Blue

Blue #1

by Abigail Padgett

Blue McCarron, the savvy, gay social psychologist with a yen for crime detection, is captivated by the bizarre case of Beatrice "Muffin" Crandall, a proper grande dame of 72 who has just confessed to murdering a man, chopping him up, and storing his body parts in a frozen locker. But why is Muffin's brother Dan asking Blue for her help in getting Muffin to retract her confession? And why are Muffin's wealthy society friends clearly lying to protect her? Stalking the truth will lead Blue to a desperate, nationwide conspiracy -- and an unraveling mystery more dangerous than she bargained for.

Genres: Mystery, Fiction, LGBT, Crime, Lesbian, Mystery Thriller, Feminism

336 pages, Paperback

First published September 1, 1998

Reviews

[JulesGP · Rating 5 out of 5]

Blue is a remarkable book, not only because it’s a good murder mystery but also because it’s a story about journeys and the ways people are often unknowingly connected.

Dr. Blue McCarron is a social psychologist who works with businesses to determine the shopping behavior of potential customers, nothing flashy but she makes good money. Two years ago, Misha, the love of her life left her with nothing but a short, handwritten note saying goodbye. Since then, Blue purchased an unfinished motel in the middle of the desert. When she tells that painful story, it’s the first time that I see how events told can be viewed from different perspectives which is crucial to understanding what has taken place in the book. We wonder, did Blue leave San Diego to create a new chapter in her life or did she go to bury herself in solitude? As she travels along, the more she opens herself to alternate explanations pertaining to events and motives, the more she grows to comprehend what’s happened in her own life as well as filling in the pieces to the murder mystery.

She shouldn’t be involved at all because she is not a clinical psychologist but when 61 year old suburban Muffin Crandall confesses to killing and dismembering a low-end criminal, Victor Camacho, the accused’s brother comes knocking on Blue’s door for help. None of it makes any sense but the author patiently spins an elaborate web of how and why the situation came into being. It’s not only the obvious steps that are involved but the big picture of classism and racism that are also convincingly laid out. Blue likens the interlacing lines to an electric grid that she innately sees, popping and crackling when everything begins to fall into place and clarity is achieved. She’s a complex character and I fell for her immediately, fiercely independent, warm and loving but also hot tempered towards anyone trying to hurt the ones she loves.

Many people care about Blue, family and friends, a potential new romance, all are well drawn and the dialogue is acid sharp and witty. There are serious moments but plenty of quirk and humor too. I can also add that being a murder mystery, there’s some well timed action that will keep you on edge. Finally, the best Doberman ever, by the name of Brontë, is always by Blue’s side. A real winner of a book that I thoroughly enjoyed. This is an updated version of a book originally published in 1998 and other than the no cell phone detail, I didn’t feel it was outdated at all. The updated sequel is being released in 2021 and I’m looking forward to it.

ARC provided by author to lezreviewbooks.com in exchange for an honest review.

[Corrie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Oh, I really gelled with Abigail Padgett’s Blue. It was very much left of center, well written and highly enjoyable.

Social physchologist Blue McCarron and her trusty Doberman Brontë live in the middle of the Californian desert, where she bought an unfinished motel with no running water. She makes a good living analizing behavior patterns, and it helps her forget the heartbreak she suffered when her girlfriend walked out of her life 2 years prior. A short note was all she left.

When the body of a low-end gangster gets discovered in Muffin Crandall’s freezer, Blue gets hired by muffin’s brother who believes in her innocence even though muffin confessed to the murder. It’s not long before Blue inadvertently finds herself in a lot of danger.

Apart from a very intricate plot that keeps you perked up all through the book, all the characters we meet are really fantastic. One of my many favorites is forensic psychiatrist and line-dance goddess Roxanne (Rox) Bouchie, she of the many braids.

The way black women say “girl” can be magical. Frankly, I have no solid beliefs about the survival of consciousness after physical death. But if it’s going to happen I know what I want to see after my trek toward the light. I want to see a black woman who will smile and say, “Girl . . .”

Muffin’s group of older lady-friends are both mysterious and a hoot. It’s not all fun and games though, there are some truly darker moments as well. I would say there is a good balance. So yeah, good murder/mystery, a bit of romance, witty dialogue, drama… it’s all there. Don’t miss out!

The book first came out in 1998 and is now re-published by Bywater Books. Available on Scribd.

f/f

Themes: Borrego Springs, the Californian desert, the grid, Las Colinas prison, Auntie’s competitive line-dance team, BB the Punk, the story of Frankie Lopez and Bugsy Sneller, red christmas plates, I loved Blue’s insights into primate behavior and how it relates to us, Betsy Blue, the labrys necklace.

5 Stars

[Betty · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book! Blue by Abigail Padgett hooked me on page one, and did not let me go until the very end. It is an excellently written murder mystery/romance novel by an extremely talented author.

The story is written in first person POV through the eyes of the main character, Dr. Blue McCarron…and boy is she a character! As a social psychologist, she has a unique perspective of the events and the people involved in the mystery, but she also has a quirky, snarky, and definitely humorous way of describing those events that makes her the perfect storyteller for this tale. Blue also has a vulnerable side that comes out through her words and actions. This makes it very easy to connect with and even fall in love with her. In fact, all of the characters in this book could be used as examples of how to develop the perfect characters for a story. They are all individuals uniquely developed for their role in the story with realism and depth. I’m actually in awe at how well the author created these people.

The mystery itself is another area where this novel shines. It is well written with plenty of suspense that gradually becomes more complex until you finally reach a surprising ending. In other words, it’s a great murder mystery that will keep your eyes glued to the pages.

You really must read this book. It is an exciting mystery with great characters, and with a lovely romance added to the tale. It has my highest recommendation.

I received an ARC from Bywater Books for an honest review.

Rainbow Reflections: http://rainbowreflections.home.blog/

[Agirlcandream · Rating 4 out of 5]

Unique and original. A murder mystery that is contemplative and profound at times, but grounded in a desert motel with a lonely woman and her classical music loving Doberman named Bronte almost stealing the show.

Blue McCarron is a social psychologist with a knack for understanding human behaviour. She is asked to investigate an unusual murder with an unlikely murderer. It's not long before Blue is targeted even though she has nothing to do with the crime committed. I loved how Blue's past and present converge and connect in unique ways. The resolution was unexpected and surprising. Nicely done.

[Carolyn McBride · Rating 5 out of 5]

"Blue" is a different sort of book. I don't mean the genre, it's a murder mystery, but what is different from anything else I've read this year is that Blue doesn't seem to follow genre conventions, and that's refreshing and perplexing at the same time.
We have a main character with an unusual profession, who lives in an unusual place with a very unique past and a delightful dog with great taste in music, if a poor sense of timing. In fact, all the characters in this novel are stand-outs. You are given the information you need to know, and not a word more. And that is both different in this genre and highly refreshing.

You might think you know where this story is headed, but trust me when I tell you...nope.
All of the characters have very clear motivations, they are all true to themselves and their ideals and so very full of surprises.

The plot will keep you guessing, the editing is great and can we just take a moment to admire that cover?

This book gets my highest recommendation.
Read it.
Ponder it when you're done.
Roll it over in your mind like a full-bodied red wine for your mind.

You'll be glad you did.

[Della B · Rating 4 out of 5]

Blue McCarron is an intelligent yet wonderfully flawed character who cannot help but intrigue the reader. Her social psychologist brain never stops analyzing the abstract world nor her personal one in trying to decipher the why to all things around her. Blue forges her insight to reveal base human reactions plus the inherent fact that women and men are vastly different.
Blue unwittingly becomes involved in solving a five year old murder of a criminal when his body is found thawing in a malfunctioning cold storage locker.
Abigail Padgett’s writing is dense yet interestingly insightful. Normally I am a very quick reader however I purposefully slowed down to luxuriate in the richness of her language. Padgett’s attention to the minutiae of death and life is a step away from being poetic in the reading.
The mystery storyline is extremely unique and complex. It has been a very long time since I could lose myself in a mystery and not surmise the ending.
I have found a must read author to add to my list of writers who excel at their craft.

I received a free ARC from Bywater Books for my honest review.

[Jo · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read the Bywater Books re-release and can imagine the excitement this novel must have brought to mystery genre readers at its debut two decades ago.

Blue's quirky character, the manner in which she interacts her idiosyncratic supporting cast and the world at large is engrossingly narrated with dry humour. The mystery itself is suspenseful, complex and rooted in feminist-related issues still relevant today. Its resolution immensely satisfying.

[Genine Franklin-Clark · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ever read a book where, while enjoying the story and writing, and liking the main character, you felt constantly just a little uncomfortable because of one facet of that character's . . .well, character? This was that for me. Blue is a lesbian. Okay, no problem there.

But Blue's angry, negative attitude toward most men (apparently her dad;Bo,a gay ex-con; Dan, a stranger to her, and in the end; her brother, are okay)is something that made me uncomfortable. I think it's much like I would feel reading a book in which the main character was kind, witty, charming and ethical except that he or she made constant diaparaging remarks about Jews or blacks.
(Well, except for the four Jews or blacks who were friends.)

I checked out another book by this author. I'll probably read it, hoping that her
attitude "evolves".

[Vicky R. · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great book.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book, the characters are witty and relatable. Always love a book that can make me laugh and this was definitely one of them. The storyline was very entertaining and kept me rapt to the very end. It's not often I find a GOOD mysterys with strong female lesbian ( mostly lesbian, as is the case in this book ) leads that was this good. I'm definitely looking forward to more of Blue McCarron!

[Rain · Rating 5 out of 5]

Hilarious - one mixed-up lesbian social psychologist named 'Blue' pining over an ex-gf who disappeared, combined with a gorgeous Dobermann named Bronte, a range of characters affiliated with a silly superficial murder mystery involving a bunch of lovely older women (and although I figured out whodunwot and why early on, it really doesn't matter that much as going along for the ride with Blue is the fun part), and a lot of witty off-track tangents of Blue's opinions about life, the universe and everything, from a lesbian feminist perspective. A fun ride along with a happy ending, what more could you want?

[Megan]

There are a lot of good things about this novel. The locale, for example: Dr. Blue McCarron lives with her Doberman in a ghost motel in the southern California desert. She is a social psychologist with the ability to analyze unprofitable businesses and give advice on turnaround strategies. It is making her rich. Even more interesting, her dissertation, Ape, discusses how humans often revert to an innate primate behavior. Her use of this idea to analyze the various characters who come into her life is not exactly easy reading, but it is excellently done. Very literary and informative. And a chapter where Blue discusses an ex-inmate of a girls’ juvenile center is one of the best I have read all year.

Nice prose abounds, like when Blue is relating her attraction to Rox. “Roxie Bouchie, nothing like me in any way, a stranger with a history I could never truly understand, was nonetheless home. My home. I’d never felt that before, a person suddenly revealed to be a place where you’ve always belonged.”

Even the plot and the mystery are good ones. A man named Dan Crandall asks Blue’s help in proving that his sister is innocent of killing a man and storing him in a freezer for five years. Her investigation—and her analysis of human versus primate behavior—convinces her that the sister, who has confessed to the crime, is lying. But why? And why does Blue herself seem to be a target for thugs? Throw in said thugs along with a fetching prison psychiatrist named Rox and an ex-con named BB the Punk, and you have a rich brew of a novel. There is even a lot of action and people getting shot. Way cool.

But the way I began this review makes you wonder when I will be getting to the “but,” because surely there is one. So, of course, there is. Somewhere along the way, Padgett either got confused or made some bad decisions. Halfway through, she decides to make Blue’s ex-girlfriend part of the mystery. Then several chapters before the end, she decides to make everybody part of the mystery. I’m sure I am doing Padgett a disservice; I’m sure she had the complete plot in her head all along. But the ending of the novel seems more than forced and convenient. I am used to the solutions of mysteries being rather silly and convoluted, but the ending to Blue has more coincidences than characters—enough to go beyond silly and into contrived. The sad thing about this is that it wasn’t necessary. Although I like her idea of a secret woman’s organization (see Joan Drury’s The Other Side of Silence) that goes around righting wrongs, Padgett didn’t have to make nearly everyone in the novel a part of it. Worse, the reason for Dan Crandall’s sister having to freeze the body in a storage unit for five years made no sense at all. Her involvement—and that of her friends—equally made no sense. The involvement of Blue’s ex-girlfriend, from whom Blue is nursing a loneliness and despair well known in lesbian mystery fiction, is, well, out of the blue. I’m sure that if Padgett were sitting here in this room with me she could point out very simple explanations of what seem to me to be fatal flaws. But I looked and I couldn’t find them.

I’m not sure I have ever been so disappointed in an ending. When, several chapters before the end, I realized what direction Padgett was headed, I groaned inwardly. Seriously, I had to force myself to read the last two or three chapters. What could have been a 4+ now gets just over a 3. I’m not saying the plot and the mystery’s resolution would have been easy to change—to make more plausible and less contrived; what I am saying is that it is necessary.

Note: I read the first Mysterious Press paperback edition of this novel.

Another Note: This review is included in my book The Art of the Lesbian Mystery Novel, along with information on over 930 other lesbian mysteries by over 310 authors.

[Kirsty Darbyshire]

After only a couple of pages I knew I was going to love this book. The first person voice is stunningly individual and I just want to curl up and let Blue McCarron tell me all about her story.

The rest of my comments are taken from a mailing list discussion and as such contain spoilers]

[About Blue and Other Characters]

I've only read the first few chapters of the book so far so I don't want to read anybody else's replys for fear of spoilers as this is a whole book discussion.

So far I'm really impressed by the individual voice that Blue has. I don't think a great deal of the plot so far (too many threads going on to draw any conclusions from really, though I like the general rambling effect) but Blue has drawn me in and made me really want to read her story to find out about her.

I can really identify with Blue's curiosity driven search for knowledge and her requirement for a degree of solitude. I like her though I have a feeling that this might diminish in the course of the book. I certainly think that she's an interesting enough character for a series (but I guess that depends on how this book ends). I haven't got any huge ideas about the secondary characters, I think her twin brother is going to define her reactions to things to a degree and I like what I've seen of Rox so far, I think she's the strongest character that we've actually seen.

[About the Resolution]I'm aware that other people are tearing holes in the plot and I agree with them for the most part but my answer is still, yes, the resolution worked pretty well for me.

It became obvious that there was either going to be a huge coincidence happening or that the Muffin Crandall affair was going to be linked to the Misha Deland affair. I liked the way it all tied together.

There were several things that weren't fully explained that didn't bother me at all. For example, Dan Crandall came to Blue for help - I can live with the idea that there would be a decent non coincidental explanation for this that just didn't make it into the book.

There were some things I couldn't find or think of a good explanation for that didn't involve coincidence. For example, Blue found out about Frankie Lopez from the girls at the detention centre and this didn't just give her ideas about the case she was involved with but turned out to be directly related to the actual case! If Blue had have got that job via Misha somehow that part of the plot would have worked for me, as it was it was too neat.

There were some things that I thought were a reasonable use of conincidence. For example, that Wrenner had built Blue's motel didn't seem too far fetched as we were told he was one of the major players in the property market over a large area.

Also the whole thing involving Misha leaving seemed badly explained. But again I felt that I was missing details from the past that would have made Misha's actions seem reasonable. Perhaps I'm just forgiving of the author of a book that I really liked despite its faults ;-)

I thought the ins and outs of Blue's personal life were interesting and I liked the way her own personal crises distracted her from the detection. That she missed the blindingly obvious connection with Carty didn't bother me. She wasn't a real detective despite the fact that she'd been employed as one by Dan Crandall so I didn't feel that she needed to be working on the case all the time or even that she needed to work the mystery out. Although the women did come and explain things to her at the end I thought that most of the mystery was sussed out by then and that we were just getting a summary rather than an undetected explanation.

I liked the way the story with Blue's family worked. I was pleased that she made up with her twin. I didn't like her ending up with Roxie though, I wanted Blue to go home by herself and not do the sickly saccharine true love thing a la Jake and Trudy. Yuck. That was the most disappointing thing in the book for me.

[About Blue's book, sexism etc]

Generally I think there are always potential problems when a fictional character has to be an expert on something. There are two ways that I think this can be made to work. One is that the author is actually an expert on that subject and then the writing tends to feel rather autobiographical. The other is that the information the reader is given is kept sketchy and the reader has to assume that the character knows far more than they say.

I thought Padgett missed the boat on making Blue a believable expert. I found some of the stuff really interesting, like how she revamped the shopping centre to make it more attractive to women, I thought that gave insight into her profession without trying to explain everything she knew to us. But most of the stuff about apes I found vaguely insulting and I wished that Blue had kept the finer details from us. If we hadn't been told about her thesis/book at length then I think things like Dan Crandall coming to Blue for help would have been more credible.

The idea of a network of women protecting young women was a good one and I think it worked well in the context of the story. I would have liked the book to have been clearer about why they chose an illegal rather than a legal route though. I thought that if there had been an attempt at working something legal first which had gone wrong that the plotline would have been stronger. And maybe that could have been used to explain why Misha had to vanish and why Misha and Carty didn't just tell Blue all about it to start with.

There were many stereotypes in the book and many of the female ones were as unflattering as the male ones. The book certainly had a female bias but I'm not sure that I'd say the book was sexist. I think Blue had taken her own theories (which are not the same as facts) to heart and we were seeing everything through her eyes. I agree that the male characters weren't fully fleshed out but I think they were more balanced than many of the female ones. Dan Crandall was shown to have a willingness to change, as was her reformed twin. Her mostly too perfect father had conceived his children in an extra-marital relationship. BB was another reformed criminal. On the female side we saw a nastier aspect to most of the characters, or they seemed to have no bad points at all (e.g. Roxie). I didn't think that the behaviour of the characters in the book particularly backed up Blue's theories.

[Steven Boehle · Rating 4 out of 5]

The three musketeers meet in the desert at the OK corral to foil a small party gone wrong in all the right places. Too much freezer burn can make the meat taste bad and a seamstress packing a BB gun can’t be expected to help much either. Alaskan Airlines to the rescue of a maiden in distress while a psychiatrist bends the minds of willing participants to invade a prison for the good of all. All is fair in love and war so check me in at a Motel 6 because the Red Roof Inn has the No Vacancy sign flashing in red neon. Blue is the color of my true loves hare so settle in with a spoon and a carton of Blue Bunny ice cream to enjoy this desert dessert treat.

[Chris Ellis · Rating 5 out of 5]

For a book with such a serious subject at its core, that was dammed fun to read.

This book is hilarious, deftly plotted, and has a number of characters that could easily have their own series.

And let me just say, I am overjoyed this is a series and am looking forward to Blue books to come, and any others series the author has to offer.

Might even have learned a thing or two from this book that can be applied to a 60+ year old mans life.

Highly recommended.

[Susan Dennis · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is one of the strangest books I've ever read. I'm not even sure I liked it but it sure was intriguing. Blue McCarron is a social psychologist. She's also a mess. She's isolated herself in the desert and is dragged into a 5 year old murder. The writing of this story is complicated and often gets in the way but nearly as often is really interesting.

[Marian · Rating 3 out of 5]

I loved the beginning, and the end was great. I got very bogged down in the middle though. I felt the mystery was not mystifying, but confusing. Blue is an excellent character though, and the setting was cool.

[Roberta · Rating 2 out of 5]

Good story but annoyingly overwritten.

[Scott · Rating 2 out of 5]

Trying out some new-to-me authors. Pretty good.

[Sfdreams · Rating 5 out of 5]

I totally loved this book when I read it in October 1998, and re-read it again recently and loved it just as much the second time. Emily "Blue" McCarron is a social psychologist, lesbian, loving owner of a doberman, Bronte, who consults with business owners on how to improve their businesses.

In this book, first of a series of two (Abigail Padgett has not written a book since the sequel, The Last Blue Plate Special, came out in 2001--don't know why, and am somewhat distressed about it.) a man comes to Blue's desert hideaway to ask her to help him prove that his sister, Muffin Crandell, is innocent of killing a man and freezing him in her deceased husband's game freezer in a storage facility. When the storage facility was hit by an earthquake, the electricity was disrupted and the smell alerted authorities to the presence of the body. Muffin has confessed to the crime, but her brother is sure she is innocent, and is willing to pay Blue up to $15,000 to prove it.

Some of my favorite passages:

p.46-47 ...When I explained that the part-time job I'd advertised would involve keeping the courtyard area clean and alerting the police about drug deals and illegal drinking, she lowered gold-shadowed lids over coffee-brown eyes and shook her head. The beads rattled. She just said, "Girl..."

The way black women say "girl" can be magical. Frankly, I have no solid beliefs about the survival of consciousness after physical death. But if it's going to happen I know what I want to see after my trek toward the light. I want to see a black woman who will smile and say, "Girl...."

The word's resonance is utterly female, the opening syllable of a story that will explain what's really going on. It says, "You don't have a clue, but I'm going to give you the inside scoop." The sound is hypnotic, like an audio version of that top-of-the-Ferris-wheel moment just before the downward rush. At that moment after my death, I would like to be told exactly what the universe is, and why. I would like to see the point. And in my fantasy the story will begin with that word on the tongue of a black woman.

page 60 ...It's one of my favorite notions that the universe is essentially music, and that we came from there. Psychoneurologists document cases in which people with brain deficits who can't talk or read or understand words at all can nevertheless sing entire arias after one or two exposures to the music. Mute and autistic idiots savants have surprised their caregivers by sitting down at a piano and playing the themes from every commercial on television in the dayroom that morning. Even the ancient reptile brains of certain snakes respond dramatically to music.

I think music is the original language of life, half-buried in the crumpled map of the brain. I think verbal discourse is an evolutionary newcomer, like opposable thumbs and politics. Music about communal utility bills would be like a mountain wearing a sweater. Beyond incongruous. Music has to be, and always is, about joy and despair, illumination and darkness, life and death. Even reptiles know this....

[Bob · Rating 3 out of 5]

A new author, it was a book someone dropped off at the library (donation) and needing a book I grabbed it.
Blue McCarron is a Social Psychologist who contracts out to malls and stores to help improve sales and she teaches part time at a girls juvenile detention center near her San Diego area home. When her partner suddenly takes off and disappears Blue finds an old unfinished motel for sale out in the desert and buys it on the cheap. She lives there with her Doberman rescue dog Bronte. One day she is surprised by an intruder while swimming au natural in her pool, Bronte chases the intruder up the fence before Blue calls her to sit. The intruder wants Blue to help his much older sister who has been charged with murder when after an earthquake a body is found wrapped in a trash bag and stashed in her frozen food locker. The sister “Muffin” Crandall is not denying the murder, but is claiming self defense. Reluctantly, Blue decides to at least do some investigating. Thus begins the mystery with an interesting twist and a heavy dose of “woman’s lib” from a defiantly strong feminist prospective.

ISBN - 0-89296-671-8, Mystery, Pages - 324, Print Size - R, Rating - 3.5
All books reviewed are from the library or purchased by the reviewer.

[Wayne Spiceland · Rating 4 out of 5]

Loved it! Not sure when I've read a book that I enjoyed so much on so many different levels: mystery, character study, feminist essay, theological pondering, romance, suspenseful drama. Okay, so the plot's a little convoluted, maybe too many story lines, and the way they all come together in the end is a little too convenient, contrived, even, but, for some reason, it all just seems to work. Some of the digressions from the plot, Blue's musings on various subjects, are absorbing and thought-provoking. Certain passages sparkle with intelligence and wit. The "grid," her take on the numinous, is intriguing, and the idea that the Other has a since of humor is undeniable. I love the suggestion that the universe is music. The mystery? Well, I guessed who committed the initial murder quite early on, but it was still great fun finding out why she did it. I admired Blue's loyalty to Misha even as she begins a new relationship. If I have any complaint at all, it's that the whole explication of the events surrounding Misha could have been better explained, and I wish she and Blue could have had a bit more time together at the end. Otherwise, a very satisfying and provocative read.

[Susana · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a character-driven book and Blue McCarron is definitely an unforgettable character. A minister's kid, she has an imprisoned twin brother who tried to rob a bank, and a broken heart from grieving over her lost lover, Misha. Her analysis of people and social interactions around her by applying social psychology and primate behaviour to human relationships is very unusual and witty. Told from Blue McCarron’s point of view the murder story is interwoven with Blue’s family story and past love and also with a possible new love. The plot is complex, and although it reaches a logical resolution is somewhat not entirely credible. However, Padgett makes fun of that when she makes Blue say after a far fetched hypothesis “Real life is never that literary”. The book is very well written and makes us get a real feel for the main character's feelings and the desert setting. Abigail Padgett also creates very interesting secondary characters such as Roxie Bouchie, the African-American forensic psychiatrist that loves Country music and competes at two-step, or BB the Punk, an ex-con turned stylist. This is definitely a recommended book.

[Drianne · Rating 4 out of 5]

Squee! Lesbian mystery novel about a social psychologist, Blue, hired by an accused murderess' brother to prove that she didn't do it. Blue *rocks*. Although her academic career was all about how the differences between men and women can be traced to primordial 'primate' behaviors (a notion I find politically repellant as well as theoretically unsound), she's funny, smart, engaging, cool -- and this book is populated by *wonderful* radical/lesbian feminists all over the place, and whee! (Her dog is shot at one point, but she does recover; read the book anyway.) I will say, however, that Blue shows a disturbing lack of common sense (it's one of those books where one practicially wants to scream at our plucky heroine to get out of there), as well as a complete (and surprising) lack of deductive abilities; the mystery won't faze anyone. Nonetheless, it's one of the most entertaining books I've read in ages. Highly recommended.

[Betty · Rating 4 out of 5]

Of all the thousands of crime novels I have read, this was perhaps the most offbeat -- in a good way. On the one hand it is pretty preposterous, a social psychologist hired to investigate what appears to be a fabricated confession to murder. Who lives in the desert in a deserted motel without running water. Eventually there are coincidences almost to rival Kate Atkinson. And yet I found myself completely engaged in the story. Some would find it a bit heavily awash in feminist analysis, but I didn't mind it.

[Ray · Rating 3 out of 5]

I recently made a trip to San Diego and searched out some local fiction to read to prepare. The local flavor could have been tastier but in general it worked.

I definitely want to see the desert now.

Beyond that I liked this book and wanted to like it more. However it was a weak mystery. And the main plot wasn't strong enough to overcome this flaw.

But lesbian separatist fiction from the early 90s is still pretty awesome.

[Jest · Rating 4 out of 5]

I picked this up based entirely on the badly-drawn motorcycle on the cover. Unfortunately, there is not a single motorcycle in this book; however, it is a very entertaining read - not great literature but the sort of pleasant escapism that keeps you reading a story from cover to cover. I'm glad I came across it.

[Amber · Rating 3 out of 5]

I just finished a fantasy book, so it took me am inute to adjust to this one, but I really enjoyed it. Gayer than I expected, which was a pleasant surprise. Interesting conversations about primate behavior and how it relates to criminal behavior. I liked it.

[Merrikay · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another of my favorite authors - her mysteries are fun, while illustrating how a person with bipolar disorder can manage her own illness very well.

[Sasha · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very entertaining, keeps you wanting more. Always wondering how on earth it all will end!

[Maddy · Rating 3 out of 5]

RATING: 2.5