Turtle Baby: A Mystery Novel

Bo Bradley #3

by Abigail Padgett

When San Diego child-abuse investigator Bo Bradley takes on the case of a young baby named Acito, she quickly uncovers a deadly culture clash in which American lifestyles, big money, and hidden passion become intertwined with ancient Mayan beliefs.

Genres: Mystery, Fiction, Mystery Thriller

Hardcover

First published March 1, 1995

Reviews

[Angie · Rating 2 out of 5]

Another from the TBR pile that I just couldn't get into. The story was too wordy at times with the main character second guessing herself too much. Not my style.

[Becky · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is my second in the series by Padgett and liked this even more than the first. The author is a clever writer -- using mental illness (manic depressive social worker) and cultural diversity (native American/Mayan culture) as an on going theme. She manages to show both with humor while expanding politically correct positions. The mystery in this one is quite good -- there are many deaths around young Mayan child, Acito, and the story exposes the extent one goes to survive/advance along the difficult Mexico boarder towns. I'm not a big mystery series reader, so will take a break but might come back to the third in the series featuring Bo Bradley.

[Cindy]

I'm enjoying the series but it seems a bit wordy in places. Love the main character and her supportive "cast". The stories are great just a bit to much off the subject at times.

[degelle · Rating 3 out of 5]

If anything, "Turtle Baby" is worth reading because it's 20 years ahead of its time, highlighting a diverse cast of characters that don't normally take center stage in a book series. The protagonist, Bo Bradley, grapples with bipolar disorder, a condition that both helps and hinders her abilities on the job (not to mention her personal life). The rest of the characters aren't the usual cookie cutter supporting types that populate mystery novels either: a Mayan woman and her child, a Mexican social worker, a Cajun doctor, an Islamic black man, a runaway foster child, an Egyptian housewife, an Australian talent manager, a gay couple and a crippled ex-stuntman, to name a few. Usually you have to look to something as recent as Netflix's "Sense8" to find such a diverse cast, and that came out in 2015. Abigail Padgett wrote this in 1995.

[John · Rating 5 out of 5]

I highly recommend this book and the "Bo Bradley" series. Her writing is superb and her research of the material that goes into her books does credit to the subjects that she uses to flesh out her characters. I have loved each book in this series more than the previous.

[Bette · Rating 3 out of 5]

Bo Bradley works for Child Protective Services in San Diego, she also is manic-depressive and with medication and psychotherapy she is able to lead an almost normal life. A Mayan baby is poisoned and he becomes one of Bo’s cases. She searches for the mother and hopes to reunite them, but before she can the mother is murdered.

Interesting characters all well-defined and interconnected each contributing to solving the overall mystery. Enjoyable and informative read.

[~Anita~ · Rating 4 out of 5]

Bo is starting to separate what is her and what is mental illness.

[thomas rutherford · Rating 5 out of 5]

Enjoyable

This was another spellbinding Bo Bradley thriller. Great plot and, as usual, the cast of characters blended seamlessly together. Excellence.

[Kristi Bumpus · Rating 2 out of 5]

Seemed like she’d never met any real people like the ones in the book, thought according to her bio, that can’t be true.

[Bronwyn · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another in a unique series with a uniquely gifted 'heroine'. I love all Abigail Padgett's "Bo Bradley" series, and wish there were more books in it. This is my third reading of the series, and they're as good as when I first discovered them.

[Judie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Bo Bradley, a San Diego social worker employed as an investigator for the Children’s Protective Services Department, is assigned a case regarding a Mayan child who has been poisoned while being cared for by a Latino couple while his mother pursues her singing career. The child is called Acito, Little Turtle. The poison is very rare, must be carefully cultivated and stored, and is usually fatal.
Relying on her acute instincts, brought about by her manic/depressive condition, Bo travels not only to find the person who poisoned Acito but also to figure out why, to find his mother, and to find a home for him.
While learning about the Mayan culture, Bo finds out that among the Mayan, deformities were considered gifts by the ancient Maya. “A cleft palate or club foot, an extra finger or crossed eyes–any departure from the physical norm was evidence of the god’s favor.... Often a baby’s head was wrapped to flatten its forehead so the child would become godlike.”
TURTLE BABY has many twists and turns and maintained my interest. The writing is crisp, the characters believable and likable, and the answer to the poisoning question totally unexpected. My only criticism is that some of the situations are a bit too contrived: The person just happened to be in the right remote location at the exactly correct moment.
This is the third of the series and all of them are good reads.

[Renee]

This series, on the other hand, I'm eager for more of. Padgett's protagonist, Bo Bradley, is refreshingly original. Bradley is a child protective services case worker in southern California; she's also bipolar. While Padgett's attempts to educate the reader about bipolar illness gets tiresome at times, it also gives Bradley a perspective on things that few others would have.

In this, her third book in the series, Bradley tries to reunite a Mayan baby and her Guatemalan mother. When the mother -- another aspiring singer -- is killed during a performance in Tijuana, Bradley tries to find not only a good home for the baby, but his mother's killer.

Chances are good that a real CPS worker would respond to this book the way I respond to most legal thrillers, but I'm not sure I care. I like Bradley, I liked the plot and I liked the fact that I was surprised at the end. About the only thing I'm not liking right now is how few other books Padgett's written.

[Catherine Nobles · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow! Abigail Padgett continues to amaze and impress me with her understanding of the bipolar mind, She has a keen understanding of the two-sided coin that is BPD. Plus, she's an outstanding author of mystery/thriller stories.

[Susan Ward · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting descriptions of how the manic-depressive brain work. Enjoyed the mystery, too.

[Pam · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another good book in the Bo Bradley mystery series. Bo is a complicated, but caring individual.

[Isabelle · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really like Bo Bradley and all her quirks. I also like Andrew Lamarche. The mental illness twist in these stories make them very interesting. I also liked the Maya angle in this one.

[Regine · Rating 3 out of 5]

Sensitized.

[Clariss · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a fun, fast read. A good vacation/beach read.