Austin City Blue

Zoe Barrow Mystery #1

by Jan Grape

While being investigated by Internal Affairs for fatally shooting Jesse Garcia - the man responsible for wounding her husband, Austin police officer Zoe Barrow must race against time to solve a rash of bizarre murders in order to save her badge and restore her honor. Reprint.

256 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published January 1, 2001

About the author

Jan Grape and her husband, Elmer sold Mysteries & More bookstore in Austin, Texas, to spend more time with their five grandchildren and travel. They now live in a RV full time with their black cats, Nick and Nora.

Series:
* Zoe Barrow Mystery

Reviews

[Richard Derus · Rating 3 out of 5]

Rating: a full, hearty 3* of five

Jan Grape wrote a very competent first mystery in this Zoe Barrow, Wounded Cop, series. It's easy to read, it's got a decent plot, it's very atmospheric, and it's set in my hometown. All reasons to like it, and I did, just fine.

It's not great literature, but it's in no way a waste of a tree; it's not fancy, it's solid. I like that kind of book.

Grape wasn't a young'un when this book came out, which is a plus in my mind. She's a reader of long standing, and she's had oodles of short stories published in mystery anthologies over the years. Put all that together and I think it's no surprise that she's crafted something good: A female cop, not battle hardened, not world weary, and stubbornly optimistic. Zoe Barrow is the kinda gal you'd like to find on the barstool next to you...good at the chat, good at her job, and realistic about herself and the world. It makes her a good detective.

Recommended!

[Steve · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is not a really bad book. The main character is thoroughly admirable - brave, caring, intelligent, loyal, and moral. (Of course, she is also the narrator, so she just might be giving herself a little extra credit.) Much of the material about Austin is quite interesting.

But this is a very poor mystery. I finished with a lot of questions:

🔹Police officers in most fictional mysteries have no problem finding out to whom a phone number belongs. Why can't Zoe do this rather than keep calling the number and hoping someone will answer and identify himself?

🔹Who was the person who held out a knife with Peppard? Was it Hebron? Why would he do that?

🔹Why was Tami murdered?

🔹Who took the photographs of Tami with her clients and why? Was Tami planning on blackmail?

🔹Whose blood is found in Peppard's house?

🔹Why did Hebron kill Anthony Garcia? "Asshole deserved to die. He wanted revenge so badly he almost ruined everything." What did he almost ruin? Why was Hebron at the nursing home in any case?

🔹Does everyone in Texas have supernatural healing powers? Harry has his throat cut and "would have died if [he] hadn't put that bandage and adhesive tape on"; he is fine afterward. Jason and Lianne have serious head injuries; a night in the hospital each and they are symptom-free. Zoe has a "severely bruised right shoulder and coccyx bone" and (literally) runs out of the hospital. Well, they are all tough, I guess. And I left out Peppard, who is shot in the chest and has emergency surgery, serious enough to keep him in the hospital for - oh, a day. Then he goes straight home, with no one taking care of him. Nonsense!

And some other points:

🔹Has there ever been a mystery story in which a police officer kills someone in the line of duty and the investigating team does not deem the shooting suspicious in some way?

🔹Do police officers on desk duty following such a shooting really still carry guns?

🔹This book has one of the worst concluding paragraphs that I can recall.

I must add that Austin City Blue was nominated for an Anthony Award for Best First Mystery Novel and most of the other Goodreads reviews are more enthusiastic than mine.

There is at least one sequel, Dark Blue Death.

[Kimberly · Rating 4 out of 5]

A little outside my normal reading material, but pretty good. I picked this book up because of the setting; most books are set (or seem to be always set) in NYC, Chicago, and/or LA. Since the setting was in Austin and I live in Texas, I gave this a try. I liked it a lot better than I thought I would.

[Mina Khan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting police procedural set in Austin, Texas with an intriguing female protagonist. I'll have to keep an eye out for the second book in the series.

[Patrick · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is an okay read for a debut in a possible series (I understand there is a sequel). Not a great book. A fast, easy read. Nothing too spectacular. Having lived in Austin for a n umber of years. I enjoyed the Austin references.

[Janet Adkins · Rating 2 out of 5]

I wanted to like this book more than I did. The plot never captured my interest. I enjoyed the setting and reading about Austin back when it was a sleepier town.

[Anna · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very solid first book. An interesting protagonist who fits the story and who fits Austin very well, a good story, enough twists and turns, and a good sense of local. A smart Texas gal detective with a big heart, good sense of moral, and just the right ingredients to make her become later a good homicide detective, while not cold-hearted, hardened, or cynic to the world yet. Can we please have fifty of Zoes for the real APD please?
While I love my crime and detectives to be extra twisted and noir (like Jo Nesbø, Michael Connelly and similar), and my favorite detective heroes seem to be all semi-alcoholic loners who fight the crime with a one-man army full of rage, I love finding enjoyable stories out of my comfort zones. Well, not that out of my comfort in this case really, since the story has enough kick placing it closer to noir than feel-good cozies. I love of course recognizing the locations since I've called Austin my home since 2009, as well as learning interesting tidbits of history from around here.
A solid 3.5++ stars even if I wasn't living here - and since I am, 4.25 *

[Jeff Dickison · Rating 4 out of 5]

Zoe Barrow is an Austin City police woman whose husband is in a coma after having been shot. She gets in a gunfight with the man who shot her husband and kills him, and that's just in the first few pages. During the rest of the book she works with an experienced murder detective to find who was responsible for killing an informer and prostitute. Well done, exciting, with good plot twists. Recommended.

[Kelley · Rating 3 out of 5]

Nice little touches about Austin and a female lead.

[Sonja · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good book. I like Zoe very much.

[Gail · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very good

[Jack Heath]

Synopsis: Austin officer Barrow shot Jesse Garcia during a standoff and Internal Affairs had questions; after all he had also shot her husband.