in their future actions, causing them to hesitate or jump the gun?

Dr Dot Meyerhoff is a police psychologist for the department and must get involved whenever there has been an incident.

The childish and, what I consider to be, stupid pranks by the male officers towards the new police chief, Jacqueline Reagan only show their immaturity and chauvinism. I do believe a lot of this still goes on, in light of all the “rogue” incidents we have seen since cell phones and police car cameras.

My emotions let me know they were aIive and well. I was pissed at the disrespect the officers showed to the chief. It doesn’t matter if they are male or female, black or white…it is showing respect for the position and keeping a united front for the public. How confident will we be in their actions, if they play like children in a sandbox?

When the second incident with Randy Spelling happens, all hell breaks loose. It’s really bad and reads as if it really could have happened. The biggest question for Randy, can she live with it?

This review is hard to write because of my cynicism. I am hesitant to believe the victim’s family in a situation like this because I don’t trust their motives and the victim’s innocence. The family is looking for someone to blame.,

In this case…when the cop says STOP…STOP! Why don’t people listen? How many times do we see them run, stick their hands in their pockets, start walking toward the officer…Why do people do that?

As the circus begins, it’s hard to tell who is the slimiest, the media, the lawyers…It reads as if it is nonfiction. Ellen Kirschman’s descriptions of the people, the things they said, the progression of events makes me think I have seen it all before. If the book was longer and more in depth, I think my head would have spun like the girl in The Exorcist. lol

It is awful and tragic but Randy Spelling did nothing wrong. She may not have done everything exactly right, but that is what training, rules and experience are all about. It really surprises me that it doesn’t happen more often.

The Right Wrong Thing takes a twist that adds to the tale. It is a small book, but it contains a wealth of issues, information, and characters covering what happens when…

The Right Wrong Thing by Ellen Kirschman is a thought provoking novel that stayed with me long after the reading was done.

I received The Right Wrong Thing by Ellen Kirschman in return for an honest review. ( )