I've been on a cozy mystery kick lately and for some reason my brain turned "Angela Hardwicke Mystery" into cozy-sci-fi-mystery and then once I was about 25% through Blunt Force Rising my brain exploded. Ok, maybe not literally, but figuratively while several characters' literally did. If you are at all squeamish, I Do Not recommend this! Gore++ Explicit and very messy. If you've seen the first Kingsman movie, it's similar to the church scene. Once I mentally readjusted for that, I kept breezing through BFR. 

Personally, I'd call it a bit more of a thriller than mystery but there's definitely a fine line between the two sometimes. The Private Eye FMC is a deep character that definitely evokes empathy, though she can also be a bit frustrating. Coming into the middle of a series, I did feel a little left out on some of the relationships and references going on but they were still explained just enough that I didn't feel lost, just that I was missing easter eggs. 

Blunt Force Rising is a rich sci-fi story that doesn't fall into the over-technical trap. There's just enough jargon and science words to immerse you and build this world that includes androids without making you bored. There was some pretty deep talk about bigotry, artificial life, some philosophical what-makes-a-person talk, and existential crises. Plus discussions of PTSD and childhood trauma. This is definitely not a good book if you have any triggers, but it's classic sci-fi in the sense that it's hitting all the hard topics by coming at them from a future/space age attitude. 

Main con is that I did find it to be a slower read. I read most of it in one day but it took much longer than normal for me for a book under 300 pages. Some parts were longer tangents that could have been reduced, and some sections just dragged at the beginning during the set-up.