Description of female character in crime novel written by a man leaves readers unimpressed

A description of a bereaved female character in a crime thriller written by a man has left readers unimpressed.

The description suggests that although the protagonist has not slept for three days while she investigates her sister's murder, she checks herself out in a mirror and notes she looks "oddly sultry".

The passage, tweeted by feminist author Fern Riddell, sparked a conversation on social media about the over-sexualisation of female characters as she wrote the book had been "written by a man".

The paragraph from the book - the name and author of which are not clear - reads: "She caught a fleeting look at herself in the mirror. Somehow, despite the permanent lack of sleep, her body was refusing to give the game away entirely.

"Yes, there were dark circles under her eyes, but they gave her an oddly sultry look.

"The phrase 'come to bed eyes' slipped into her head. She gave a bitter laugh: it had been a while."

Several people mocked the passage, pointing out that if the character's sister had just died then she was unlikely to be thinking of her sex life.

One woman wrote: "Please tell me you threw [the book] away at this point."

Another woman offered an alternative description for the protagonist, writing: "Or 'she looked in the mirror - she looked like a sack of ****. She didn't give a **** because her sister was dead.

"If a man had given her the come on she would have caved his skull on with a claw hammer."