In defense of LKH:
Yes LKH injects a lot of her life into AB, it is probably what makes AB such a good character. AB lost her mother at 7 or so, and LKH at 3 or so. LKh also had no father and was raised by her grandmother, 4 foot something. Her 6 foot grandfather was a perfect person in public, and then in private beat the stuffing out of her grandmother. LKH has said it fueled her interest in what she calls 'beautiful evil'. I think she and her grandmother escaped at one point. In any event LKH has not had an easy life, and had to fight for everything, so she is used to standing up for herself, and is not willing to let others push her around or tell her what she can and can't do. I think she has a similar temperament to AB.
Because of that she has a knee-jerk reaction to criticism. One of them is to to do what people tell her not to do, or that she can't. The complaints about the sex started with her editors, and she ignored them and forged ahead. Then the fans. In the meantime as she says in her blog, she still has the sales. She probably has never evaluated what people are saying, or why, she just sees a red flag.
She also seems a bit prickly in person. I have seen her get into 'fights' on con panels with authors she just meets, because she, like AB is a bit tone deaf in terms of proper social etiquette. She also doesn't fit into the box of being a 'good girl' in terms of playing by the rules in a male dominated society.
That said, her blog shows her really trying not to understand those who are unhappy. I think they are more than a small minority, and some still read the books and buy them. What she doesn't understand or try to, is that she hasn't failed as a writer. That people are passionate about her world and her characters, and will stand in line for 2 hours to tell her that she has screwed them up. People also keep reading because some of the earlier and more well developed characters are now just as, or more loved, than AB.
I have to disagree Micah, the book and the character are both just awful.
Other points, her ex-husband didn't edit the books, I don't think he even read them. Supposedly he objected to horror, and only ever read the first one. LKH notes it in the dedication of the book. Her current husband was running her fan club, and I suspect he may have been involved with the books, even before they were married. She did belong to a writer's group and would have them read and comment on the books if time permitted.
I also think she developed her contacts at the St. Louis Police Department through, a woman who was from STL and on the LKH list. She worked there at the front desk and was able to help her. Eventually the woman left the police department, and now works as LKH's personal assistant, and does her fan mail, fan club, and newsletters. So her police connections may not still be viable, especially with the addition of so much silly, and badly written, sex.
And after all that, evil negative reader that I am, I picked up a couple of the new comics that they are doing of Guilty Pleasures. I have issues #1 and #3. Not a big comics fan after childhood. But on one of the lists someone mentioned that they might actually add more to the story, so I want to see if thats true.
