You are reading a book by a new to you author, narrated from the point of view of a woman on a first date that's been set up through an online dating service. She's shown to be wary, as she's had prior bad experiences even with men she's known for years.
She's also a cop in her thirties.
And yet.
She lets him order her drink at the bar and bring it to her at their table.
This is how you can be sure the author is a straight cis man.
I didn't think it could get worse but here we are: at about 42%, we learn that the protagonist/narrator "only because a cop became of what happened to her" as a teenager.
Obvious inference: she was assaulted.
May be wrong, but if it's correct, the whole "let strange man order her drink and bring it to her, giving him opportunity to tamper with it" is even more egregious than it seemed at first (it was bad enough already)
ICYMI: here's my review of Nick Louth's first in the Detective Jan Talantire series, The Two Deaths of Ruth Lyle, in which I call out a number of issues with the writing and editing.
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